Global COE Program - Kyoto University - In Search of Sustainable Humanosphere in Asia and Africa

The Seminar for Paradigm Formulation functions as the “intellectual hub” of our Global Center of Excellence (GCOE) program.

This monthly seminar provides a forum for intensive discussion regarding the formulation of a new paradigm for the development of sustainable humanosphere. It also provides members of the program with an occasion to mutually relate the discussions of the four initiatives of the program.

In this seminar, we have discussed various topics, such as biomass resources and energy circulation in the tropics, economic and agricultural development paths in Asia and Africa, biodiversity and climatic fluctuation in the tropics, the impact of disasters and epidemics on human societies, and human security as the emerging global norm. Through the discussions, we have identified some of the key ideas that influence the direction of our program. Among them are “from production to existence,” “the interrelatedness of the spheres,” and the “ethics of care.”

With this understanding, the members of the GCOE program are expected to contribute towards the establishment of a new paradigm of sustainable humanosphere. The shift to this new paradigm involves complicated questions, one of which is how to shape the shift from a “production-oriented” paradigm to an “existence-oriented” paradigm. What are the technologies and institutions that ensure sustainable energy circulation in the geosphere while at the same time ensure that each of us has lasting access to the resources necessary for his/her existence? What kinds of mechanisms enable us to make maximum use of bioresources while preserving the diversity of the biosphere?

Another issue related to this question is how we should shape the interrelatedness of the three spheres, which are supposed to operate under different logics. Do the geospheric and biospheric conditions of the tropics have a certain effect on the development of human societies in Asia and Africa? This question leads to another: how can we shape the pathway for sustainable development in areas such as Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and Africa? What we need is a truly interdisciplinary theory of sustainable humanosphere that is based on our knowledge of key issues such as agriculture, vegetation, and water circulation as well as on social institutions and local knowledge and technologies in each area.

Although our discussion at the Seminar for Paradigm Formulation is complex and multidimensional, it seems to me that the ethics of care (as opposed to the logic of production) as the basic condition for human existence is the key idea. The shift to a new paradigm may be realized through the redefinition of the relatedness of persons and the institutions of the societies through the ethics of care, or the ethics of lasting relatedness that ensures the existence of the self and others.