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A Member is a constituent of the SDGs design unit with various expertise.
At the end of the introductory message, we introduce what each member would like to work on.
Perceptual Psychology
When you carefully observe living things, you’ll often notice a repeating rhythm. For instance, people wake up and go to sleep every day, and sunflowers bloom every summer. The pendulum, an inanimate object, also has a rhythm. These things are completely different, but when you see this rhythm you start to think that they might share some things. While wandering in the space between living and non-living, I want to consider the question, “What is life?”
I want to think about what I should do to show people the design in nature, and create more chances to come into contact with its beauty.
Architectural Planning and Design
I mainly focus on designing buildings that are essential to everyday life, such as educational, cultural, and medical facilities. I’m particularly focused on looking from the user’s perspective to provide ways to create unique, appealing spaces where the people and the environment are interlinked.
Housing issues in developing countries, housing regeneration projects, post-disaster reconstruction, residential district projects
Performance Evaluation of Acoustic Engineering System
I am conducting research rating the functionality of sound systems/devices such as speakers, microphones, and sound networks. What characteristics are needed in order for these systems to accurately transmit information when they are used in real rooms. I am thinking of the best way to measure their functionality. The characteristics of the room are also included in the sound system. I am also conducting research into auditory training (auditory sense development) for sound technicians.
• Developing technology to improve the sense of unity and realism in live viewing transmissions, and to release this technology to society
• Rating acoustic transducers and developing usage techniques
• Acoustical design for dining spaces to maintain a sense of intimacy
• Auditory sense development curriculum creation and spreading
Sculpture
1. Research into the creation of sculptures with materials like wood and iron
2. Restoration and research on the shugendo art that was destroyed during the anti-Buddhist movement in Japan
3. Implementation of creative projects that link art with society
Professor (Art)
Member of the Sculpture Department of Kokugakai (National Painting Society), Council Member of the Association for the Study of Japanese Mountain Religion
I want to conduct research that connects our cultural understanding of mountains, trees, and rivers through art.
Current Projects: “Great East Japan Earthquake Support: Fukuoka Elf Tree,” “Kumamoto Earthquake Support: Little House Project,” “Northern Kyushu Rain Flooding Support: Driftwood Revival Project/Kurokawa Reconstruction Garden and Bio-Art/Yoshiki Cherry Blossom Tree: Reconstruction Prayer Project,” etc.
Environmental Conservation and Restoration
I specialize in landscape conservation. Ph.D. (Design). Using environmental surveys, environmental management, and environmental education, I test approaches to issues using fields like planning/design in forest communities/open space reserves, and local activism/volunteering. In recent years, I have been conducting research into volunteer activities to restore agricultural land after disasters.
In non-city areas, which make up 95% of Japan’s land area, the population continues to decline/age. To our country, with its high rainfall, communities in the mountainous areas are important for manufacturing, culture, biological diversity, and disaster protection. The world is moving towards urbanization/modernization, but I want to create/maintain a way of life that is in harmony with nature. Act locally; I will work to protect the environment with my design work.
Public Transportation Design, Product Design, Industrial Design
Using my experience with design in the public transportation sector, I’m working hard on my research on the usefulness of design, with the theme of “Design and Society.”
I want to think about what I should do to show people the design in nature, and create more chances to come into contact with its beauty.
Industrial Design, Product Design, Science of Design, Design Method
“Create and think. Think and create. Create ways of thinking. Think of ways of creating.” Using that as the motto behind my research, I will think of ways to implement industrial design/product design, such as communication tools, electronic tools, measuring tools, medical tools, and furniture, and think of things like design methods, design theory, and design logic. By creating designs that help people, I am aiming to improve manufacturing.
First and foremost I want to design, and put logic into practice.
Designs using the bias towards resilient design (true recycling, tri-country exchange, supporting small businesses, useful design history, fintech, self-help tools, cooperation systems…)
There’s so many fun things to do.
Design Education
Against a backdrop of the rapid advancement of ICT, globalization, intellectual property rights, and environmental problems, I have an interest in methods for addressing issues, from the local to the global, through design education. With a focus on medium- to high-level product design education in Asia, I conduct research on learning methods for design thinking skills and curriculum planning and development frameworks. Areas I wish to address
I hope to develop children as life-long learners through design education where thinking skills such as design thinking, critical thinking and creative thinking may be cultivated.
