Health Risk Management
Research field leader Professor Hiroaki Tanaka
Aims of the Research Field
The field of health risk management aims to identify the environmental problems of Asian countries, evaluate the environmental risks associated with urban human security engineering, such as the adverse effects on human health, the living environment and ecosystem, develop and propose solutions to them, or methods for risk reduction, control and management, and apply those solutions appropriately.
Research Features
In many Asian Megacities, environmental measures lag behind rapid urbanization and economic growth, creating serious health-related problems and environmental damage from water, air, soil, noise, vibration, and other pollution. Supply systems for safe water, sanitation systems, and waste disposal facilities, that form the foundation of daily life, are not in place or are inadequately managed. Without an environment that caters for healthy and comfortable living, conditions make it impossible to assure a diversity of ecological environments. Additionally, there is concern that inefficient and inappropriate use of energy and resources will speed global warming, deplete resources, including water, and hinder future economic growth in industry, agriculture, etc. Since there are various ways of solving those environmental problems depending on the region, new methods and approaches are needed that solve environmental problems by combining various engineering techniques and management tools that are outside the scope of experience and conditions found in Japan. It is therefore important to understand the region, discover what the environmental problems are in cooperation with the stakeholders, investigate the causes, propose appropriate solutions, and implement them. For this purpose, in addition to research at Kyoto University, mainly we conduct investigations and research at overseas fields that are relevant to our research themes, as well as at overseas bases such as the Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University and the Hanoi Institute of Technology.
