International Activities

AGS(Alliance for Global Sustainability)

Three of the world's leading research universities-The University of Tokyo, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (ETH)-created the Alliance for Global Sustainability (AGS) in 1994, as a new strategic approach to the problems of global sustainability.

Following the signing of a formal agreement by the three university presidents in 1996, the AGS began its first five-year (1996-2000) stage of inter-disciplinary cooperation. During this period, over forty international and numerous domestic research projects were carried out at The University of Tokyo. AGS projects focus on the three broad substantive areas of water, energy, and mobility, and additionally on the four crosscutting areas of urban systems, cleaner technologies and industrial processes, global climate change, and policy and communication. The environmental education activities of the three universities have also been integrated and extended to cover education in developing countries.

In its 2nd five-year stage (2001-2005) the AGS is seeking to expand the scope of its research partnerships around the world to achieve its goals. In 2001, Chalmers University of Technology (Gothenburg, Sweden) joined the AGS as a new member.

The Alliance's purpose goes beyond creating knowledge to apply knowledge generated within the academic research community to the pragmatic task of achieving goals in the real world. To this end, research results will be quickly shared with governments, industry, public interest groups through reports, workshops, and conferences. The Alliance is the working interface for leaders in academic, business, governmental, and non-governmental organizations that accept the challenges of global sustainability.