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The Inaugural Conference on Human Development in Asia »

COHDA 2013 will be held at the KKR Hiroshima
Hiroshima, Japan
August 6th – 8th, 2013

 

 

KKR Hiroshima Hotel, Hiroshima, Japan » August 6th – 8th, 2013

In an increasingly globalized Asia, the impact of social change because of the economic, industrial and political developments among the nations that are located within it has been rapid and immense. Within a span of just over a century, Asia has been a major site of colonialism and decolonization; global warfare; political upheaval and regime change; the rise of new nations; ongoing ethnic and religious conflict; economic boom and recession; population explosion; cultural diasporas; viral epidemics; technological advancement; and severe environmental pollution and disasters.

While commentators and analysts have rightly recognized the vast changes that have shaped the Asian continent, it is also crucial to understand the continuities that are maintained even in the face of such impetus for change. Apart from change, what are the constants that are still resistant to change? In addition, what are the factors that have contributed to such ongoing resilience? Although it may be argued that the forces of globalization and development have set in motion a number of positive changes in the ways we live our lives, this has also been counterbalanced by the continuities of inequality and suffering for many others. More than often, the tide of change exists in a state of tension with the forces of continuity. Hence, in order for us to comprehend the forces of change, we must also engage the other forces that hold it back.

At the same time, attempts to mediate the tension between change and continuity have given rise to growing diversities. Driven partly by the forces of migration within a global economic order often guided by transnational markets of production or consumption, new political and social-cultural fragmentations and intersections within nation-states in Asia have emerged. In the face of such developments, the implications and challenges to efforts at sustainability are numerous. While it is increasing recognized that sustainability entails dimensions far beyond the ecological sphere, the next step is to examine and understand the impact of change and continuity and the resultant diversities that are contained within.

Change, Continuity and Diversity: Perspectives on Sustainability for Asia seeks to explore such issues and their links to the notion of sustainability through the combined and holistic lenses of an interdisciplinary approach. This conference will be held in Hiroshima, Japan, the site of a significant and historic event in Asian and world history during the Second World War.

While taking account the wider themes of Change, Continuity and Diversity, the sub-themes of the conference will focus on the following nine areas:

  1. Education
  2. Population and Ageing
  3. Healthcare and Social Support
  4. Politics and Conflict
  5. Inequality and Justice
  6. Gender and Culture
  7. Migration and Identity
  8. Environment and Technology
  9. Economy and Sustainability

 

Conference Chairperson for COHDA 2013

 

George W Crabtree, Ph.D.
Senior Physicist and Distinguished Fellow
Argonne National Laboratory, USA

George Crabtree has won numerous awards for his research, such as the Kammerlingh Onnes Prize in 2003 for his work on the physics of vortices in high temperature superconductors. He has won the University of Chicago Award for Distinguished Performance at Argonne twice, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Award for Outstanding Scientific Accomplishment in Solid State Physics four times, a notable accomplishment. He has an R&D 100 Award for his pioneering development of Magnetic Flux Imaging Systems. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a charter member of ISI’s Highly Cited Researchers in Physics, and a Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

 

Dr. Crabtree has served as Chairman of the Division of Condensed Matter of the American Physical Society, as a Founding Editor of the scientific journal Physica C, as Divisional Associate Editor of Physical Review Letters. He has published more than 400 papers in leading scientific journals, has collected over 15,000 career citations, and has given approximately 100 invited talks at national and international scientific conferences. His research interests include materials science, sustainable energy, nanoscale superconductors and magnets, vortex matter in superconductors, highly correlated electrons in metals. He has led workshops for the Department of Energy on hydrogen, solar energy, superconductivity, and materials under extreme environments, co-chaired the Undersecretary of Energy’s assessment of DOE’s Applied Energy Programs. He has testified before the U.S. Congress on the hydrogen economy and on meeting sustainable energy challenges.

 

Affiliates of PRESCO 2012

Argonne Hiroshima University UIC
   
   

 

PRESCO 2012 will coincide with the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which occurred on August 6th, 1945. Participants of the Congress will be invited to join the remembrance ceremony at Hiroshima Peace Park on the morning of August 6th, 2012.

Hiroshima Peace Park Praying for Peace
PRESCO 2012 will coincide with the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which occurred on August 6th, 1945. Participants of the Congress will be invited to join the remembrance ceremony at Hiroshima Peace Park on the morning of August 6th, 2012.

 

 

 

 

In support of efforts to assist victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake, a portion of the proceeds from PRESCO 2012 will be donated to the Japan Red Cross Society and the ASHINAGA Foundation.