OVERVIEW
Learn from peers, train on site,
and become a refined citizen of the world.
Convert ample potential to multifaceted skills
that our society needs.
Background
Many disasters are caused not only by the natural environment but also because of complex informational, social, and economic factors. Particularly in recent years, the presence, degree, and realization of attributes of cities (population and social density), telecommunications, social infrastructure, economic infrastructure, disaster prevention culture, and other aspects, have led disasters to assume various forms. In order to reduce apparent and hidden risks in the human society and build a safe and secure sustainable society, issues such as resource deficit, environment protection, and energy generation need to be tackled. Advanced experts who face complex and diverse risks and employ their multifaceted skills practically are desired.
Objectives (the ideal candidate)
The "WISE Program for Sustainability in the Dynamic Earth" is one in which students gain a comprehensive understanding of the Earth and global environmental changes. This can help create a better society for humans, and generate knowledge to ensure a better quality of life. The missions and goals of this program are to impart knowledge on disaster mechanisms and prediction technologies. These are based on outstanding research achievements with regards to global climate changes and many achievements through collaborations among the industry, academia, and government. Thus, "professionals of knowledge" will be groomed based on a thorough understanding of society and humans. The portrait of the ideal person is provided by the "snow crystal-like map of human traits, where traits such as comprehensive perspective skills, communication skills, practical skills, social justice, international outlook, investigative skills, and leadership skills spread out from the core of expertise.
〈 Snow Crystal -like map of human traits 〉
Characteristics of the Program
The three educational policies, "learn from peers, train on site, and become refined in the world" are unique to our degree program. Through these, the dynamic Earth is observed from a bird's eye view, and "snow crystal-like map of human traits", who are equipped with flexible skills to capture the fine details of regional and business activities, are fostered. Thus, the expectations of the society and needs of the industry, government, and academia can be met.
〈 Three educational policies 〉
In order to cultivate diverse knowledge and skills in a wide range of domains, we provide a highly diverse liberal arts education spread over seven research subjects. As students with diverse backgrounds in language, culture, and values, work together, new perspectives and minds are fostered.
To develop practical skills, we provide problem-solving project-based learning through collaborations among the industry, academia, and government ("collaborative education"). By learning and researching the basics of risk management that support the foundation of industries and business management in addition to ameliorating the impact of disasters, we conduct activities in diverse domains.
We provide a joint international education with teaching staff, who are directors of overseas partners, as program leaders. We also create a global human network through contributions to international research and education in collaboration with international organizations such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Collaboration for global disaster prevention and reduction strategies
In March 2015, in the 3rd UN World Conference on disaster risk reduction held in Sendai City, Japan, the "Sendai Disaster Prevention Framework", was selected as the international disaster prevention policy until 2030 (approved at the UN General Assembly in June 2015). Our university has played a leading role in the formulation of the framework in order to share our experiences as an academic, research, and educational facility that has experienced an unprecedented number of seismic disasters. In the future, through our resources and expertise, we will contribute to help achieve the targets of the Sendai Disaster Prevention Framework.
The Tohoku Region of Japan is, as a field of past catastrophic disaster and future disaster risk, a subject of significant scientific interest for many researchers and experts who regularly visit from across the world. We plan to synthesize the results of the educational program developed in such a unique environment into "the risk education Sendai model" and share it publically. In this manner, we will take part in the global efforts for disaster prevention and reduction.