Mathematical Biology, Evolutionary Biology
Organisms (including humans) are basically complicated things. Ecosystems are even more complicated, as they are composed of vast amounts of organisms. I study mathematical biology in the hopes of understanding even a tiny bit about these complicated organisms and ecosystems.
I observe the real world, and conduct modelizations by extracting elements that I believe to be important and reconstructing them (I look at the process as something like painting abstract art). And by applying mathematical formulas, I am able to see the true essence of phenomena, that until then could only be described as "complicated."
To study the sustainability of ecosystems, the sustainability of human culture, and cooperation and synergy in human societies.
Philosophy, Ethics, Aesthetics, Fundamental Theory of Design
My specialty is philosophy. Addressing the problem of Minamata disease, I switched from engineering to the study of philosophy in order to fundamentally consider ideals for technology.
From the viewpoints of philosophy and ethics, I consider phenomena in which reason takes on violent aspects, such as compulsory detention for Minamata disease or Hansen's disease, nuclear power generation, the devastation of consumer society, and social disparities.
In the faculty, I teach with a focus on environmental ethics and the philosophy of design.
I wish to research what sort of technologies that will mitigate environmental problems, and concepts of design that will enhance nature and the lives of humans, from theoretical perspectives. I would be happy to make contributions from an environmental ethics perspective.
Computer Graphics Design
I conduct the study, research, and production of content design with the themes of games and animation. I practice serious games and gamification, etc., for the purpose of solving societal issues, while working to explicate the power of entertainment from a scientific perspective, thereby contributing to making a more "fun" society.
To expand the field of activity and influence for entertainment.
Creativity, Design Process, Relational Design Management, Social Innovation
Specialty:Social Design
I study the overlapping relationships in society and am searching for the dynamic relationships between people and the design process as a starting point for application.
Through my education, joint research, and commissioned research I am developing a social design project (including the business field) that will lead to a well-being society while also working on developing and verifying methodology relating to “relationship dynamic design.”
To use an engineering approach to visualize and quantitatively evaluate the relationship dynamic mechanism.
Media Arts
I conduct research based on practice in producing works against a background of acoustics and interaction design. I wish to critically address media and technology, and, as an example of the humanization of technology, explore means of expression that go beyond demonstrations of new technology.
I believe that the SDGs, which display wide-ranging objectives, are by no means a far-off dream. As an example, I hope to face up to and address close-at-hand problems such as the poor gender balance in Japanese universities, and the responsibilities for creation and for use in the conduct of research, through daily work.
photo:Yushi Yashima
Computer Graphics
I study computer graphics, and my research topics include dye simulation, image enhancing, animation creation support, etc. I am now beginning to explore new fields that are related to these.
Regarding what I would like to do in the SDG-related area, I am very interested in topics involving health, environmental protection, nature, economy, and inequality.
Environmental Anthropology
My specialty is environmental anthropology, in which I have engaged in surveying and research since the 1990s, primarily in Southern Asia. My research theme is the sociocultural analysis of environmental problems such as groundwater arsenic pollution and the loss of forests. In particular, I perform research on the relationship between poverty and environmental problems. For the past few years, I have been engaged in a project to place general residences and shop structures from the former British period into chronological order, and to determine the value of the structures.
Regarding the SDGs, from my many years of research into arsenic poisoning in farming villages in developing countries, I have an interest in Goal 3, "Good Health and Well-Being for all at all ages." Moreover, as poverty is at the root of many problems in developing countries, Goal 1, "No Poverty", in all its forms everywhere is a major goal that will be difficult to deal with. In addition, as I am performing valuation of former British period structures in order to foster developing countries' pride in their own cultures, I believe this has a connection to Goal 11, "Sustainable Cities and Communities".
Universal Design, Social Design
My subject of study is universal design. I have conducted universal design projects that have shown the benefits for companies and society when both actors are actively engaged in design. Currently, I am working at the Kyushu University Faculty of Design’s Global Design Education & Research Hub. My main activities are the management and design of projects related to research and education in partnership with domestic Japanese and overseas research organizations.
By applying design thinking and working in close collaboration with people who have diverse areas of expertise, I want to engage and train talented individuals who share my interest and concern about the ways to solve the problems facing society regardless of national boundaries and other differences. Eventually, someday I would like to fulfill my dream of taking my abilities and experience I have built in Japan and take it to my home-country, where I would like to continue implementing SDGs projects and contribute to solving social problems through the optic of Universal Design.
