The ICHARM Programme, which was revised based on PWRI's 5th Medium- and Long-term Plan (2022-2027), stipulates the following policy for research activities:
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In these contexts, ICHARM has been conducting research on the following five themes using the end-to-end approach:
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The following describe the main research topics and achievements.
The Public Works Research Institute (PWRI) has identified the following three themes that deserve intensive resource allocation in its medium- to long-term plan. These are related to the issues that are receiving significant public attention and need to be addressed today for the future.
To conduct research under these three themes, PWRI has established 15 R&D programs, each led by the head of a research group as the program leader.
● List of the R&D programs:
https://www.pwri.go.jp/eng/research/project/index.html
In this PWRI initiative, ICHARM has been assigned to Research Theme A and conducting a research program, “Development of Technologies for Promoting ‘River Basin Disaster Resilience and Sustainability by All,” led by the deputy director as the program leader, aiming to develop technologies to achieve basin-wide flood control against increasingly more intense flood hazards.
The following three research projects are underway in this research program:*Click here for an overview of the R&D program to develop technologies to achieve basin-wide flood control against increasingly more intense flood hazards. See also a summary of each research project created based on the reports produced by PWRI’s project evaluation committee.
ICHARM conducts research funded by external sources in addition to PWRI-funded research, as follows:
Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP)SIP is a national project established and operated directly under the Cabinet Office's Council for Science, Technology and Innovation in Japan and is managed in a cross-ministerial and interdisciplinary framework to achieve scientific and technological innovation. SIP addresses the most important social problems facing Japan and world-leading issues that can contribute to the resurgence of Japan's economy.
Under the strong leadership of program directors assigned to each research and development project, each project team carries out various tasks using an end-to-end approach from basic research to implementation. In other words, they undertake a project with an overall picture from start to end, including practical application and commercialization of inventions. SIP has started its third phase from 2023 to 2027, with 14 projects underway.
Website: https://www8.cao.go.jp/cstp/panhu/sip_english/sip_en.html
ICHARM participates in a joint research team working on developing methods for facilitating disaster damage control behavior through risk communication. This research is among the sub-theme projects under the creation of a smart disaster prevention network, one of the 14 research and development projects.
ICHARM Newsletter vol. 71
https://www.pwri.go.jp/icharm/publication/newsletter/pdf/icharm_newsletter_issue71.pdf#page=5
SENTAN, a research program led by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), aims to further advance the climate change research that MEXT has been promoting. This program supports research and development to reduce the uncertainty of future predictions through the advancement of climate change prediction simulation technology, to analyze climate change mechanisms, and to improve the accuracy and utilization of climate prediction data. SENTAN manages these projects in a well-coordinated manner to create and provide scientific evidence that can be used to develop effective climate change measures (adaptation measures and mitigation measures by promoting a decarbonized society).
In 2022, the MEXT program decided on four main research themes. ICHARM participates in Area Subject D: International cooperation for hazard and risk assessment in the Asia-Pacific region under Area Theme 4: Development of an integrated hazard projection model, led by Kyoto University. We have already started constructing a water circulation model in the Philippines and building a locally-calibrated Online Synthesis System for Sustainability and Resilience (OSS-SR), an online knowledge integration system.
Website: https://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/boshu/detail/mext_00203.html
Reference
Kyoto University http://www.climate.dpri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/sentan4/ (Link: Japanese only)
BRIDGE focuses more on resolving social issues rather than research and development. Following the Integrated Innovation Strategy and other policies that promote science, technology, and innovation, the Council for Science, Technology, and Innovation identifies priority issues, such as business environment improvement, startup creation, and human resource development, which must be addressed to ensure that innovative technologies created through SIP and other government-led R&D projects are fully utilized to solve social issues and create new businesses.
(Source: Cabinet Office website about BRIDGE)
In the BRIDGE program, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) is assigned to accelerate the nationwide application of the Integrated System of Disaster Reduction for Municipalities (IDR4M). In this effort, ICHARM will be in charge of the hazard evaluation task involving the development of a water-level forecasting model required for river water level forecasting.
Websites:
○ Cabinet Office:
Programs for Bridging the Gap between R&D and the Ideal Society (society 5.0) and Generating Economic and Social Value (BRIDGE) (Link: Japanese only)
「IDR4Mの全国展開の加速化プロジェクト」 (Link: Japanese only)
○ MLIT:
河川砂防技術研究開発公募 SIP社会実装部門 (Link: Japanese only)
○ Foundation of River & Basin Integrated Communications (FRICS):
IDR4M Leaflet (Link: Japanese only)
ICHARM’s latest research topics are listed in the ICHARM Activity Report and ICHARM Newsletters.
ICHARM Activity Report
The ICHARM Governing Board meets once a year to review the activity report of the previous fiscal year. The activity report summarizes the latest research findings and other activities.
Research updates in ICHARM Newsletters
ICHARM publishes a newsletter four times a year. Every issue carries articles written by our researchers about their latest research topics.
* Click on the year that interests you.
PWRI-funded research
PWRI 4th mid- and long-term plan (2016-2021) (Link: Japanese only)
PWRI 3rd mid- and long-term plan (Link: Japanese only)
Externally funded research (Link: Japanese only)