Case Study Overview
| Client |
National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) |
|---|---|
| Inquiry | We want to organize the concept for creating an intellectual discipline called "Disaster Environmental Studies" by combining the fields of disaster studies and environmental studies, which have been researched extensively. |
| Project Overview | The National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), which conducts research on environmental conservation, is promoting "Disaster Environmental Research" by combining knowledge from the respective research areas of disaster and the natural environment. They aimed to systematize this knowledge and establish it as "Disaster Environmental Studies." However, researchers involved in Disaster Environmental Research came from different specializations, leading to a fundamental challenge in research promotion: a lack of shared understanding of what "Disaster Environmental Studies" as a discipline entails. Therefore, we worked with members previously involved in Disaster Environmental Research to address the fundamental question of "What exactly is Disaster Environmental Studies?" We structured and visualized the common understanding as a concept and format, which was then summarized in a diagram. |
| Implementation Period |
July 2025 - November 2025 |
About this project
Working with researchers from diverse specializations, we delved deeply into the concept of "Disaster Environmental Studies," which integrates knowledge from disaster studies and environmental studies. Through a process of discussion and visualization, we established and systematized a shared understanding of its significance and research domain.
The National Institute for Environmental Studies aimed to systematize the knowledge from its ongoing research on disasters and the environment since the Great East Japan Earthquake and establish it as "Disaster Environmental Studies."
However, due to the differing specializations in the fields of disaster and environment, there was a fundamental challenge in research promotion: a lack of common understanding within the research team regarding the core intellectual framework of "Disaster Environmental Studies."
Therefore, we were asked to organize and visualize this concept to enable external explanation and internal alignment within the team.
This project was broadly divided into two phases:
① Structuring and visualization of the concept of Disaster Environmental Studies
② Structuring and visualization of the research areas covered by Disaster Environmental Studies
First, regarding "① Structuring and visualization of the concept of Disaster Environmental Studies."
To create a shared understanding of what Disaster Environmental Studies is and what purpose it serves as a discipline, we held workshops where participants articulated their thoughts, which were then visualized.
In the articulation process, based on a systematic organization to explain the concept, we posed questions and then visualized and shared each member's thoughts.
By articulating each individual's opinions anew and visualizing and sharing them through diagrams, the similarities and differences in their opinions became clear, leading to active discussions on questions such as "What essential questions does Disaster Environmental Studies aim to answer?" and "Why is Disaster Environmental Studies important?"
After these deepened discussions, we revisited the overall questions and collectively discussed what aspects were particularly important for Disaster Environmental Studies, bringing the discussions to a convergence.
These discussions and the overall flow were organized to create a concept diagram for Disaster Environmental Studies.
With this consolidated concept, the significance and research objectives of Disaster Environmental Studies could be expressed in a single diagram.
However, this concept alone was abstract and required demonstrating its connection to accumulated existing research. Therefore, as a next step, we performed "② Structuring and visualization of the research areas covered by Disaster Environmental Studies" to organize the concrete connections between research themes.
Here, we organized the types of research that Disaster Environmental Studies should encompass, comparing them with existing research.
Then, we visualized the number of research themes for each research type within Disaster Environmental Studies and created a format that allowed for shared understanding and discussion about which fields have extensive research and which fields require more research when viewed through the lens of Disaster Environmental Studies.
This allowed us to establish a format for comprehensively considering Disaster Environmental Studies, from its concept to specific research.
In this project, to shape a new concept by combining diverse specializations, we prioritized organizing and synthesizing the opinions of all stakeholders, not just the strong opinions of a few, while visualizing them.
Each individual was able to present their opinions on the questions, and everyone listened and shared the differences and overlaps in their thinking, allowing for deeper discussions.
The developed concept and format are expected to serve as a foundation for advancing research in Disaster Environmental Studies to the next stage. We feel great significance in having contributed a step towards a more sustainable society by integrating knowledge from different specializations.