178
Chapter 7 by Esteban and colleagues presents two different types of coastal
issues–namely tsunamis and sea level rise–seeking to examine the vulnerability and
resilience of human life and society in the face of natural hazards through the reduction and management of risks. Their case studies examine the reconstruction of
Otsuchi town in northeast Japan after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake tsunami and
small islands of the coast of Bohol following the 2013 Bohol Earthquake in the
Philippines. Based on these cases, the chapter discusses how the time-scale through
which a problem is scrutinized influences the framing of disaster risk reduction, and
thus disaster preparedness and management.
Chapter 8 by Matsuda and co-authors elaborates on the current problems of food
security as one of the most important development strategies to alleviate poverty.
Relevant policies on food security and different ways to frame these policies are
discussed. The unchanged frame of enhancing market economy is considered to be
the main cause of decoupling of agricultural policies and nutrition policies. The
consequence of such failure in the integration of market-based policies and the
actual situation of agriculture on the ground has manifested itself in serious environmental degradation and poor health conditions.
9.2 Sustainability Science Examines Intended
and Unintended Consequences of Framing
As summarized above, the chapters in this book provide various perspectives to
elucidate sustainability issues such as contextual, spatial, and temporal, perspectives. By incorporating these, sustainability science raises scientific inquiries to
explore sustainable pathways for societies. One premise in this approach is that
society evolves in a path-dependent ways; hence, sustainability can be viewed as a
trajectory-based concept. This perspective implies two main roles of sustainability
science: (i) examining the past patterns of trajectories that have brought societies to
their present state, and (ii) designing the future based on the actions of the current
generation. In other words, the first role is providing a structural understanding on
how the human society of today has ended up being faced with a wide range of
sustainability issues; and the second role is advocating sustainability as the guiding
principle to design future societies through collaborations among various actors.
Framing, the primary focus of this volume, affects both these roles of sustainability
science significantly on how the present state is being interpreted and how the future
directions are envisioned.
Reflecting these two main roles, sustainability science plays a key role in examining the intended and unintended consequences of framing. Various measures to
achieve sustainability are undertaken based on the visions of ideal or preferred conditions of society. When those originally envisioned conditions are realized, the
outcomes are considered as intended consequences. However, unintended consequences also appear because of the specifying nature and unexpected effects of
T. Mino and S. Kudo
Chapter 7 by Esteban and colleagues presents two different types of coastal
issues–namely tsunamis and sea level rise–seeking to examine the vulnerability and
resilience of human life and society in the face of natural hazards through the reduction and management of risks. Their case studies examine the reconstruction of
Otsuchi town in northeast Japan after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake tsunami and
small islands of the coast of Bohol following the 2013 Bohol Earthquake in the
Philippines. Based on these cases, the chapter discusses how the time-scale through
which a problem is scrutinized influences the framing of disaster risk reduction, and
thus disaster preparedness and management.
Chapter 8 by Matsuda and co-authors elaborates on the current problems of food
security as one of the most important development strategies to alleviate poverty.
Relevant policies on food security and different ways to frame these policies are
discussed. The unchanged frame of enhancing market economy is considered to be
the main cause of decoupling of agricultural policies and nutrition policies. The
consequence of such failure in the integration of market-based policies and the
actual situation of agriculture on the ground has manifested itself in serious environmental degradation and poor health conditions.
9.2 Sustainability Science Examines Intended
and Unintended Consequences of Framing
As summarized above, the chapters in this book provide various perspectives to
elucidate sustainability issues such as contextual, spatial, and temporal, perspectives. By incorporating these, sustainability science raises scientific inquiries to
explore sustainable pathways for societies. One premise in this approach is that
society evolves in a path-dependent ways; hence, sustainability can be viewed as a
trajectory-based concept. This perspective implies two main roles of sustainability
science: (i) examining the past patterns of trajectories that have brought societies to
their present state, and (ii) designing the future based on the actions of the current
generation. In other words, the first role is providing a structural understanding on
how the human society of today has ended up being faced with a wide range of
sustainability issues; and the second role is advocating sustainability as the guiding
principle to design future societies through collaborations among various actors.
Framing, the primary focus of this volume, affects both these roles of sustainability
science significantly on how the present state is being interpreted and how the future
directions are envisioned.
Reflecting these two main roles, sustainability science plays a key role in examining the intended and unintended consequences of framing. Various measures to
achieve sustainability are undertaken based on the visions of ideal or preferred conditions of society. When those originally envisioned conditions are realized, the
outcomes are considered as intended consequences. However, unintended consequences also appear because of the specifying nature and unexpected effects of
T. Mino and S. Kudo