Grant Activities

Japan–Italy Knowledge Exchange Project on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change

Held in collaboration with Tohoku University’s International Research Institute of Disaster Science, the project aimed to promote knowledge sharing on disaster risk reduction (DRR) between Japan and Italy. Ten students from the University of Bologna visited Tohoku, Japan’s northeast, in March 2026, where they learned about Japan’s DRR strategies, traditional local knowledge, and landscape management through interactions with local residents, kataribe storytellers, and experts. The participants also created hazard maps and community-based alternative maps as educational tools to explore and communicate diverse perspectives on disaster risk, memory, and community resilience.

Research-Networking Talk Series on Diversity in a Multi-Ethnic, Multi-Cultural Japan

The implications of Japan’s growing ethnic diversity for an inclusive, multicultural were explored in this series. An online format brought together experts, community leaders, and students from around the world to examine issues related to language, education, employment, identity formation, and community engagement from the perspectives of diverse ethnic communities in Japan. Through five thematic research-networking sessions, attended by more than 450 participants, the project fostered an international dialogue on emerging forms of diversity in contemporary Japan. All sessions were archived in a video library to support future research and educational activities.