Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture (ICC) presents

A panel discussion on sustainability:
Rethinking Sustainability after 3.11

Friday July 17, 2015 19:00-21:00
Sophia University, Yotsuya Campus Bldg. 10, room 301

Guest speaker:
Binka Le Breton, President, Director, Amigos de Iracambi

Panelists:
Pania Lincoln, Regional Director, Pangea Seed Japan Junichi Sato, Executive Director, Greenpeace Japan Yuko Omura, International Coordinator, Peace Boat, Peaceboat

Moderators:
Sarajean Rossitto, Nonprofit NGO Consultant, Sophia Lecturer Professor David Slater, Sophia University

Summary
Our featured guest speaker from Brazil will start us off with an introduction to sustainability and the global sustainability movement. Japanese NGO representatives will share their work related to ocean conservation, food and energy sustainability issues and share how 3.11 impacted their work.

Access:
http://www.sophia.ac.jp/eng/info/access/directions/access_yotsuya
http://www.sophia.ac.jp/eng/info/access/map/map_yotsuya
In English; no translation.
Open to the public; no prior registration necessary

Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture
7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8554
+81-(0)3-3238-4082 (Tel) / +81-(0)3-3238-4081 (Fax)
http://icc.fla.sophia.ac.jp/ (Web)
diricc@sophia.ac.jp (email)

Guest speaker

Binka Le Breton, Author, Environmentalist and Activist Binka Le Breton lives in Brazil's Atlantic Forest where she co-directs the Iracambi Research Center, which welcomes dozens of researchers, students and volunteers every year to help in its work of saving forests and changing lives. Iracambistas work with the local community to protect the rainforest, improve rural livelihoods and create and implement sound environmental policy at local and state level. In an isolated rural area which formerly had little hope for its future, Iracambi is a catalyst for community action, resulting in greatly improved access to health, education and communications, and more importantly, a new concept of "Yes, we can". Binka travels extensively on the lecture circuit, sharing her passion for environmental and human rights, and her books explore topics such as modern-day slavery, land conflicts, profiles of human rights activists and forced disappearance in Colombia and beyond.

Panelists

Pania Lincoln, Regional Director, Pangea Seed Japan http://pangeaseed.org/japan/
Pania is an educator and regional director of PangeaSeed Japan, an NGO working towards conservation and awareness building of the plight of sharks. Utilising her diverse background in art and IT, politics, volunteering, and animal rights activism, Pania brings a unique and positive perspective to the dialogue about oceans in Japan. Today she will talk about sustainability as it relates to oceans and the necessity role of sharks in that ocean sustainability.

About PangeaSeed Japan is a Japan-based non-governmental and nonprofit organisation working together with creative individuals and groups towards a common goal of positive education about sharks and marine life. Through activism, events, educational talks and campaigns we work to create a change within the community and develop an understanding of the need to preserve and protect the world’s oceans.

Junichi Sato, Executive Director, Greenpeace Japan, http://www.greenpeace.org/japan/ja/
Junichi began his career in the field of micro-finance and has also worked on poverty and environmental issues. He worked in fair trade before joining Greenpeace Japan as a project staff member in 2001. He introduced the “Zero Waste” policy that was instituted in other countries including Australia, New Zealand and the UK, as well as Japan. He was soon promoted to toxics campaign leader, and in 2005 became leader of the Ocean’s Project, where he campaigned on issues such as overfishing and illegal fishing. In December 2010, Junichi became the Executive Director at Greenpeace Japan. He continues to work on ending the subsidies for Japan’s whaling programme, the ongoing problems created by the triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, and the many other environmental issues Greenpeace campaigns on.

Greenpeace exists because this fragile earth deserves a voice. It needs solutions. It needs change. It needs action. Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace.

Yuko Omura, International Coordinator, Peace Boat http://peaceboat.org/
Before joining Peace Boat as a volunteer interpreter in 2009, Yuko was actively campaigning to protect the natural habitat in Henoko from the threat of a new military base. Yuko has since traveled to Okinawa 4 times with Peace Boat and observed first hand the destruction of nature brought about by plans to build a new base in Henoko and extra helicopter pads in the northern area of Takae. These plans threaten to destroy unique and rare habitats which are havens of bio-diversity and home to endangered species such as the Dugong and the Okinawa Woodpecker.

Peace Boat is a Japan-based international non-governmental organization that seeks to create awareness and action through the organization of global educational programmes, responsible travel, cooperative projects and advocacy activities. Peace Boat carries out its main activities through a chartered passenger ship that travels the world on peace voyages.

--
David H. Slater, Ph.D.
Director of the Institute of Comparative Culture
Professor of Cultural Anthropology
Faculty of Liberal Arts, Graduate Program in Japanese Studies
Sophia University, Tokyo