The First Biennial Conference of the Asian Association for Environmental History (AAEH 2025)(in person and online) will be held on 26 September – 2 October 2025 in Takamatsu and Teshima, Kagawa, Japan.
‘Altered Earth’ in Asia: Oceans, Landscape, Atmosphere
AAEH 2025 is organised by the International Consortium for Earth and Development Sciences (ICEDS), Kagawa University, the Asian Association for Environmental History (AAEH) and the Environmental History Network in Japan. The Conference’s general title is taken from Altered Earth: Getting the Anthropocene Right (Cambridge University Press, 2022), edited by Julia Adeney Thomas.
Preparation for in-person (partially online) conference
Time Table (JST)
- 15 July 2024: Open the first stage call for panels. [Click here to access Microsoft Forms for input.]
- 31 August 2024: Deadline for panels submission. The first call of the first stage was closed.
- 10 September 2024: Deadline of the Second Call for Panels (the first stage). [Click here to access Microsoft Forms for input.] The second call of the first stage was closed.
- 30 September 2024: Open panels accepted [and call for papers].
- 30 November 2024: Deadline for papers submission. Extended for 40 days until 10 January 2025. Due to unavoidable circumstances, the Conference has been postponed by one week, so additional abstract submissions was made available for five days, from 1 to 5 February (Japan time). Papers submission was closed on 5 February.
- 10 February 2025: Notification to authors of accepted submissions.
- 15 March 2025: Preliminary programme. Conference registration has begun.
- Mid-May 2025: Final programme. The accommodation booking request page will open and an optional registration for two study visits, a dinner party and two after-conference tours, and Visa application process will start.
- 26 September – 2 October 2025: AAEH 2025 in Takamatsu and Teshima, Kagawa, Japan.
Registration (JST)
- Early Bird registration: 15 March to 30 June 2025.
- Standard registration: 1 July to 15 September 2025.
- On site registration (in person): 26 to 30 September 2025
- Last-minute application (online): 26 to 30 September
- Details on conference registration fees:
- The concept and criteria for the conference participation fee are based on the successfully held WCEH 2024. In many respects, we are also exploring the possibility of a full hybrid conference with regard to the purpose of holding the conference, the support of young and vulnerable people and the conference’s orientation towards zero emissions.
- Early Bird registration (in person): High-income (gross income over 8 million yen): ¥35,000
According to the criteria of WCEH 2024, the AAEH also „prioritises the attendance of precarious scholars using the high-income registration fees to subsidise the low-income registration fee, and also through funding travel and accommodation of many of those on low/no income.“ This fee includes:
– in person and online access to five days of conference sessions
– an opening drinks/sweets/refreshments reception, two lunches, four tea/coffee breaks, and a farewell party with drinks and refreshments
– access to recordings of the plenary and parallel sessions after the conference. - Early Bird registration (in person): Medium-income (gross income 3 to 8 million yen): ¥25,000
This fee includes:
– in person and online access to five days of conference sessions
– an opening drinks/sweets/refreshments reception, two lunches, four tea/coffee breaks, and a farewell party with drinks and refreshmentsl
– access to recordings of the plenary and parallel sessions after the conference. - Early Bird registration (in person): Low-income (gross income less than 3 million yen): ¥15,000
This fee includes:
– in person and online access to five days of conference sessions
– an opening drinks/sweets/refreshments reception, two lunches, four tea/coffee breaks, and a farewell party with drinks and refreshments
– access to recordings of the plenary and parallel sessions after the conference. - Standard registration (in person): ¥45,000
This fee includes:
– in person and online access to five days of conference sessions
– an opening drinks/sweets/refreshments reception, two lunches, four tea/coffee breaks, and a farewell party with drinks and refreshments
– access to recordings of the plenary and parallel sessions after the conference. - Onsite registration (in person): ¥55,000
This fee includes:
– in person and online access to five days of conference sessions
– an opening drinks/sweets/refreshments reception, two lunches, four tea/coffee breaks, and a farewell party with drinks and refreshments
– access to recordings of the plenary and parallel sessions after the conference. - Early Bird registration (online): High-income (gross income over 8 million yen): ¥25,000
The aim of hybrids is to provide a rich conference experience for all, with participation in all panels and plenaries. However, the effort required to ensure both in-person and virtual participation and the preparation of essential electronic equipment including online contracts costs more than organising a non-hybrid conference. And the AAEH “prioritises the attendance of precarious scholars using the high-income registration fees to subsidise the low-income registration fee.”
