Research Achievements

GIARI: Economic Integration and Sustainability･International Joint Conference

• Date:
  October 22-23, 2009
• Venue:
  Conference Hall A, Kempinski Hotel Khaan Palace
  East Cross Road, Peace Avenue,
  Bayanzurkh District, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
  Telephone: + 976-11-463463
  Fax: + 976-11-46346

agenda[154KB]

Various projects which aim to establish sustainable rangeland management and improve herders' livelihood are being conducted in Mongolia. The Government of Mongolia and various international agencies, e.g. "Fodder Production Program" by Mongolian government, "Sustainable Grassland Management" by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), "Master Plan Study for the improvement of agro-pastoral system to counter zud disaster" by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), etc, have put these projects into effect. These projects have produced significant results, and were applied to areas with good agricultural and economic conditions around Ulaanbaatar and Khangai regions. However, development initiatives of disadvantageous areas such as those in the remote western and southern arid region, and for Mongolia on the whole remain obscure.

Ministry of the Environment of Japan has started a project called "Climate Change and Adaptive Capacity Development: Combating Desertification and Sustainable Grassland Management in Govi Region, Mongolia" from 2007. Its purpose is to reveal the prospect of sustainable rangeland management in Gobi region in Mongolia. After a preliminary survey in 2007, the model projects have been selected and started in 2008, and will continue until 2011. Through the progress of the project we iteratively discussed the adaptive capacity and national policies for climate change with local government officers and herders, as well as government agencies such as Cabinet Secretariat of Government of Mongolia, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry, Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism, and academic institutions such as Mongolia State University of Agriculture, Institute of Geoecology of Mongolian Academy of Sciences (MAS).

Through these discussions, it is clear that the development and the future prospect of the agriculture of Mongolia in its entirety have not been sufficiently discussed. Therefore, it is necessary for experts, researchers, government officers, and aid agencies' staff to gather, discuss and share this problem, in order to contribute to related future policies and projects.

In this context, we hold an international conference called "Climate Change and Adaptive Capacity Development: Combating Desertification and Sustainable Grassland Management in Gobi Region, Mongolia" on October 22 and 23, 2009 in Ulaanbaatar with domestic and international stakeholders. The outcome of this conference will be published in a report in English and Mongolian.

The two-day international conference in Ulaanbaatar is sponsored by Waseda University (Waseda Initiative on Sustainability Science for Political Decision-Making and Journalism (WISPJ) and Global COE Program "Global Institute for Asian Regional Integration (GIARI)), Ministry of the Environment of Japan, Mongolian Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism of Mongolia, Mongolian National University. It is supported by Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science (IR3S), Transdisciplinary Initiative for Global Sustainability (TIGS), United Nations University Institute for Sustainability and Peace (UNU-ISP), Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), Embassy of Japan in Mongolia, Japan International Cooperation Agency Mongolia Office, and collaborated by Mongol Eco Forum. The conference aims to reveal how future rangeland management should be to support herders' well-being under climatic change and desertification, through the following four sessions:

1. Climate change and its impact on North East Asia: Natural and Social dimensions
2. Herder's current situation and problems faced in Mongolia
3. Lessons from the past and current projects: Programs and policies by government and international agencies
4. Perspective of the development of Mongolia: Institutions and policies to improve adaptive capacities against desertification and climate change

We expect sixty participants in total consisting of researchers, experts, project officers, international agencies, and governmental officers. The participants to be expected include: ten people from Japan, China, Korea and Western countries, ten people from international agencies in Mongolia, and forty people from Mongolian government and research institutions. The language in the conference is English, Mongolian and Japanese.

In each session, about five speakers will present on the related theme, which they have prepared in advance of the conference. After discussions and feedback, they will revise their papers and the results will be published in English and Mongolian. The English edition will be published by McMillan in UK, and the Mongolian edition will be published by Enterplace.

The organization committee of the conference was established in the first meeting in Ulaanbaatar on December 2, 2008. During that time, chairs of the organization committee were elected, which resulted in Prof. Norovyn Altansukh (Vice president of Mongolian Academy of Sciences) for the Mongolian side, and Prof. Shunji Matsuoka (Professor of Waseda University) for the Japanese side. In the second organization committee held on March 30, 2009, it came to agreement that this conference would serve as input for the revision of National Action Plan for UNCCD which was at work by Mongolian Government, and that Dr. D. Regdel would be the successor of the chair of the organization committee in Mongolia. In the third organizing committee held on June 26, 2009, we discussed each speaker's title and role of each organization. We did final coordination with organizer of Mongolian side on October 17-18, 2009 in Ulaanbaatar.

In Mongolia: Dr. D. Regdel (First Vice President, Mongolian Academy of Sciences)
In Japan: Dr. S. Matsuoka (Professor, Waseda University)

• International conference
  October 22-23, 2009
• Deadline for the revision of presentation paper
  December 2009
• Publication of results
  March 2010

Mongolia:
For conference content information in Mongolian:
Dr. Jamsran TSOGTBAATAR, Director, Institute of Geoecology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences
Tel: + 976 11 321862
e-mail: tsogtbaatarj@magicnet.mn or geoeco@magicnet.mn

For conference logistics information in Mongolian:
Ms. ALTANGEREL Lkhagvajav, Guest Researcher of Global Environmental Forum
TEL. +976-99138914, e-mail: yutaka_alt@yahoo.co.jp

Japan:
For conference content information in English or Japanese:
Dr. Tomoo OKAYASU, Project Research Associate of the University of Tokyo
TEL. +81-3-5841-5050, e-mail: aokayasu@mail.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp

For conference logistics information in English or Japanese:
Mr. Hiroshi NAKAMURA, Researcher of Global Environnemental Forum
TEL. +81-3-3813-9735, e-mail: nakamura@gef.or.jp
Ms. Chizuko NAGAOKA, Researcher of Waseda Research Institute Corporation
TEL. +81-3-5286-8354, e-mail: chizu.n@kurenai.waseda.jp