Emergence of Human Geoscience

Abstract

Restructuring of Science Council of Japan in 2005 gave an opportunity to a broad range of geosciences to work together in Japan, and one of its outcomes was the birth of a new discipline of geoscience, which was later called the human geoscience. It is the science of natural phenomena that occur on the surface of the earth and their relations with human activities. The persistent threat of global environmental problems and geo disasters have made geoscientists in Japan aware of the necessity of developing this new discipline of science together in order to tackle these problems. The newly established Human Geoscience Committee of Science Council of Japan, with support from the Human Geosciences Section of Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU), has played major role in the creation and development of this new science through its various activities, such as compilation of official proposals, organization of open symposia, presentation of the human geoscience roadmap, publications, and committee meetings themselves, that all contributed greatly to intra-disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and trans-disciplinary understanding and cooperation. Human geoscience is thus growing not only for itself as a strongly interdisciplinary science for sustainability, but also as a “science for society”.