PROSPECTUS2021-2022

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10The UNESCO Chair on Geoenvironmental Disaster Reduction was founded in April 2018. Since its founda-tion, the center has actively carried out international exchange through the UNESCO Chair International Field School. The International School provides an excellent opportunity to learn about advanced natural disaster risk reduction and offers interaction among students from different countries. In 2020, the Field School invited twenty-seven students and lecturers from six countries: Nepal, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, France, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic. The pro-gram schedule consisted of a series of lectures by invited lecturers and a two and a half days’ excursion around Shimane University. The participants, including Shimane University students, also visited Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine, designated as a World Heritage Site, Mt. Sanbe, an active volcano, and facilities that act as countermeasures against significant flooding in the Hiikawa River system running through eastern Shi-mane. Students enjoyed the nature of Shimane, the The International Joint Research Institute of Shimane University and Ningxia University was established in 2004 to strengthen the academic partnership between the two institutions, which was founded in 1987. The institute building is located on Ningxia University’s campus in Yinchuan city. The main objectives of the institute are to promote interdisciplinary joint research projects on social and natural sciences relevant to SDGs, and to develop an academic research network for tackling problems to be solved in the western region of China with cooperating universities in China and visiting scientists of the institute.Estuary Research Center (EsReC) is the only research center in Japan devoted to the study of estuaries and brackish waters and is promoting basic and applied sciences on estuaries and coasts, including their water-sheds towards sustainable estuaries. EsReC was founded in 1992 as the Research Center for Coastal Lagoon Environments (ReCCLE) and renamed in 2017 to specify the objectives of the research center as solving the estuary environment and ecology.spacious facilities used as the countermeasures for flooding, and the remains of a buried forest that is the result of a large-scale natural hazard. Groups made up of students from different countries delivered presenta-tions at the end of the five-day school. A virtual International School was held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and forty-five participants from twelve countries, including international students in Japan, intently listened to ten lectures.International Joint Research Institute of Shimane University and Ningxia UniversityUNESCO Chair on Geoenvironmental Disaster ReductionEstuary Research Center (EsReC)