Kazuhiko Takeuchi

He specializes in landscape ecology, environmental studies, and sustainability science. He engages in research and outreach activities on creating eco-friendly environments for a harmonious coexistence of people and nature, especially focusing on Asia and Africa. Recently, he has been working toward establishing a global foundation for developing the field of sustainability science aiming to build a sustainable society. He is deeply involved in the SATOYAMA initiative, aiming at the restoration and revitalization of socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes around the world, and Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) initiated by FAO.

Landscape ecology, Environmental studies and Sustainability science

Prof. Takeuchi was born in 1951 in Wakayama City. He graduated from the Department of Geography, the University of Tokyo in 1974. He obtained M.Agr. in 1976 and PhD from the Graduate School of Agriculture, the University of Tokyo. He served as a Lecturer at the Faculty of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, an Associate Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, a Professor, Asian Natural Environmental Science Center, a Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Science at the University of Tokyo and as Director and Professor, Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science (IR3S) at the University of Tokyo from 2017 to 2019. He also served as a Senior Vice-Rector at United Nations University and Assistant Secretary-General at the United Nations from 2013 to 2016. From 2016, he has served as a Visiting Professor at United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS). He was Director and a Project Professor of IR3S at the University of Tokyo from April 2017 to 2019. He has served as President, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) since July 2017. He took up the position as Project Professor of the Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI) at the University of Tokyo in April 2019. He has served, inter alia, as Chair of the Nature Conservation Committee of the Central Environment Council, Government of Japan, Editor-in-Chief of the journal Sustainability Science (Springer Nature), and Distinguished Chair, Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies, University of Nairobi.

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles (2021-2014)

