Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) held its 15th International Symposium virtually January 13–16, 2021. This year’s theme was “Transitioning Cultures of Everyday Food Consumption and Production: Stories from a Post-growth Future.”

Michael Carolan opened the final day as the keynote speaker. His talk was titled “Food Journeys: Encounters that Engender Empathy across Difference.”

The symposium was organized by Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN), National Institutes for the Humanities (NIHU), and Inter-University Research Institute Corporation.

RIHN is a national research institute established by the Government of Japan in 2001 and it is part of the National Institutes for the Humanities. RIHN research starts from the premise that environmental problems are rooted in human society, culture, and values. The goal of RIHN is to seek concepts, theories and mechanisms capable of describing and enabling transformation of human-environment interactions. This implies that RIHN research involves a normative dimension, driven by questions such as what the relationship between humanity and nature ought to be like. To this end, RIHN solicits, funds, and hosts integrative research projects investigating environmental change problems in specific settings. Research projects are undertaken by interdisciplinary teams at RIHN, partner institutions, and societal stakeholders in Japan and abroad.