|
"Environmental science" is an academic discipline which requires comprehensive, composite, and interdisciplinary approaches. In order to accelerate its studies in this distinctive field, in April 2005 Okayama University gathered together various environmental studies in the fields of natural and social science, humanities, and medicine to establish a Graduate School of Environmental Science. Our contemporary society is beset with a great number of environmental issues such as global warming, but those which may be successfully resolved through the efforts of a single country alone are few indeed. Often referred to as "the age of Asia," the 21st century has seen the rapid development of many Asian economies, including China and India, while at the same time environmental loading originating in this region is increasing. To preserve the global environment for future generations, it has become urgent that Asian countries leave behind the 20th-century social model of "mass production, mass consumption, and mass disposal" and move on to establish a sustainable sound material-cycle society. The Graduate School of Environmental Science has been conducting various projects for the creation of a center of education and research; the 21st Century Center of Excellence (COE) Program by MEXT "Strategic Solid Waste Management for Sustainable Society" (FY2003-FY2007); the Initiatives for Attractive Education in Graduate Schools by MEXT "Environmental Ethics-Health and Environment’"(FY2005-FY2006); the "UNESCO Chair in Research and Education for Sustainable Development at Okayama University," which was accredited by UNESCO in April 2007. |
 |
|
