Inaugural Address by the New Chair of Earthwatch Institute Japan

In recent years, the fusion of traditional knowledge and scientific knowledge has progressed beyond the conventional scientific framework. The role of citizens in advancing science has also become increasingly important. Since its founding in 1971, Earthwatch has been a leader in citizen science, sending citizen volunteers into the field to advance research activities with corporate support. In the future, environmental issues will become increasingly important and urgent, and we are entering an era that will require a new "relationship between people and nature”. We would like to work hard to further develop citizen science by respecting diverse values and positions and providing a forum for free and lively exchange of opinions. We sincerely appreciate your participation and cooperation.

(Original Message in Japanese)

On the issue of mobile base stations at Cape Shiretoko

 2024-06-25

I would like to make four brief comments on mobile base stations.

The current discussion seems to be about whether the Scientific Committee will acknowledge the impact on OUV*1, but as with dams and sea lions, it is more important how the World Heritage Committee will recommend. If there is a possibility of criticism, it is important to develop measures to deal with it. I apologize for being late in noticing the seriousness of this issue.

According to a recent investment policy on ESG, environmental, social and corporate governance [i], industries that have a negative impact on World Heritage sites are "subject to a cross-sectoral ban on investment, financing, etc." Although there is a note that "it is different if there is prior consent from the government of the country," if such a problematic project is forced through, it could have a major impact on the management of mobile phone companies and construction contractors. *2

The mayor of Rausu has made his opinion public. Citing the tourist boat accident, he explained that the mobile base station is a project to protect the lives of users. It also says that the World Heritage site "had a promise that it would not cause any disadvantage to fishermen." If we are to protect the lives of users, we would like to see the report of the third-party accident investigation committee made public*3. Frankly, I think that the cause of the accident was the lack of safety compliance obligations, and that citing this to build mobile base stations is a red herring. If the World Heritage Committee also questions the cause of the accident, it may become a problem beyond the impact on OUV. In the UN Principles for Responsible Investment and ESG investment, management governance is as important as environmental issues.*2

Finally, before the establishment of the Marine Area Working Group in February 2005 when the site was registered as a World Heritage Site, the members of the Working Group and the Fisheries Association had direct discussions. After that, the fishermen expanded the voluntary no-fishing zone for Alaska pollock, which was one of the deciding factors in meeting the condition of raising the level of protection of the marine area. In other words, the Fisheries Association contributed greatly to the registration of Shiretoko as a World Heritage Site, and it should have been evaluated that Shiretoko's fishing activities and the World Heritage Site have the same aspirations. I think it is up to the Marine Area Working Group to decide whether the suspension of the base station construction violates the promise made at the time not to impose new restrictions on fishing activities under the Natural Parks Act and other laws without the consent of the Fisheries Association in order to manage the Shiretoko World Heritage Site, but the expression "will not cause any disadvantage" is not literal. However, I think that the Scientific Committee should have a dialogue with those who want to build the base station on this issue as well.

*1 Outstanding Universal Value = An outstanding cultural and/or natural value that transcends national boundaries and is of common importance to present and future generations of humanity as a whole. There are 10 OUV criteria for World Heritage inscription.

*2 Added 7/11: KDDI has published the TNFD report. It does not say that they will consult with experts as a contribution to biodiversity conservation (p. 7). Instead, it says, "The latest name recognition AI will identify the types of plants and animals, so a person, even if she/he is not a taxonomist,  can conduct a highly accurate survey just by taking a photo" (p. 23).  

*3 Added 6/28. Found on the website. I will discuss this in more detail in a separate section, but Chapter 5, "Measures to prevent recurrence," states that "mobile phones will be excluded from statutory wireless equipment." However, in 5.3.5, "Improvement of the communications environment in the waters around the Shiretoko Peninsula," it states that "mobile phone carriers and relevant ministries and agencies, etc." have "launched the Shiretoko Peninsula Regional Communications Infrastructure Strengthening Project, which will advance concrete efforts to improve the mobile phone communications environment in the Shiretoko Peninsula region." *Report on marine accident investigation into mobile phones as statutory wireless equipment, September 4, 2023, 

concern about the recent earthquake and aircraft accident in Japan

 

Dear colleagues,

I sincerely appreciate your thoughtful message expressing concern about the recent earthquake and aircraft accident in Japan.

