Research Center for Social Sciences of Crisis Thinking
Research Center for Social Sciences of Crisis Thinking
In November of 2016, the Institute of Social Science (ISS) of the University of Tokyo and Kamaishi City jointly established the Research Center for Social Sciences of Crisis Thinking as a hub for coordinating interdisciplinary research on suitable policies and measures for responding to future crises while also preserving the memory of the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake. Furthermore, both parties have agreed to collaborate and to cooperate in the operation of the Research Center. The activities of the Research Center are as follows:
(1) Execution of surveys and research related to responses to the Great East Japan Earthquake by Kamaishi City and in the Sanriku region. (2) Development and presentation of proposals for crisis responses based on the above surveys and research. (3) Presentation of seminars and lectures related to crisis thinking research.
A Research Center for Social Sciences of Crisis Thinking secretariat has been established within the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Tokyo, which is linked to a coordinating hub that has been established within the Kamaishi City government. Both parties will work closely together to advance surveys and research on “crises” and “crisis thinking.”
Events
The Research Center for Social Sciences of Crisis Thinking will hold three or four events per year in Kamaishi City.
General Surveys of the Kamaishi Region
As part of its research activities, the Research Center for Social Sciences of Crisis Thinking will conduct a comprehensive general survey of the Kamaishi region from FY2017 to 2019, with a particular focus on crisis thinking before and after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Ten years have passed since the University of Tokyo ISS conducted its comprehensive general survey of the Kamaishi region (Kamaishi “Social Sciences of Hope” project) in FY2006 to 2008, and five years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake. In this sense, the proposed survey is a follow-up to the previous survey and is also meaningful in terms of continuing the long tradition of survey research of the Kamaishi region. Although the theme of the current survey is “crisis thinking,” we will continue to explore whether the approaches to regional revitalization developed as part to the Kamaishi “Social Sciences of Hope” project are still applicable following the Great East Japan Earthquake or whether brand new approaches should be developed to address a completely new set of circumstances.