From July 30 to August 6, 2026, 14 students from Bangladesh (BUET), Indonesia (UB, UNHAS, USK, UNSRAT), Japan (Keio), Malaysia (UM, USM), Myanmar (UCSY), the Philippines (UPD), Thailand (Chula), and Vietnam (HUST) came together for the EBA Minamata Fieldwork, hosted by Keio University. Two students from Minamata High School also joined the first three days of activities.
As part of SOI Asia’s efforts to support collaborative and practice-based learning, the program explored how lessons from Minamata can help communities prevent, prepare for, and recover from human-made environmental disasters.
Due to possible risks following the earthquake in the Kumamoto region on July 28, the fieldwork was exceptionally held in Tokyo instead of Minamata City. Participants explored Minamata’s history and continuing transformation through stakeholder discussions, digital learning materials, virtual mapping, remote sessions with locals at Minamata City, a VR experience session, and an SDG digital art workshop. They also visited the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation and the Tokyo Rinkai Disaster Prevention Park. These activities helped participants examine environmental challenges from different perspectives while practicing data collection, analysis, visualization, and storytelling.
Using the evidence and lessons gathered during the program, each group developed a service proposal for creating cities that are resilient to human-made environmental disasters. Their final outcomes will be shared alongside those of the EBA KRI Thailand Fieldwork participants during an online presentation on September 15, 2026, from 18:15 (UTC+9).
More information about the fieldwork and final presentation is available on the EBA project page:
https://eba.soi.asia/portfolio/minamata-2026/