Two EU Belmont Forum/SUGI projects shake hands at Keio University in Tokyo, Japan for a collaboration workshop to share research information and discuss progress in their respective projects. FIU’s Professor Thomas Spiegelhalter who leads the Miami CRUNCH research team together with FIU graduate researchers Darren Ockert & Monica Dragalina, and graduate student Amaila Tomey met with Keio University’s M-NEX research team led by Professor Wanglin Yan and included PH.D and Masters students from across Asia. Keio University features the work of honorary jukuin and Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning architect Fumihiko Maki. Maki was also instrumental in the launch of Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC), not only in the design of individual school buildings but also in the grand design of the campus itself.
CRUNCH (Carbon Resilient Urban Nexus Choices) consists of over 19 project partners in the UK, Poland, Netherlands, USA, and Taiwan addressing all three sectors of the food, water, and energy nexus through an integrative, multidisciplinary approach. The Miami team is working on data-driven planning and scenario tools for integrated decision making using the Urban Living Lab (ULL) approach based at FIU’s MBUS Studio. The team is identifying a data and mapping baseline for the cities of Miami Beach and South Miami and developing a framework for testing and analyzing models using different carbon-neutral and resilient scenarios. More information can be found at https://crunch.fiu.edu
M-NEX is a design-led nexus approach to urban food-energy-water management innovations with 7 international ULLs in Tokyo, Belfast, Doha, Detroit, Sydney, and Amsterdam. The Tokyo team based at Keio University works in the Great Metropolitan Area with WISE Living Lab of Tokyu Company and Yokohama City developing participatory mechanisms for sustainable food-life through mobilizing social and natural capitals, integrating knowledge and technology, and co-designing/co-delivering alternatives to the options presently available. More information can be found at http://m-nex.net