Noto holds a special place in my heart as it is a base of the Kanazawa University Ecology Group. They started another UNESCO Chair since 2023.  I have been there several times.  One is a UN University event at Nanao city. Noto.

There was a significant incident at Haneda on the 2nd. Personally, I frequently take flights from New Chitose (Sapporo) to Haneda every year. The fact that there were no casualties among the passengers is, at the very least, a relief. My secretary is a former flight attendant, and her husband works for JAL. She was deeply shocked when she saw the news but she mentioned that the annual evacuation drill must have been a success. I told her that JAL should take pride in that.

I have had the opportunity to witness the beauty of the Shiretoko World Heritage Site from a Japan Coast Guard plane. Unfortunately, this incident occurred while the team was departing for Noto for relief efforts.

As we embark on a new year, my fervent hope is that it will not be marred by misfortunes and disasters in the world.

 Best,

5/13松田裕之最終講義 ご意見ご質問ありましたらお願いします

 

お世話になった皆さま

松田の最終講義に申込みいただき、ありがとうございました。おかげさまで、録画を残すことができました。

ご質問、ご意見、お気づきの点がありましたら、このサイトのコメント欄にお願いします。

Genarative AI needs a new literacy.

Q:. Is there anything else you would like to share with UNESCO on the topic of policies and guidelines?

A:In Japan, Sophia University and Tohoku University released their notes on the use of generated AI *at the end of March and the University of Tokyo at the beginning of April*. Tohoku University notes the following points: (1) Using the output of AI as it is in reports and other answers is not for one's own study; (2) The use of AI is prohibited in some classes, and in some cases may be considered plagiarism; (3) When using AI for research and study, etc., it is not uncommon for AI output to contain errors, and it is necessary to confirm whether the AI output is correct or incorrect; (4) If unpublished papers or confidential information is input into a generative AI [even if not used in a report], there is a possibility that such information will be leaked or disclosed unintentionally [three years later]. Sophia University prohibits students from using it for report writing, etc., but other universities only caution against it, and many other universities have not yet noted.

Since it is difficult to tell whether a report submitted by a student was created using generative AI or not, it has been pointed out that a combination of face-to-face interview examination and written test is necessary.

Since the generated AI do not collect information on Japanese-language sites into the big data, Japanese-language information was particularly prone to errors, it seems to have improved a lot recently. (Please forgive that this text itself is also based on translation by DeepL).

* https://ledge.ai/chatgpt_university/

Q:In your opinion, what will be a main impact of generative AI on education now and in the future (concerning dimensions of, for instance, teaching, learning, evaluation, validation, research, etc.)?

A:This is my personal opinion. While the above points should be noted, generative AI is an extremely useful tool, and many researchers are using it to find relevant literature for their research and to refine their manuscripts. I usually ask my students to submit questions about my lectures as a report. So far, my lectures are not globally famous, it is impossible to ask the catchy and wit questions with the generative AI. On the other hand, I am creating the answers to the questions. The generative AI is like a teaching assistant that supports me and often has better parts than my own answers. Students can use the generative AI to learn not only what they learned in the lecture, but also relevant information. Importantly, we need to develop a new literacy to verify the authenticity of the generative AI. This literacy has already been needed since Google searches were first becoming popular.

Greetings: My Retirement and Reemployment

I will retire from the Yokohama National University (YNU) at the end of March, 2023. I have had the opportunity to work for the spread and development of ecological risk studies for 20 years at YNU (Matsuda, ed. 2021, Springer), including the Global Center of Excellence Program "Global Eco-Risk Management from the Asian Viewpoints," the President of the East Asian Federations of Ecological Societies, and the UNESCO Chair "Education in Biosphere Reserves for Sustainable Society" (EBRoSS). I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the many people who have guided and supported me. I will give my final lecture on May 13 (in Japanese). I look forward to your attendance.

March 31, 2023 Hiroyuki Matsuda

Shinzo Abe, former Japanese prime minister, dies after being shot during election campaign

 

Thank you for your concern for Japan.

This is the seventh assassination of a present or former prime minister since the modern era, and the first since World War II.

Although far-left groups exist in Japan, this time the perpetrator is a former member of the Self-Defense Forces, so his ideological background is unknown.

In any case, assassination during a national election is a serious challenge to democracy and may have a significant impact on the outcome of the election on July 10. I am concerned about the possibility of Japan's “rearmament”.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-ex-prime-minister-abe-may-have-been-shot-taken-hospital-nhk-2022-07-08/