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KAUST Inauguration Symposium Speaker

Kazuhiko Takeuchi

United Nations University

Kazuhiko Takeuchi was named the Vice-Rector of the United Nations University in July 2008. The United Nations University, in Tokyo, is an agency of the United Nations researching pressing global problems of human survival, development and welfare.

Professor Takeuchi has had a distinguished three-decade academic career with Tokyo Metropolitan University (1977-1985) and the University of Tokyo (1985-), where he has been a Professor in the Laboratory of Landscape Ecology and Planning, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, since 1997. Since 2005, he has served concurrently in the posts of Director of the Division for International Relations, Deputy Executive Director of the Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science, and Special Adviser to the President. In April 2007, he was appointed the University of Tokyo's Vice President for International Relations.

Prof. Takeuchi holds Bachelor of Science (Geography), Master of Agriculture (Agrobiology) and Doctor of Agriculture degrees from the University of Tokyo. He has authored numerous books, including A Vision for the Environmental Era (2003) and, most recently, A Guide to Global Sustainability (2007). His research focuses on creating eco-friendly environments for a harmonious coexistence of human and nature, both on local and global scales. He is keenly interested in the restoration of ecosystems and in effective utilization of environmental resources in Japan. Revitalization of traditional rural landscapes locally called Satoyama is one of his major concerns. He also conducts extensive field research on combating desertification in China and Mongolia, on sustainable bioresources management system in Indonesia, and landscape planning in the Asian mega-cities in Thailand and the Philippines. He has also initiated the research project on reconstruction of historic gardens and historic landscape planning in Italy. His most recent research interest lies in the integration of future scenarios for the three societies that constitute a solid base for global sustainability: low carbon society; resource-circulating society; and the society coexisting harmoniously with nature.

Dr. Takeuchi is the Deputy Executive Director of the Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science (IR3S), which was launched in 2005 as a research alliance, comprising of eleven Japanese universities/institutes and UNU, for establishment of the newly emerging discipline, sustainability science. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Sustainability Science. Other recent professional activities include membership on the several councils of Japanese Government, such as Central Environment Council and National Land Council. He also served as a member of the Group of Experts, Committee on Science and Technology, United Nations Convention on Combating Desertification (UNCCD). He is now involved in the discussion for establishing the post 2010 strategy of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD).