Publications

Decarbonizing transport systems is critical to a net-zero future. Explicitly factoring health co-benefits into urban climate/ transport plans could persuade decision-makers to adopt and implement the policies needed for such a future. Many studies have estimated the health benefits of transport policies with these ends in mind. However, how...

Urban trees play a crucial role in regulating hydrological processes within urban ecosystems by intercepting rainfall to effectively reduce surface runoff and mitigate urban flooding. Current research lacks a systematic quantification of rainfall interception capacity and its community-level impacts at the urban scale. This study adopts a city...

This pamphlet introduces the latest activities of Kitakyushu Urban Centre.

The Convention on Wetlands, or Ramsar Convention, is a multilateral environmental agreement (MEA) that focuses on “the conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world”. Among the various meetings convened by...

Plastic pollution in river systems is a growing concern, especially in the Mekong Delta, where complex tidal dynamics facilitate downstream transport of plastic waste into the marine environment. This study assessed the density, composition, and temporal variability of floating plastic waste in the Hau River, approximately 30 km upstream of the...

Understanding how climate variability and anthropogenic activities reshape ecosystems is essential for sustainable development in environmentally sensitive regions. This study analyses land use changes and vegetation trends in western Jharkhand, India, using multi-source satellite data from 2000 to 2020. The findings reveal that agricultural land...

Heavy rainfall events, characterized by extreme downpours that exceed 100 mm per day, pose an intensifying hazard to the densely settled valleys of the western Himalaya; however, their coupling with expanding urban land cover remains under-quantified. This study mapped the spatiotemporal exposure of built-up areas to heavy-day rainfall (HDR) across...

Urban blue infrastructure (UBI) offers a sustainable solution to mitigate urban heat island (UHI) effects and water scarcity in semi-arid cities, yet its implementation remains underexplored in water-stressed environments. This study introduces the Urban Blue Infrastructure Suitability Index (UBISI), a novel GIS-based framework to assess the...

Key Messages • The timely provision of high-quality data across all SDGs and regions is essential to the evidence-based decision-making needed to achieve the 2030 Agenda. • However, significant data gaps for SDG 5 (Gender), SDG 13 (Climate) and SDG 16 (Peace & Institutions) as well as across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have...

This recipe book is a collection of dishes prepared during the cooking sessions of the "Workshop on 1.5℃ Lifestyles in Kitakyushu," which focuses on addressing global warming. It features easy and delicious recipes that can be made at home, incorporating ideas to reduce food waste and using alternative meats and seasonal vegetables.