Greetings

Greetings from Head of Department

The 21st century is said to be "the century of the environment". Global environmental problems, such as global warming, waste of resources, and ecosystems, are the greatest challenges facing mankind. And as these problems are becoming more apparent today, humanity is being asked a great deal about how to respond to these problems. Environmental problems are the result of the accumulation of time and cannot be reversed. Since the way we behave now will determine the fate of humanity in the future, the responsibility of those who live in the present era is significant. In order to think about the present by looking firmly into the future and backcasting from there, we believe that optimizing individual objects locally is not enough, and it is important to take a bird's-eye view of the environment as a system.

We should also consider that a variety of changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict, such as conflicts and pandemics, further complicates matters. Of course, resolving the problems and anxieties from time to time is an urgent and important task. On the other hand, since these factors may also affect the future of the global environment, we believe that a simple extrapolation from the present day, isolating only environmental issues, do not lead a sufficient argument for the future environment.

The slogan of our department, "Environment - explore the present, shape our future," is a message that emphasizes the importance of pioneering the next new era by making the most of the vast knowledge of science and technology that humanity has cultivated, and by taking a holistic view of various problems. We hope that you will see it as the strong will of our department to strive toward the realization of this goal.

Head of Department
Yoshito OSHIMA

About Us

Department of Environment Systems

The production of artificial materials, the discharge of wastes, and the development of Earth's surface, underground and ocean have significantly affected the environment systems which are composed both by natural environments and human societies, and have degraded the wealth of ecosystems and the quality of human life. To tackle and overcome these problems, it is quite important to understand the material and energy cycles, and to clarify the interaction among sub-systems which constitute the whole environment system. In addition, it is highly expected to develop problem-solving methodologies and their application through the detailed study by natural scientific and engineering approach together with the integration of economics, policy science, and international cooperation. The viewpoints of risks and safety are also fundamental importance for our activities.

Department of Environment Systems conduct researches and education to design and realize the sustainable societies by analyzing the interaction and relationship between human societies and natural environment, developing the model to represent the environment systems based on the detailed analyses, clarifying the causes of the problems using the systems model, and investigating the possible solutions and the way to manage the system. We expect highly motivated students and researchers to join in our group to collaborate to achieve the objectives.

Research fields of Environment Systems

In the natural world, materials and energy are exchanged among the atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere. Human society extracts materials and energy from the natural world and creates various artificial objects. This activity has an impact on the natural world through the discharge of waste and excessive development. To solve environmental problems, the study of environment systems attempts to understand the flow of such materials and energy, and comprehensively deals with the ideal state of social systems from various aspects, such as technology, economy, system, law, education, ethics, risk, and safety.

Modeling of Environment Systems and design of sustainable societies

To study environment systems, we build an environment system model that consists of human society and natural subsystems. To understand the interrelationship between the human world and the natural world, we introduce technologies and policies to the environmental system model and analyze the response of the system. Our ultimate objective is to design a sustainable environment-friendly society by combining approaches such as control and adaption.

Organization

Fields of Environment Systems

The complex challenges we currently face must be analyzed from multiple perspectives. The traditional approach of considering a problem in an individual discipline is insufficient. Therefore, the Department of Environment Systems is involved in various research fields. We have established a system that enables strategic and flexible analysis and discussion from a bird's-eye view to solve environmental problems and realize a sustainable society in collaboration with faculty members from various specialized fields.

Network

We are conducting research in collaboration with various organizations in Japan and overseas.

In Japan

The National Institute for Environmental Studies（Cooperation program：Transition to a Cycle-Oriented Society）

An agreement was signed on October 14, 2005, between the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, the University of Tokyo, and the National Institute for Environmental Studies to cooperate with each other to further enhance educational and research activities in the master's and doctoral programs of the University of Tokyo, as well as research at the National Institute for Environmental Studies. This is expected to contribute to the development of environmental studies in Japan by promoting their achievements and disseminating their results. The National Institute for Environmental Studies has outstanding achievements and potential for research in the field of a sound material-cycle society. It also has prominent researchers. The cooperation program aims to promote the development of research and education on the transition to a cycle-oriented society.

Overseas

Imperial College London (Exchange Agreement)

An exchange program has been established between the Department of Environment Systems and the Department of Ocean Technology, Policy, and Environment and the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London, one of the UK's leading science colleges. Since 2009, we have sent and accepted several master's students every year. Students are expected to learn about general environmental problems and their expected impact, and the currently considered countermeasure technologies and their effects. Through lectures and exercises in each country, the program aims to develop future engineers and technology policy-makers who will be responsible for international negotiations on environmental issues.