The Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) Kyoto University, in partnership with Hirosaki University, Osaka International University, and the Japan-ASEAN platform for transdisciplinary studies would like to announce the development of the Humanosphere Potentiality Index (HPI) website.

www.sustainablehumanosphere.org

The HPI was conceptualized by members in a Global COE Project “In Search of Sustainable Humanosphere in Asia and Africa” at Kyoto University (2007-12) funded by the Japanese Ministry of Education (MEXT). The HPI presents a different and unique way to envision the current condition of the world, one that is compatible with a strong sustainability paradigm approach.

The index demonstrates the significance of tropical countries for global sustainability and offers a unique comparison between HPI and the Human Development Index (HDI). It also offers this comparison to stimulate discussion on different ways to think about the role of the tropics and sustainability. The index is built upon existing publicly available data sets and was developed over the last 8 years by researchers based at different Japanese institutions.

In the near future, the index will include a comparison with the results of four other popular environmental indexes to provide comparative insights into how human society can engage with and think about the natural environment. Ultimately, it is hoped that the index will contribute to discussions on global potentiality from a long-term perspective.

For any comments or more information on this ongoing project please contact us below. We look forward to comments and responses. A fully peer-reviewed paper is also available at request detailing the conceptualization, methodology and calculations.

Contact: sustainablehumanosphere[@]gmail.com