Kyoto University International Symposium 2023 on Education and Research in Global Environmental Studies in Asia, themed "Rural Culture and Conservation — Implications for Global Environmental Studies in the Anthropocene", took place 11 December at Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry (HUAF) in Hue, Vietnam with Zoom broadcast. It was the first International Symposium to be held outside Japan since 2020, when the annual event was moved online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Participating were 301 researchers, students, private-sector representatives, and others from 52 organizations in 13 Asian and other countries.
The conference opened with remarks from President Nagahiro Minato of Kyoto University, Dean Takeshi Katsumi of the University’s Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies (GSGES), Vice President Do Thi Xuan Dung of Hue University, and Rector Tran Thanh Duc of HUAF, some of whom spoke remotely. These were followed by a keynote speech by former HUAF Rector Le Van An, who discussed efforts to conserve and transmit cultures of rural ethnic minorities, citing as an example a HUAF-GSGES project to build a community house using traditional construction techniques. Afterwards, KyotoU Professor Emeritus Shigeo Fujii accepted the title of Honorary Professor from Hue University in a ceremony where he delivered a commemorative speech and received bouquets of flowers from relevant university officials and his students amid warm applause from the audience.
The afternoon began with poster presentations by early-career researchers and students, delivered in three fields across five sessions — 1) Environmental Technology (two sessions), 2) Natural Resources (two sessions), and 3) Global Ecology (one session) — followed by a question-and-answer session. Next, invited early-career researchers with outstanding achievements in these fields presented their research and latest findings, sparking lively discussions.
As the presentations concluded, a best poster awards ceremony took place with GSGES Professor Izuru Saizen, the symposium committee chair, as the presenter. The conference then closed with an address from the Graduate School’s vice dean, Professor Makoto Usami.
The 2023 International Symposium was notable among other things for the advantage it offered on-site participants of being able to interact with each other in person, with a tea break and other intervals serving as opportunities for renewing old friendships and making new connections.