• Jarzebski, M.P., Elmqvist, T., Gasparatos, A., Fukushi, K., Eckersten, S., Haase, D., Goodness, J., Khoshkar, S., Saito, O., Takeuchi, K., Theorell, T., Dong, N., Kasuga, F., Watanabe, R., Sioen, G.B., Yokohari, M., Pu, J.: Aging and population shrinking: Implications for sustainability in urban century. Urban Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-021-00023-z , 2021.
• Miyasaka, T., Miyamori, E., Okuro, T., Zhao, X., Takeuchi, K.: Comparison of nurse effect zones of shrubs versus trees for dryland rehabilitation in Northeast China. Restoration Ecology, DOI10.1111/rec.13364, 2021.
• Ortiz-Moya, F., Kataoka, Y., Saito, O., Mitra, B.K., Takeuchi, K.: Sustainable transitions towards a resilient and decentralized future: Japan’s Circulating and Ecological Sphere(CES). Sustainability Science, DOI10.1007/s11625-021-00941-y, 2021.
• Baffoe, G., Zhou, X., Moinuddin, M., Somanje, A.N., Kuriyama, A., Mohan, G., Saito, O., Takeuchi, K.: Urban-rural linkages: effective solutions for achieving sustainable development in Ghana from an SDG interlinkage perspective. Sustainability Science, DOI10.1007/s11625-021-00929-8 , 2021.
• Hori, K., Saito, O., Hashimoto, S., Matsui, T., Akter, R. and Takeuchi, K.: Population distribution projections under depopulation conditions in Japan, for scenarios analysis of future socio-ecological systems. Sustainability Science, 16, 295-311, 2021.
• 武内和彦：コロナ時代の自然と人間との共生. KOSMOS 2021/WINTER, 8-13.
• Somanje, AN., Mohan, G., Lopes. J., Mensah, A., Gordon, C., Zhou, X., Moinuddin Saito, O. and Takeuchi, K.: Challenges and potential solutions for sustainable urban-rural linkages in a Ghanian context. Sustainability, 12(2): 1-19, 2020.
• 武内和彦：地球規模課題のローカルな統合的解決を目指す「地域循環共生圏」．月刊資本市場, 406: 20-27, 2019.
• Elmqvist, T., Andersson, E., Frantzeskari, N., McPhearson., Olsson, P., Gaffney, O., Takeuchi, K., Folke, C. Sustainability and resilience for transformation in the urban century. Nature Sustainability, DOI 10.1038/s41893-019-0250-1, 2019.
• Kabaya, K., Hashimoto, S., Fukuyo, N., Uetake, T. Takeuchi, K. Investing future ecosystem services through participatory scenario building and spatial ecological-economic modelling. Sustainability Science, DOI 10.1007/s11625-018-0590-1, 2018.
• Hashimoto, S., DasGupta, R., Kabaya, K., Matsui, T., Haga, C., Saito, O., Takeuchi, K. Scenario analysis of land-use and ecosystem services of social-ecological landscapes: implications of alternative development pathways under declining population in the Noto Peninsula, Japan. Sustainability Science, DOI 10.1007/s11625-018-0626-6, 2018.
• Saito, O., Kamiyama, C., Hashimoto, S., Matsui, T., Shoyama, K., Kabaya, K., Uetake, T., Taki, H., Ishikawa, Y., Matsushita, K. Yamane, F., Hori, J., Ariga, T., Takeuchi, K. Co-design of national-scale future scenarios in Japan to predict and assess natural capital and ecosystem services. Sustainability Science, DOI 10.1007/s11625-018-0587-9, 2018.
• Yoshida, Y., Matsuda, H., Fukushi, K., Ikeda, S., Managi, S., Takeuchi, K. Assessing local-scale inclusive wealth: A case study of Sado Island, Japan. Sustainability Science, DOI 10.1007/s11625-018-0540-y, 2018.
• Saito, O., Managi, S., Kanie, N., Kauffman, J., Takeuchi, K. Sustainability science and implementing the sustainable development goals. Sustainability Science, DOI 10.1007/s11625-017-0486-5, 2017.
• Takeuchi, K., Saito, O., Lahoti, S., Gondor, D. Growing up: 10 years of publishing sustainability science research. Sustainability Science, DOI 10.1007/s11625-017-0484-7, 2017.
• Kajikawa, Y., Saito, O., Takeuchi, K. Academic landscape of 10 years of sustainability science. Sustainability Science, DOI 10.1007/s11625-017-0477-6, 2017.
• Gasparatos, A., Takeuchi, K., Elmqvist, T., Fukushi, K., Nagao, M., Swanepoel, F., Swilling, M., Trotter, D., von Blottniz, H. Sustainability science for meeting Africa’s challenges: setting the stage. Sustainability Science, 12: 635-640, 2017.
• Antwi, EK., Owusu-Banahene, W., Boakye-Danquah, J., Mensah, R., Tetteh, JD., Nagao, M., Takeuchi, K. Sustainability assessment of mine-affected communities in Ghana: towards ecosystems and livelihood restoration. Sustainability Science, 12, 747-767, 2017.
• Miyasaka, T., Quang Bao Le Q.B., Okuro, T., Zhao, X., Takeuchi, K. Agent-based modeling of complex social–ecological feedback loops to assess multi-dimensional trade-offs in dryland ecosystem services. Landscape Ecology, 32, 707-727, 2017.
• Yanagawa, A., Sasaki, T., Jamsran, U., Okuro, T., Takeuchi, K. Factors limiting vegetation recovery processes after cessation of cropping in a semiarid grassland in Mongolia. Journal of Arid Environments, 131, 1-5, 2016.
• Boafo, Y.A., Saito, O., Jasaw, G.S., Otsuki, K., Takeuchi, K. Provisioning ecosystem services-sharing as a coping and adaptation strategy among rural communities in Ghana's semi-arid ecosystem. Ecosystem Services, 19, pp. 92-102, 2016.
• Takeuchi, K., Ichikawa, K. and Elmqvist, T.: Satoyama landscape as social- ecological system: historical changes and future perspective. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability: 19, 30-39, 2016.
• Yiu, E., Nagata, A., Takeuchi, K. Comparative study on conservation of agricultural heritage systems in China, Japan and Korea. J. Resour. Ecol.: 7(3), 170-179, 2016.
