1) Objectives

The Belmont Forum is an international group of funding agencies and scientific organisations that are involved in support of global environmental change research, that aims to further accelerate and develop work in that field by mobilizing researchers and funding through international cooperation, in order to tackle the various challenges facing the sustainability of human society. The activities of the Belmont Forum comprise strengthening engagement among global research communities and improving coordination of strategies, priorities and funding of global change research.

Belmont Forum Website

2) Implementation of the Collaborative Research Actions

Each year, the Belmont Forum conducts Collaborative Research Actions (CRA), often including a call for multi-lateral (involving contributions from 3 or more countries) research proposals, in parallel across various fields. Following joint evaluation of proposals, projects selected in joint calls are jointly funded by the participating agencies. CRAs were launched for the first time in 2012 in the research fields of “Freshwater Security” and “Coastal Vulnerability” and in 2013 CRAs were launched in the fields of “Food Security and Land-Use Change” and “e-Infrastructure and Data Management”.
As part of its CRA activities for 2014, the Belmont Forum is launching joint calls in the fields of “Scenarios of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services” and “Arctic observing and Research for Sustainability”.

3) Duration and Scale of Support

The period and scale of support differs according to the objectives of each CRA. Generally, projects run for 1-5 years and Japanese research teams participating in selected projects receive 7,000,000~50,000,000 JPY in total.

4) Related Workshops

Related Workshops

Month/Year	Place	Description
October 2013	Oslo, Norway	Scoping Workshop on “Arctic”
October 2013	Paris, France	Scoping Workshop on “Biodiversity”
October 2013	Goa, India	Scoping Workshop on “Climate Services”

5) Calls for Proposals / CRAs

Current Calls

Current Calls

Month / Year	Research Areas
Dec 2016	Sustainable Urbanisation Global Initiative: Food-Water-Energy Nexus
Jan 2017	Transformations to Sustainability

Previous Calls

Previous Calls

Month / Year	Research Areas
April 2012	Coastal Vulnerability
April 2012	Freshwater Security
July 2013	Food Security and Land-Use Change(type1, type2)
February 2014	Arctic Observing and Research for Sustainability
May 2014	Scenarios of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
May 2015	Climate Predictability and Inter-Regional Linkage

6) Cooperative Research Projects

*The underlined researcher is the Consortium Leader

2013CRA[Food Security and Land-Use Change] (type1/Networking)

2013CRA[Food Security and Land-Use Change] (type1/Networking)

Project Title	Overseas Research Teams	Period
	Japanese Research Team
Sustainable Management of Agro-ecological Resources for Tribal Societies （SMARTS2）	Catherine Chan-Halbrendt (Lead PI), Professor and Chair, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, University of Hawaii Pravat Kumar Roul (Indian co-PI), Director, Directorate of Polytechnic, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology Wim Van der Putten (Dutch co-PI), Professor, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University Steven Gray (American co-PI), Assistant Professor, School for the Environment, University of Massachusetts Tadayoshi Masuda (Japanese co-PI) Researcher, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature	FY2014 〜 FY2015

The project acronym is in parentheses following the title.

2013CRA[Food Security and Land-Use Change] (type2/Collaborative research)

2013CRA[Food Security and Land-Use Change] (type2/Collaborative research)

Project Title	Overseas Research Teams	Period
	Japanese Research Team
Food Security Impacts of Industrial Crop Expansion in Sub-Sahara Africa （FICESSA）	Anna Locke (UK co-PI), Director, Agricultural Development and Policy Programme, Overseas Development Institute Katherine J. Willis (UK co-PI), Director of Science, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and Professor, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, U.K. Graham von Maltitz (South Africa co-PI), Senior Researcher, Natural Resources and the Environment (NRE), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Alexandros Gasparatos (Lead PI), Associate Professor, Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science (IR3S), University of Tokyo Kazuhiko Takeuchi (co-PI), Senior Vice-Rector, United Nations University https://supportoffice.jp/ficessa/	FY2014 〜 FY2017

The project acronym is in parentheses following the title.

2014CRA[Scenarios of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services]

2014CRA[Scenarios of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services]

Project Title	Overseas Research Teams	Period
	Japanese Research Team
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Scenarios Network （ScenNet）	Sandra Lavorel (co-Lead PI) (France) CNRS Laboratory of Alpine Ecology, Director of Research Wilfred Thuiller (co-Lead PI) (France) CNRS Laboratory of Alpine Ecology, Senior Research Scientist Paul Ledley (France) University of Paris-Sud, Laboratory of Ecology, Systematics and Evolution, Professor Philippe Cury (France) Montpellier 2 University, Center for Mediterranean and Tropical Fisheries Research, Research Director Wolfgang Cramer (France) Mediterranean Institute of Marine and Terrestrial Biodiversity and Ecology, Director of Research Mingchang Cao (China) Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Department of Nature Reserve and Biodiversity Conservation, Assistant Professor John-Arvid Grytnes (Norway) University of Bergen, Department of Biology, Professor Jean Paul Metzger (Brazil) University of Sao Paulo, Institute of Biosciences, Department of Ecology, Professor Guy Franklin Midgley (South Africa) Stellenbosch University, Department of Botany and Zoology, Professor Karachepone Ninan (India) Institute for Social and Economic Change, Centre for Ecological Economics and Natural Resources, Professor Katrin Boehning-Gaese (Germany) Goethe University Frankfurt, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity, Professor Simon Ferrier (Australia) Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Ecosystem and Biodiversity Knowledge and Systems Program, Senior Principle Research Scientist Brendan Wintle (Australia) University of Melbourne, School of Botany, Associate Professor Walter Jetz (USA) Yale University, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Associate Professor Osamu Saito United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) Academic Programme Officer and University of Tokyo Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences Visiting Associate Professor	FY2015 〜 FY2016
Trans-system, unified approach for global and regional integration of social-ecological study toward sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystem services (TSUNAGARI)	Xiubo Yu (co-Lead PI) (China) Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Professor Xiyong Hou (China) Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Professor Jon Brodie (Australia) James Cook University, Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research, Principle Research Scientist Manfred Lenzen (Australia) The University of Sydney, School of Physics, Professor Francesca Verones (Norway) Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Associate Professor Masahiro Nakaoka （co-Lead PI） Hokkaido University, Field Science Center for Northern Bioshpere, Professor Satoshi Ishikawa Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Associate Professor Mitsutaku Makino Fisheries Research Agency, Fisheries Management Group Head Hiroya Yamano National Institute for Environmental Studies, Center for Environmental Biology and Ecosystem Studies, Section Head Keiichiro Kanemoto Kyushu University, Institute of Decision Science for a Sustainable Society, Lecturer/Assistant professor	FY2015 〜 FY2016

The project acronym is in parentheses following the title.

Arctic Observing and Research for Sustainability Type2

Arctic Observing and Research for Sustainability Type2

Project Title	Overseas Research Teams
	Japanese Research Team
Resilience and adaptive capacity of arctic marine systems under a changing climate (RACArctic)	Franz Mueter(co-PI) (USA) University of Alaska Fairbanks, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, Associate Professor of Fisheries George Hunt (USA) University of Washington, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Research Professor Henry Huntington (USA) Huntington Consulting Mike Sigler (USA) Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Marine Biologist Alan Haynie (USA) Resource Ecology and Fisheries Management Division, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, Economist Kenneth Drinkwater(co-PI) (Norway) Institute of Marine Research Senior Research Scientist Alf Hakon Hoel (Norway) Institute of Marine Research, Tromso Branch, Regional Director Randi Ingvaklsen (Norway) Institute of Marine Research Senior Research Scientist Melissa Chierici (Norway) Institute of Marine Research and Professor at the University Centre in Svalbard, Senior Research Scientist Benjamin Planque (Norway) Institute of Marine Research, Tromso Senior scientist Jan Erik Stianser (Norway) Institute of Marine Research Oceanography and Climate Group, Leader Arne Eide (Norway) University of Tromso, Norwegian College of Fishery Science, Professor Sei-Ichi Saitoh (Lead PI) Director & Professor Arctic Research Center Hokkaido University, Faculty of Fisheries Sciences, Professor Naomi Harada Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Research and Development (R&D) Center for Global Change, Deputy Director Takashi Kikuchi Japan Agency for Marine Earth-Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Arctic Ocean and Climate System Research Group, Group Leader Toru Hirawake Hokkaido University, Faculty of Fisheries Sciences, Associate professor Yutaka Watanuki Hokkaido University, Faculty of Fisheries Sciences Professor Mitsutaku Makino Fisheries Research Agency, National Research Institute of Fisheries Science Group Head Hiroki Takakura Tohoku University, Center for Northeast Asian Studies, Professor

The project acronym is in parentheses following the title.

Arctic Observing and Research for Sustainability Type3

Arctic Observing and Research for Sustainability Type3

Project Title	Overseas Research Teams
	Japanese Research Team
C budget of ecosystems and cities and villages on permafrost in eastern Russian Arctic (COPERA)	Mikhail Prisyazhny (co-PI) (Russia) North-Eastern Federal University Vice Rrector for Natural and Mathematical Development, Associate professor Tuyara Gavrilyeva (Russia) North-Eastern Federal University Institute of Engineering & Technology Research, Professor Trofim Maximov (Russia) Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone, SBRAS, Head of laboratory / North-Eastern Federal University, BEST center, Director Professor Kenji Yoshikawa(co-PI) (USA) University of Alaska Fairbanks, Water and Environmental Research Center, Professor Atsuko Sugimoto(Lead PI) Hokkaido University, Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Professor Shinichiro Tabata Hokkaido University, Slavic-Eurasian Research Center, Director, Professor Rikie Suzuki Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Department of Environmental Geochemical Cycle Research, Director Takeshi Ohta Nagoya University, Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Professor

The project acronym is in parentheses following the title.