– The registration fee for virtual participation includes online access to all sessions and access to session recordings after the conference. - Early Bird registration (online): Medium-income (gross income 3 to 8 million yen): ¥20,000
– The registration fee for virtual participation includes online access to all sessions and access to session recordings after the conference. - Early Bird registration (online): Low-income (gross income less than 3 million yen): ¥15,000
– The registration fee for virtual participation includes online access to all sessions and access to session recordings after the conference. - Standard registration (online): ¥40,000
– The registration fee for virtual participation includes online access to all sessions and access to session recordings after the conference. - Last-minute application (online): ¥50,000
– The registration fee for virtual participation includes online access to all sessions and access to session recordings after the conference.
- Payment of the registration fee is to be made through your page on the NMMS of the AAEH. After 15 March, you will be able to register for the conference through paying it, but you will be able to pay for all items not included in the conference registration fee in addition to the above. An NMMS ID is required for any payment. Always make sure you have access to the NMMS.
- Payment can be made by credit card, bank transfer or PayPal. In the case of bank transfers, a payment fee is required. This fee is not included in the above. Please make sure to add the handling fee to your payment.
- This registration fee includes an opening drinks/sweets/refreshments reception, two lunches, four tea/coffee breaks, and a farewell party with drinks and refreshments. Please choose to attend or not attend for the reception and the farewell party at your registration page on the NMMS.
- There will be a charge for the dinner planned for Monday 29 September. In addition to this, we will be asking for payment for study visits on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 September, if you wish to attend. In addition, after-conference tours and other activities are being prepared. These will be announced in mid-May and will be an additional option for you to choose.
Venue and Accommodation
- Ritsurin Kôen (Garden), Teshima, and Kagawa University in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan.
- Accommodation list will be available in May 2025.
Conference Steering Committee
Co-chair: Toru Terao (Kagawa University, Japan)
Co-chair: Masahide Ishizuka (Kagawa University, Japan)
Programme
A provisional programme schedule was announced in March 2025.
A provisional plan (JST)
- 26 September 2025: an opening ceremony with a plenary session at Ritsurin Kôen (Garden) in Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan (in person with a later distribution of recorded videos).
- 27-28 September 2025: plenary sessions to be held in Takamatsu and Teshima, both in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan (in person with a later distribution of recorded videos and partially online), including study visits in Sanuki area.
- 29-30 September 2025: plenary and parallel sessions to be held at Kagawa University (in person and online), including a dinner party on Monday 29 and a general meeting on Tuesday 30.
- 1-2 October 2025: several post-conference tours in and around the Seto Inland Sea and a couple of post-conference online events.
Programme Committee
Chair
- Toru Terao (Kagawa University, Japan)
Committee Members
- Shen Hou (Peking University, China)
- Jaehwan Hyun (Pusan National University, Korea)
- Shinobu Iguro (Otani University, Japan)
- Masahide Ishizuka (Kagawa University, Japan)
- Wakako Kumakura (Keio University, Japan)
- Jongmin Lee (University of Science and Technology, Korea)
- Jung Lee (Ewha Womans University, Korea)
- Michael Shiyung Liu (University of Pittsburgh, USA)
- Jenia Mukherjee (Indian Institute of Technology, Khargpur, India)
- Satoshi Murayama (ICEDS, Kagawa University, Japan)
- Atsushi Ota (Keio University, Japan)
- Federico Paolini (University of Macerata, Italy)
- Hrvoje Petrić (University of Zagreb, Croatia)
- Taro Takemoto (Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan)
- Fiona Williamson (Singapore Management University, Singapore)
- Jingyuan Wu (ICEDS, Kagawa University, Japan)
Criteria for Panels in AAEH
A regular panel session will have a 90-minute time slot including four (max five) speakers and discussions, which a discussant will start with a prepared comment on the papers. A panel chair will keep track of time and manage a nice flow of interaction within the panel. The roles of panel organiser, chair and discussant can be fulfilled by the same or different persons. But an author cannot act as chair or discussant in the session.
The panel may be not only this regular paper session but also will have alternative formats such as Meet the Author, Roundtable, Workshop, Visual Presentation with Introduction and Discussion.
We kindly ask that all interested partners carefully read and adhere to the panel composition rules below. The program committee reserves the right to propose changes to panel submissions as a condition for acceptance or to decline the submission altogether should it continue to not adhere to the rules below.
- Multiple-nationalities of panellists
- Gender balance in a panel
- Comparative studies among regions and nations
- Multiplicity of academic ranks
- Ability to target the whole of Asia: not only East Asia, but also more preference to include Southern, Southeastern and other Asian regions.
These five points are not a requirement but could be taken into consideration.
The programming of the panels will proceed in four stages. (1) Proposals are received for the selection of panel types, titles and a short description of 250 words, which are then peer-reviewed by the Programme Committee and a list of panels is drawn up. (2) Then, in a second stage, we will issue a broad call for presentation submissions for each panel. One representative of each panel, the convenor, will, together with the organisers, ask each chair, presenter and discussant to register for that panel, and may also include presenters from other open calls. (3) If there are not enough presenters, the Programme Committee will invite applications from the public at any time. (4) Final panel proposals, including individual presenters, will be made by the Programme Committee on the basis of the agreement of the convenors to finalise the full composition of the panel including a chair and discussant(s).
How to submit panels and papers
- The call for panels (first stage) is an initial process; panellists are not selected, but the session title and a 250-word description of its content is revealed. A list of titles for panels at the conference is then drawn up. The organisers and a convenor as a contact person of the panel are identified and are responsible to organise the individual meetings.
- Then, based on a review of the submitted panels by the Programme Committee, a public call for papers will be held (second stage). Individual applicants select a session from the panel list that is suitable for their presentation. However, if there is no suitable panel on the list, the applicants can choose a non-selection option and the Programme Committee will form a new panel for them and decide on a chair and discussant(s).
- It is important that a broad range of conference members cooperate on the chair and discussant roles, and each conference will be looking for people to fill these roles (third and fourth stages).
Submit a new panel
[Online Forms for panel submissions is available to fill in. Click here to access Microsoft Forms for input. Please follow the instructions to complete the form. Please note that additions and corrections can be made until the deadline at the end of August on 10 September.]
The Call for Panels was closed on 10 September 2024.
Panel list
[The panel list for AAEH 2025 will be uploaded on this site end-September 2024.]
The panel list is uploaded.
Submit a new paper
Paper submissions started on 30 September 2024, and was closed on 5 February 2025.
Call for Papers for AAEH 2025 is now open at AAEH’s New Membership Management System (NMMS: https://confaid.com/mi/aaeh/login). The new deadline is 10 January 2025. Due to unavoidable circumstances, the Conference has been postponed by one week, so additional abstract submissions will be made available for five days, from 1 to 5 February (Japan time). Please access AAEH’s NMMS (https://confaid.com/mi/aaeh/login) from 1 February after midnight Japan time. Please note the time difference.
Please login and visit ‘MyPage’ on this site. At the NMMS each member will be able to change her/his registration information on an individual basis. Please note that if you have not participated in the biennial conference before, please register on Google Forms. Of course, we will not unnecessarily disclose the information you send us, and we do not plan to use it for any purpose other than the association’s activities. After entering your information, we will send you an account ID with password from the NMMS.
All registered members of the AAEH receive an account ID and password. If you have problems accessing the NMMS, please contact us at the following email address with your name and affiliation: contact@confaid.com.
At your ‘My Page’ you can find a link for SUBMISSION. From this link, you can submit your paper to your preferable panel. Basic instructions and panel lists are available on this site. If you have any questions about the NMMS, please contact ‘contact@confaid.com’ with your name and affiliation. The deadline for the Call for Papers was 30 November, extended to 10 January 2025, again for five days from 1 to 5 February and the Call for Papers was closed. [Questions or comments on the Call for Papers are welcome. Please contact Kagawa University ICEDS at ‘iceds.aaeh@gmail.com’].
Mission statement
The Asian Association for Environmental History is a dynamic organization dedicated to conducting and furthering research on Asian environmental issues through a historical lens and on global environmental issues through perspectives from and on Asia. Our membership is both interdisciplinary and international, reflecting the rich diversity and interconnectedness of Asian and related global environments necessary to investigate the deep time of human/natural history.
The objectives of our Association are:
– To promote scholarship that explores the intricate relationships between humans and the natural world, as well as interactions and intra-actions between humans and non-humans throughout history;
– To communicate with researchers from other fields, educators, and the public in learning about environmental issues from a historical perspective;
– To foster opportunities for planetary, regional, local, and comparative studies across a wide temporal spectrum within Asia and Asian diaspora.
Call To Action
We look forward to working across disciplines such as science, humanities and history.