• Boafo, YA., Saito, O., Kato, S., Kamiyama, C., Takeuchi, K. and Nakahara, M.:The role of traditional ecological knowledge in ecosystem services management: the case for four rural communities in Northern Ghana. International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management: DOI: 10.1080/ 21513732.2015.1124454, 2015.
• Yanagawa, A., Fujimaki, H., Okuro, T., Jamsran, U., Takeuchi, K.: Comparison of drought tolerances in a root water uptake model for two co-occurring grass species in Mongolia. Japanese Society of Soil Physics: 130, 3-10, 2015.
• Zhou, D., Aoyagi, M., Matsuda, H., Hara, Y., Okuro, T. and Takeuchi, K.: The resilience of traditional rice-dominated agricultural communities to precipitation variability in the North China Plain. Climate Research: 62, 149-161, 2015.
• Jasaw, GS., Saito, O., Takeuchi, K.: Shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) butter production and resource use by urban and rural processors in Northern Ghana. Sustainability, 7, 3592-3614, 2015.
• Bloesh, J., von Hauff, M., Mainzer, K., Mohan, SV., Renn, O., Risse, V., Somg, Y., Takeuchi, K. and Wilderer, P.: Sustainable development, Integrated in the concept of resilience. Problems of Sustainable Development, 10: 7-14, 2015.
• Dı´az1, S., Demissew, S., Carabias, J., Joly, C., Lonsdale, M., Ash, N., Larigauderie, A., Adhikari, JR., Arico,S., Ba´ ldi, A., Bartuska, A., Baste, I.A, Bilgin, A., Brondizio, E. Chan, KMA., Figueroa, VE., Duraiappah, A., Fischer, M., Hill,R., Koetz, T., Leadley, P., Lyver, P, Mace, GM., Martin-Lopez, B., Okumura, M., Pacheco, D., Pascual, U., Pe´ rez ES., Reyers, B., Roth, E., Saito, O., Scholes, RJ., Sharma, N., Tallis, H., Thaman, R., Watson, R., Yahara, T., Hamid, Z.A., Akosim, C., Al-Hafedh, Y., Allahverdiyev,R., Amankwah, E., Asah,TS., Asfaw, Z., Bartus, G., Brooks, AL., Caillaux,J., Dalle, G., Darnaedi, D., Driver, A., Erpul, G., Escobar-Eyzaguirre, P., Failler, P., Fouda, AMF., Fu, B., Gundimeda, H., Hashimoto, S., Homer, F., Lavorel, S., Lichtenstein, G., Mala, WA., Mandivenyi, W., Matczak, P., Mbizvo, C., Mehrdadi, Metzger, MJP., Mikissa, JB., Moller, H., Mooney, HA., Mumby, P., Nagendra, H., Nesshover, C., Oteng-Yeboah, AA, Pataki, G., Roue´, M., Rubis, J., Schultz, M., Smith, P., Sumaila, R., Takeuchi, K., Thomas, S., Verma, M., Yeo-Chang, Y. and Zlatanova, D.: The IPBES conceptual framework – connecting nature and people. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 14:1-16, 2015.
• Arnim,W., Harlow, J., Melnick, J., vam der Leeuw, S., Fukushi, K., Takeuchi, K., Farioli, F., Yamba, F., Balke, A., Geiger, C., Kutter, R. : Sustainability science in action: a review of the state of the field through case studies on disaster recovery, bioenergy, and precautionary purchasing. Sustainability Science 10: 17-31, 2015.
• Nakamura, S., Tsuge, T., Okubo, S., Takeuchi, K., Usio, N.: Exploring factors affecting farmers’ implementation of wildlife-friendly farming on Sado Island, Japan. Journal of Resources and Ecology, 5(4): 370-380, 2014.
• Takeuchi, K., Elmqvist, T., Hatakeyama, M., Kauffman, J., Turner, N., Zhou, D.: Using sustainability science to analyse social–ecological restoration in NE Japan after the great earthquake and tsunami of 2011. Sustainability Science 9: 513-526, 2014.
• Antwi, EK., Boakye-Danquah, J., Asabere, SB., Takeuchi, K., Wiegleb, G.: Land cover transformation in two post-mining landscapes subjected to different ages of reclamation since dumping of spoils. SpringerPlus 3:702, 2014.
• Avornyo, VK., Ito, O., Kranjac-Berisavljevic, G., Saito, O., Takeuchi, K.: Cropping Systems in Some Drought-Prone Communities of the Northern Region of Ghana: Factors Affecting the Introduction of Rice. Journal of Disaster Research, 9: 475-483, 2014.
• Boakye-Danquah, J., Antwi, EK., Saito, O., Abekoe, MK. and Takeuchi, K.: Impact of Farm Management Practices and Agricultural Land Use on Soil Organic Carbon Storage Potential in the Savannah Ecological Zone of Northern Ghana. Journal of Disaster Research, 9: 484-500, 2014.
• Boafo, YA., Saito, O. and Takeuchi, K.: Provisioning Ecosystem Services in Rural Savanna Landscapes of Northern Ghana: An Assessment of Supply, Utilization, and Drivers of Change. Journal of Disaster Research, 9: 501-515, 2014.
• Antwi1, E.K., Otsuki1, K., Saito, O., Obeng, F.K., Gyekye, K.A., Boakye-Danquah1, J., Boafo1, Y.A., Kusakari, Y., Yiran, G.A.B., Owusu, A.B., Kwabena O., Asubonteng, Dzivenu, T., Avornyo, V.K., Abagale, F.K., Jasaw, G.S., Lolig, V., Ganiyu, S., Donkoh, S.A., Yeboah, R., Kranjac-Berisavljevic, G., Gyasi, E.A., Minia, Z., Ayuk, E.T., Matsuda, H., Ishikawa, H., Ito, O. and Takeuchi, K.: Developing a Community-Based Resilience Assessment Model with reference to Northern Ghana. Journal of Integrated Disaster Risk Management 4(1):73-92, 2014
• Muhamad, D., Okubo, S., Harashina, K., Parikesit., Gunawan, B., Takeuchi, K.: Living close to forests enhances people’s perception of ecosystem services in forest-agricultural landscape of West Java, Indonesia. Ecosystem Services 8:197-206,2014.
• Tsuchiya, K., Aoyagi-Usami, M., Okuro, T. and Takeuchi, K.: The potential of , and threat to, the transfer of ecological knowledge in urban areas: the case of community-based woodland management in Tokyo, Japan. Ecology and Society 19(2):25, 2014.

