Project Leader	Hayashi Takeshi (Akita University, Faculty of Education and Human Studies)
Collaborators	Iizumi Yoshiko (Nihon University, College of Humanities and Sciences) Minaki Kanako (Kyoto University, Graduate school of Asian and African Area Studies) Yanagisawa Masayuki (Kyoto University, Center for Southeast Asian Studies)
Research Project	Study on the development of evaluation method of the water cycle to contribute to the sustainability assessment of agriculture in the Mekong Delta
Countries of Study	Vietnam

Outline of Research

This study focuses on the correlations between agriculture and the water environment in Ca Mau Province, Vietnam, located at the southwestern end of the Mekong Delta. This study will (1) integrate the results of field surveys and digital data (digital topography model, satellite images) in the study area to clarify the current status of the relationship among land use (use pattern and distribution of agricultural land), microtopography (land undulations), and water cycle mechanism (e.g. waterway networks) to contribute to the evaluation of the sustainability of local agriculture, and (2) examine effective analysis methods of the digital data for the efficient understanding of microtopography and water cycle mechanism in the vast delta.

Purpose of Research, Its Significance and Expected Results, etc

This study aims to contribute to our understanding of the historical processes that led to the formation of the regional agricultural systems recognized by the GIAHS in Japan. In doing so, we will focus on the dynamics of a) time: the sliding scale of different times (geological time, animal and plant time, human time, etc.) and b) space: the connections and disconnections among different spaces (regional, national, and market). These factors may have influenced the global institution of the "GIAHS agricultural system". We will attempt to understand the historical dynamics that led to the construction of a particular agricultural system, influenced by factors both within and outside the region.

The project will bring together academics and practitioners from different fields, along with local stakeholders in a region that has been the subject of long-term research and practice by its members. Through discussions among researchers and practitioners from different fields, we hope to make recursive discoveries about the possibilities and limitations of each field's perspectives and methodologies. This effort aims to reconsider the process of scientific work, which has traditionally been taken for granted as a one-way analysis of the subject. We aim to use a science, technology, and society perspective and methodology to include the workings of scientific knowledge surrounding the production of the narrative "the core of the agricultural system of GIAHS-accredited sites."

We believe that a platform of researchers and practitioners in the promotion of GIAHS could be beneficial in supporting the conservation of GIAHS certified sites in Tokushima and Wakayama prefectures, as well as exploring the possibility of applying for GIAHS certification for bamboo forests in southern Kyoto Prefecture. This could provide us with practical experience in building a narrative that enables the promotion of GIAHS, while building on academic knowledge. This study will offer a unique perspective on identifying potential GIAHS sites.