The Relevance of Area Studies for the Sciences and Public Policy
Examples from Europe & Asia

Social sciences, and even more so natural sciences and engineering, tend to neglect local conditions, i.e. how ecological, social, political or economic issues are perceived and addressed in the specific context of a country or region and how solutions are sought for and implemented. Area studies can correct these shortcomings, because they pay close attention to local conditions and regional differences. Nevertheless, it is far from common practice that area studies specialists and researchers from other sciences collaborate.

Our conference aims at highlighting possible contributions of area studies to the sciences, innovation and public policy by discussing concrete examples in highly relevant thematic fields. We would like to invite you to the public part of our conference which will refer to the outcomes of our preceding“closed”sessions.

【Date】
13:30～17:00, 15th November, 2016

【Venue】
Sanjo Kaikan, The University of Tokyo (Hongo Campus)
Address: 7-3-1 Hongo Bunkyo-ku Tokyo
http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/campusmap/cam01_00_02_j.html

【Program】
13:30-13:40　 Welcome Addresses
Masashi HANEDA (The University of Tokyo, Vice President)
Patrick KÖLLNER (GIGA Institute of Asian Studies, Director)
13:40-14:40 　Keynotes – Area Studies, Innovation and Public Policy in Europe and Asia
Yuko HARAYAMA (CSTI, Cabinet Office Japan, Executive Member)
Does Location Matter for Designing Science and Innovation Policy?
Yuichiro ANZAI (JSPS, President, Member of Foundation Council of JDZB)
The Role and Significance of Area Studies for our Society
Keiko SAKAI (Relational Studies on Global Crisis, Project Leader, Chiba University)
Overcoming the Dilemmas – Relationship as a New Perspective
Franz WALDENBERGER (DIJ, Director)
Area Studies and the Social Sciences –What Policy Makers Can and Should Expect
14:40-15:00　 Break
15:00-17:00　 Roundtable – Why Area Studies Matter
Chair:
Iris WIECZOREK (GIGA, Senior Researcher; Leibniz Japan, Representative)
Panelists:
Yuko HARAYAMA (CSTI, Executive Member)
Yuichiro ANZAI (JSPS, President, Member of Foundation Council of JDZB)
Patarapong INTARAKUMNERD (GRIPS, Professor) – Innovation
Jin SATO (The University of Tokyo, Professor) – Ecology & Energy Transition
Patrick KÖLLNER (GIGA Institute of Asian Studies, Director) – Foreign Policy
H. D. KARUNARATNE (University of Colombo, Professor) – Health and Food Security
Susanne BRUCKSCH (DIJ, Senior Researcher) – Engineering, Robotics and IoT
Eiji NAGASAWA (The University of Tokyo, Professor) – Ideological, Political, and Social Forces in the Era of Globalization
17:15-19:15　 Reception

【Registration】
Admission Free, Registration Required
Please register at [registration@leibniz-association.eu]
Registration deadline: 11/11

【Organizers】
GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies (Hamburg)
German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ, Tokyo)
The University of Tokyo [Network for Education and Research on Asia (ASNET), Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (IASA)]

【Cooperating Institutions】
Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES)
Japanese-German Center Berlin (JDZB)
Leibniz Association
Relational Studies on Global Crisis (JSPS Grant-in-Aid Project)

【Inquiries】
Iris Wieczorek, Leibniz Japan
03-3470-7257