Interior Design, Office Design, Interior Product Design, Inclusive Design
Born 1961. While working at KOKUYO Co., Ltd. as a designer, I studied abroad at the Royal College of Art (RCA) from 1990 to 1992. After acquiring my master's degree, I returned home, and then worked at the American design and consulting firm IDEO for 4 years. I arrived at my current position after serving as an associate professor at the Kyushu Institute of Design (currently Kyushu University). I am currently involved in office design and product development as a designer for Japanese and American corporations. I have won many different awards, including the Red Dot Design Award from Germany, the Good Design Award, and the Kids Design Award. Among my published works is the book, "Museums that Stimulate the Senses - How to Create a Museum that You can See, Touch, and Experience" (published by Gakugei Shuppan-Sha, 2014).
As of 2003, I have been working in inclusive design as an approach towards social innovation, and have been conducting research in collaboration with The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art. As I am also involved with building concepts of science and creativity for the Fukuoka City Science Museum, I would like to study the relationship between science and design.
photo:Yushi Yashima
Social Design, Fashion Design, Arts-based Research
Melanie Sarantou is a full professor of social design at Kyushu University in Japan and an adjunct professor at the University of Lapland, Finland. Her PhD consolidated her many years of experience working and lecturing (University of Namibia 1998-2007) in the Namibian craft-design field by holistically mapping Namibian craft and design identities and narratives through a postcolonial lens. Sarantou worked as a post-doctoral researcher in the artistic research project ‘Margin to Margin’ (2016-2019), funded by Koneen Säätiö and Profi 2 Strategic Funding from the University of Lapland, investigating how arts and narrative practices impact marginalised women in communities in various global locations, for example in Namibia, Finland and Australia. Her research as a European Commission Research Fellow (2020-2022) focused on the transformational potential of the arts in societies living on the margin of Europe. This research, titled ‘Action on the Margin: Arts as Social Sculpture’ (AMASS, grant number 870621), was funded by the European Commission Horizon 2020 programme.
Contributing to the SDGs 5 Gender Equality), 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), my recent research in the TRUST project (2022-2024) explored the role of transformational social design and arts-based research in generating a more holistic understanding and workable solutions for ethically navigating cultural tensions existing with the processes of digitising Indigenous Cultural Heritage. I transfer my knowledge to our talented student cohorts through my Social Transformation Design, Narrative Design and Future Worlding, and Academic Publishing lectures at the Faculty of Design of Kyushu University. My specialisation in arts-based research and bioart enables me to intersect sustainable communities with creative practices, including materiality such as food, plants, textiles and arts, with cultural identities. I co-edited seven highly ranked books, of which four were published by Routledge. Titles include Empathy and Business Transformation, Arts-Based Methods for Decolonising Participatory Research, and Managing Complexity and Creating Innovation through Design. My publications advocate the SDGs 5, 10 and 11, which is the key work I will contribute to as my work for the SDGs Unit at Kyushu University.
Service Design, Strategic Design, Design Entrepreneurship
I am an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Design, Kyushu University. I earned a Ph.D. in Design from Politecnico di Milano, focusing my research on Strategic Design, Design Entrepreneurship, Transition Design, and Humanity-Centered Design. My studies explore how design narratives can contribute to creating and realizing a better world. With 15 years of experience as a management consultant and strategic designer, I have supported corporate strategies and design development. I have also served as the Chief Design Officer (CDO) and advisor for startup companies.
As symbolized by the challenges of achieving decarbonization, issues such as climate change, water security, and biodiversity loss are becoming increasingly complex and advanced. To address the "complex and wicked problems" that 21st-century society faces and to promote societal transitions toward a more sustainable and desirable long-term future, new design approaches are essential.
Through the SDGs Design Unit, I aim to engage in research, education, and collaborations with various partners, building upon regional efforts one step at a time to eventually create a significant global impact on these pressing challenges.
SDGs Design Unit Office, Faculty of Design Kyushu University
4-9-1 Shiobaru Minami-ku Fukuoka 815-8540, Japan
TEL +81 92-553-4466
Faculty of Design Kyushu University,
SDGs Design Unit Office
4-9-1 Shiobaru Minami-ku Fukuoka 815-8540, Japan
TEL +81 92-553-4466
