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Asian COE Program Leader |
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Ryu Niki |
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The Aim of the 21st Century Center of Excellence Program – Establishment of Welfare Society Development Studies and the Asian Research Center
An aging population, increasing differentiation between rich and poor, social exclusionc... These are the rising new welfare problems of modern society, where globalization and localization are proceeding in various ways. To solve such problems, it is indispensable to establish a form of study that is an amalgamation of social welfare and social development within the framework of local communities. We would like to call it “Welfare Society Development Studies.” Establishment of this new study area is the theoretical aim of our “Asian Center of Excellence– towards
a New Policy Science for Social Well-Being and Development,” the Nihon Fukushi University’s Research Project adopted in 2003 as a part of the 21st Century Center of Excellence (COE) Program led by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Technology.
Over the last two years, we have made efforts in establishing Welfare Society Development Studies by integrating our expertise in two major study fields. One is policy science and policy evaluation studies concerning elderly care in advanced countries, conducted by the Graduate School of Social Welfare. The other is research concerning the formation of a participatory society in deprived areas in developing countries, conducted by the Graduate School of International Social Development. Conventionally, these two fields of studies are carried out independently, both inside and outside Japan. We are confident in saying that our ambitious and challenging attempt at the integration and amalgamation of these studies is a world’s first. Further, we are intending to establish an Asian COE for Welfare Society Development Studies, to be based in our university.
Our research results from the last two years, accumulated through a variety of symposiums, academic conferences, and the NFU COE Project Committee, have been condensed in a book titled Fukushi shakai kaihatsugaku no kouchiku (Establishment of Welfare Society Development Studies), published by Minerva Shobo in March 2005. Eleven articles concerning Welfare Society Development Studies are covered in the book, which comprises three parts: Foundations of Establish Welfare Society Development Studies; Approaching Welfare Society Development Studies from Social Welfare; and Approaching Welfare Society Development Studies from International Development.
When the NFU COE Program started, Welfare Society Development Studies was merely an idea. Through our vigorous collaborative research and occasionally heated discussions over two years, our understanding of this study area was deepened and shared among participating researchers. We believe our first book offers the fundamental and concrete features of Welfare Society Development Studies, focusing on the local community as the political environment integrating the “process approach,” which encourages interaction among the leading parties within the local community, and “evaluation of outcomes” from those parties’ activities. We also believe that we have established an analytical framework to define the actual components of a “local community.”
Further Research in the Five Domains that Comprise Welfare Society Development Studies
Our COE Program also encourages individual studies in the following five major domains that are closely related to the theoretical establishment of Welfare Society Development Studies: (1) Establishment of Elderly Care Policy Science; (2) Research concerning Elderly Care and a Welfare Society Development Model Specific to Peripheral Mountain Regions in Japan; (3) Methodological Research concerning Welfare Society Development in Southeast and South Asia; (4) Research concerning Welfare Society Development in East Asia; and (5) Research concerning an Integrated Healthcare and Welfare System. Most of these studies are internationally conducted with other universities under the academic exchange convention, including Nanjing University in China, Yonsei University in Korea, the University of the Philippines, the National University of Mongolia, and the University of Manchester in the UK. Such research is also attempting to establish an educational and training program for theoretical and practical specialists involved in Welfare Society Development Studies, both inside and outside Japan.
The research results from these five domains have already borne fruits as the following six books: Iryo-hi Yokusei no Jidai wo Koete (Beyond the Time of Suppression of Public Medical Care Expenses), 2004, Igaku-Shoin Ltd.; Zaitaku Koreisha no Shumatsuki Kea (Terminal Care for the Elderly at Home), 2004, Chuouhouki Publishers; Sirizu Kokusai Kaihatsu Dai 1 Kan Hinkon to Kaihatsu (International Development Series, Book 1: Poverty and Development), 2004, Nippon Hyoronsha Co., Ltd. Publishers; Rihabiriteshon Kokusai Kaihatsu Nyumon (Introduction to the International Development of Rehabilitation), 2004, Miwa-Shoten Ltd.; Iryo Kaikaku to Byoin (Revolution in Medical Services and Service Providers), 2004, Keiso Shobo; and Koreika Jidai no Iryo Fukushi Keiei (Medical and Welfare Business Management in the Era of an Aging Population), 2005, Sakurai Shoten.
Further, the following eighteen publications are planned in and after 2005: Feedback-Driven Long-term Care Insurance Project; Research on a Welfare Society Development Model in the Peripheral Mountain Regions (as two books); Fitness and Welfare Society Development; Comparative Studies of International Society Development Cases (Theoretical Approach and Case Analysis) (as six books in English); Globalization and Local Health in Asian Countries; Establishment of Residential Welfare Study – Theory of Local Community Renaissance; Residential Welfare in China and Japan; Formation and Reformation of Welfare State and Welfare Society in Korea and Japan (as two books); Child Care, Education, and Support in China, Korea, and Japan; Research in the Elderly Welfare Model in China; and Children and Family in Need in Mongolia.
Future Prospects
In 2005, our COE Program enters its third year. We are planning to reorganize our studies in the conventional five domains into the following new five domains by selecting and integrating research themes through a major review of the achievements of the last two years. The new five domains are: (A) Integrated Research; (B) Research in Elderly Care Policy Evaluation; (C) Comparative Studies between Korea and Japan; (D) Research in Welfare Society Development in China and Mongolia; and (E) Research in Welfare Society Development in South and East Asia. This reorganization places particular importance on elaborating Welfare Society Development Studies in Domain A, and on conducting comprehensive horizontal comparative studies over different fields for Korea and Japan in Domain C.
Over the next three years, our collaborative research will continue mobilizing researchers within and outside our university. At the end of our COE program in 2007, we hope to publish the first textbook in Japan that systematically covers the fundamental concepts, political aspects, and practical methods of Welfare Society Development Studies, as the codification of our efforts. We sincerely welcome your enthusiastic cooperation and support. |
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