#4 SPOTLIGHTS – Let’s talk: The Research Institute for Humanity & Nature // Kyoto w. Yasuhisa Kondo

From Kyoto, transdisciplinary education in Japan took root: RIHN was created de novo by national government action specifically to conduct inter- and transdisciplinary research on global environmental problems. As an educational alliance of inter-university institutes, the SOKENDAI graduate program with an emphasis on transdisciplinarity located at RHIN was re-organized in 2023, inspiring a whole generation of TDR graduate programs across Japan. This spotlights shares what 25 years of institutionalizing transdisciplinary research and education in Japan looks like in practice. If you want to get inspired by further approaches that support Collaborative and Transdisciplinary Research around the world, check out the full recorded program of the SPOTLIGHTS -Let’s talk online series. SPOTLIGHTS brings global perspectives to PartWiss 2026 – the largest conference in Germany on participation in science. The SPOTLIGHTS program highlights people, institutions, and support structures making collaborative research possible. Together, we explore how transdisciplinarity, participation, and public engagement are embedded in science systems worldwide. The program consists of this series of online talks and of an exploratory study on support structures worldwide. More info can be found here: http://www.spotlights-partwiss.de/ SPOTLIGHTS is organized by the Laboratory for Transdisciplinary Research (TD-Lab) of the Berlin University Alliance and Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft e.V. Partners: Gesellschaft für transdisziplinäre und partizipative Forschung (GTPF), Alliance for Inter- and Transdisciplinary Research (ITD) Co-funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space. https://www.partizipation-wissenschaf... https://www.berlin-university-allianc... https://www.stifterverband.org/english https://www.gtpf.science/ https://itd-alliance.org/