Season's Greetings from the IPSI Secretariat!

The staff of the IPSI Secretariat, and all of us here at UNU-IAS in Tokyo, Japan wish you the warmest greetings for the holiday season, and the best of success in the coming year.

(top row) Yohsuke Amano, Caecilia Manago, Kazuhiko Seriu, Shamik Chakraborty, Harumi Ishijima, Ayumi Takahashi

(bottom row) William Dunbar, Kazu Takemoto, Wataru Suzuki, Kaoru Ichikawa

The Sixth IPSI Global Conference (IPSI-6): 12-14 January 2016, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Thanks to everyone who registered for the Sixth IPSI Global Conference (IPSI-6), to be held in Siem Reap, Cambodia from 12 to 14 January 2016. Registrations are now closed, and we are looking forward to a great conference with the participation of many IPSI members.

IPSI-6 will consist as usual of a meeting of the IPSI General Assembly and a Public Forum, plus chances to visit nearby sites, socializing and other events for participants. Detailed information on the conference programme will be made available to those who have registered when it is ready. For those who are unable to attend this time, please keep an eye on the IPSI website for information on other members’ activities, and we hope we will see you at another event soon.

For more information on IPSI-6 as it becomes available, please check the IPSI website here.

Reminder: IPSI Plan of Action 2013-2018 Questionnaire

As part of the mid-term review of the IPSI Plan of Action 2013-2018, the IPSI Secretariat has produced a questionnaire for IPSI members to share their experiences and opinions on the development of the partnership to date and its strategic direction in the future. It is very important that all members fill out the questionnaire and send it to the Secretariat at their earliest convenience.

The questionnaire is available for download on the IPSI website here.

Call for Papers: Satoyama Initiative Thematic Review Vol. 2

The IPSI Secretariat recently announced a call for papers for the second volume of the series “Satoyama Initiative Thematic Review”. The theme of this volume will be “Incorporating concepts and approaches of socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS) into policy and decision-making”.

The second issue of the Satoyama Initiative Thematic Review will invite papers on lessons learned from processes for mainstreaming SEPLS concepts and approaches in policy and other frameworks that broadly affect people’s or organizations’ behavior and decision-making. The mainstreaming can relate to activities at multiple scales of operation (from landscape to provincial to national or regional) that demonstrate how to include SEPLS priorities in relevant policies at the scale of operation.

Authors from IPSI member organizations who have case studies relevant to the theme are highly encouraged to submit a manuscript by 22 January 2016.

For more information on the scope, timeline, eligibility and submission, please see the IPSI website here.

International Open Seminar on Hokusetsu SATOYAMA

The Hokusetsu region in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan is one of the few remaining homes of well-managedsatoyama landscapes, which are a well-known example of SEPLS found in Japan. IPSI members the Hokusetsu Satoyama Museum Steering Council, the Hyogo Prefectural Government and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) recently organized an international workshop and seminar on satoyama landscapes in the area, with help from other organizations including the IPSI Secretariat. The theme of the event was “Who are to save SATOYAMA? What for?”

The event consisted of two days of presentations and discussion, plus an excursion to see some of the local landscapes and production activities carried out in them. The IPSI Secretariat's own Mr. Wataru Suzuki was invited to facilitate the discussions, and was joined by Mr. Kazuhiko Seriu. The two were also pleased to meet representatives from other IPSI members there, including from National Dong-Hwa University in Chinese Taipei and the Social Policy Ecology Research Institute (SPERI) in Viet Nam.

This event was a great opportunity to explore issues facing SEPLS in Japan, and also served to highlight the increasing role that IPSI is taking in coordinating international efforts towards SEPLS revitalization and sustainable management.

Recent Case Studies: University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU)

The IPSI Secretariat recently received a case study report from partner organization the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), in collaboration with the Sölktäler Nature Park in Austria, titled “Mountain pasture management in the Sölktäler Nature Park”.

In Austria, being a very mountainous country, central elements of the cultural landscape (SEPLS) are mountain meadows and pastures. They not only have a very rich biodiversity, with a large number of (endangered) species and diverse habitats, but are also important sites of agricultural production, tourism, culture, tradition, knowledge, and sustainable land use. For both locals and tourists, mountain pastures represent Heimat (identity, homeland), comparable to the Japanese satoyama. Due to socio-economic reasons, however there is a general trend of abandoning the extensive use of high mountain pastures, which then develop into forest land. In the Sölktäler Nature Park (two trough valleys in the Niederen Tauern/Styria), mountain pasture farming is still practised in a traditional way. Once the food of poor people, the strong-smelling Styrian cheese (produced during the summer on the mountain pastures) is nowadays a culinary standard-bearer and a delicacy renowned countrywide.

The management body of the Nature Park promotes public relations to strengthen public awareness of the relevance of mountain farming for the conservation of bio-cultural diversity and mountain pasture landscapes, and supports sustainable tourism, local mountain pasture products, re-valorisation of old customs, traditional knowledge and trading routes, organizing training courses (e.g. to hand on mountain farmers´ traditional knowledge and skills), volunteers´ activities for nature conservation, botanical/faunistic excursions and lectures and related scientific research.

Much more information about these activities can be found in the full case study write-up on the IPSI website here.

Contact

Please be sure to let the Secretariat know if there are any changes in your e-mail address or contact information.

Secretariat of the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative
5–53–70 Jingumae
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-8925
Japan

Tel: +81 3-5467-1212
Fax: +81 3-3499-2828

Email: isi@unu.edu

If you have been forwarded this newsletter and would like to SUBSCRIBE, you can do so on the IPSI website here.