Books (2021-2014)

• Gasparatos, A., Merle, N., Ahmed, A., Karanja, A., Fukushi, K., Saito, O., Takeuchi, K. eds.: Sustainability Challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa II: Insights from Eastern and Southern Africa. Springer, 268pp., 2020.
• Gasparatos, A., Ahmed, A., Merle, N., Karanja, A., Fukushi, K., Saito, O., Takeuchi, K. eds.: Sustainability Challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa I: Continental Perspectives and Inshghts from Western and Central Africa. Springer, 360pp., 2020.
• Saito, O., Subramanian, SM., Hashimoto, S. and Takeuchi, K. eds.: Managing Socio-ecological Production Landscapes for Sustainable Communities in Asia. Springer, 179pp., 2020.
• 武内和彦：里山ランドスケープの再生―戦略的に取り組む．日本生命財団編：人と自然の環境学．東京大学出版会，207－226，2019.
• Takeuchi, K., Shiroyama, H., Saito, O. and Matsuura, M. eds.: Biofuels and Sustainability: Holistic Perspective for Policy-making. Springer, 265pp., 2018.
• Takeuchi, K., Saito, O., Matsuda, H. and Mohan, G. eds.: Resilient Asia: Fusion of Traditional and Modern Systems for Sustainable Future. Springer, 196pp., 2018.
• Saito, O., Kranjac-Berisavljevic, G., Takeuchi, K. and Gyasi, E.A. eds.: Strategies for Building Resilience against Climate and Ecosystem Changes in Sub-Saharan Africa. Springer, 343pp., 2017.
• Takeuchi, K., Harashina, K., Hara, Y., 2017. Establishing a Sustainable Community through Urban and Rural Fusion. Yokohari, M., Murakami, A., Hara, Y., Tsuchiya, K. (eds) Sustainable Landscape Planning in Selected Urban Regions, 27-38, Springer.
• Yangi, K. and Kuo, C.G. eds: The Challenges of Agro-Environmental Research in Monsoon Asia. NIAES Series 6, 13-29pp, 2016.

• 2021 MIDORI Academic Prize
• 2019 The Ichimura Prize in Science against Global Warming for Distinguished Achievement
• 2018 Otto Soemarwoto Award (Indonesia)
• 2017 Japan Prize of Agricultural Science
• 2005 Commendation for Contributions to Environmental Conservation, from the Ministry of the Environment, Japan
• 1994 Ishikawa Award of the City Planning Institute of Japan
• 1994 Award of the Association of Rural Planning, Japan
• 1980 Award of the Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture