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What are the 17 SDGs? Looking at ICU as a “habitable” place with President Iwakiri

Interview series of President Iwakiri × SDGs Promotion Office (episode 1)


“Tsunagaru Ethical” is Web-based media which publishes interview articles created by/for ICU students. We interview professors, asking about classes and thoughts. We hope our articles will help you “being you” someway how.


This is one of the articles under the interview series of President Iwakiri × SDGs Promotion Office. As the first episode, we asked what President Iwakiri thinks of Goals 17 and how we should achieve the goals.


＜About President Iwakiri＞

Completed his doctoral program at the University of Tokyo and L' Université Paris. After serving as the Director of the Admission Center and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, he was appointed as the President at ICU in April of 2020. Professor of Literature. His specialties are Modern French Poetry, French drama, and French Literature.

Machii) I am a member of the SDGs Promotion Office, working as a writer. Thank you for taking the time for an interview today. Today I am here to interview you regarding how ICU can achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and why we, ICU students, should be working towards this global goal.


Machii) I would first like to ask you what your values and thoughts are for our society?


President) I think even in the context of intelligence, humans will more and more incorporate both artificial and natural materials in life, but what I believe is important here is whether it is “habitable.” For example, we feel content after we go on vacation to soak ourselves in nature or to appreciate a visit to a culturally rich city. But, when we think those places are real places, have you ever wondered why we don’t have that feeling in our everyday life of where we live? I feel that we can simply change the place we live into a place where we can get the same feeling after a vacation. I think “living” goes beyond the convenience and adaptability; we have to be able to hear nature and support each other to call a place “habitable.” I’ve been thinking we should be able to live a quality life even if we don’t have the financial mobility.


Machii) So, your value, being “habitable,” implies an ideal world that you think we should materialize?


President) Not necessarily. For example, I think ICU is very much a habitable place. In other words, it is a place where we feel our rights are protected and appreciate lots of positive energy. So, that explains “habitable” places are where people feel life, a real life, without being some fictional places. Of course, as humans, we sometimes face sadness, bitterness, and some conflicts. Because it’s not a fantasy land but a real life, we must make it a place that allows us to live comfortably.


Machii) So you think that we must live in an environment where we can feel that we’re alive. Now, what do you think is the correlation between this value and SDGs?


President) Well, what’s ideal is different depending on who you ask, so spreading your idea of an ideal world may not accommodate everyone. It may risk being dangerous. That’s why we need a standard to follow like the SDGs. My specialty is literature, so I’d like to quote a German Poet Hölderlin in the 18th to 19th century. He said “To inhabit the world as a poet.” I interpret it as, instead of being practical or thinking of a way to get rich, it’s important to live where you get to be yourself and find a reason to live. I know this is pretty difficult to grasp, but maybe you’ll understand it better if you think of the SDGs as a tool to help us materialize the idea.


Machii) Would you expand how you link the 17 goals from SDGs to being “habitable?”


President) I think it’s important to understand the meaning of “D” in SDGs. It stands for “Development” that indicates an idea of moving forward. And, we know this idea saying “no one is to be left behind” that SDGs emphasize. However, this phrase is quite controversial. If we reverse the concept, we can also say “we are heading out so please come along,” but then people who are left behind might say “you are the one who left us.” That’s something I’ve been bothered by because those people who are “behind” might be happy with where they are at and I don’t think we should force them to join us in moving forward. So, the 17 goals doesn't mean we must work together to make all societies industrialized, but rather it means we must create an environment where humans can live a quality life in which they are satisfied with, so I think it’s a good goal. It also relates to the Declaration of Human Rights and involves environmental protection. In this sense, I find SDGs wonderful.


Machii) I am studying environmental and developmental studies and I’ve been wondering about the common understanding of “development” as you just mentioned. I had trouble finding a better description though, so I was very interested when you talked about the importance of understanding the word, “development.”


President) Oh, that reminds me there is this tribe called Pygmy. This is actually something I heard from my friend who works there, but the Pygmy people live in the forest. They kill animals to eat and cut trees to build homes, and that’s how they live in harmony with nature. When you look at their lifestyle from an environmentalist’s point of view, however, they are destroying nature. So, if we make the area a sanctuary, the Pygmy will be forced to move to a developed area and live with the modernized people. If we were to choose complete protection of nature or not protecting it at all, we would end up denying the lives of people who use natural resources to live in harmony with nature. There is a concept of pursuing nature intact from humans, but I think nature was formed after lots of hard work by humans. In fact, ICU looks like it has preserved nature, but it is not a natural forest but an area that humans have protected. I don’ t think we can protect nature without development. That doesn’t mean we can develop whatever we want. I think it’s important to assess whether the particular development would make local people happy. So, I wish you the best of luck with your studies.

Thank you for reading the article this far.

Feel free to submit your comments/opinions/questions through the Google Form attached below.

We’ll also be happy if you could read the other two articles with President Iwakiri.

See you in another story!


(English translation: Maya Willyard)





 
 
 
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