Brendan F.D. Barrett
I am an academic, film-maker and a fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce. My official role is professor at the Osaka University Center for Global Initiatives and adjunct professor at RMIT University School of Media and Communication. I support 360info as a commissioning editor covering Japan.
With a background in town and country planning, my core expertise covers ethical cities, urban sustainability, climate change, science/research communication and documentary filmmaking.
Prior to my move to Osaka University in 2018, I was program manager of the RMIT University Masters of International Urban and Environmental Management. While at RMIT, I undertook research on ethical cities at the UN Global Compact Cities Programme, organizing an Urban Thinkers Campus in 2016 as part of the World Urban Campaign and producing a Massive Open Online Course on Ethical Cities hosted by Futurelearn.
I was an international civil servant with the United Nations in Japan between 1995 and 2015, with UNEP and the UNU. At the latter, I set up the Media Studio in 2003 and worked with a team of creative professionals producing award-winning documentaries and online interactive educational resources on complex social and environmental concerns. In 2008, we launched the UNU's bi-lingual Our World web magazine focusing initially on energy and food security, biodiversity and the climate crisis. At that time we had four video directors (Luis Patron, Citt Williams, Kaori Brand and Megumi Nishikura) who produced videos that remain the most popular content on the UNU Youtube Channel even now.
From 2010 to 2015, I was head of communications at the UNU. During that time we rebuilt the university website (led by Sean Wood with programming by Oleg Butozov), added a new publications repository and introduced constituent management system (work of Jason Hall). The UNU website was significantly updated in 2023.
While with the UNU, I also coordinated several major education and research communication projects including the Iwate Environment Network and Global Virtual University (with UNEP and the University of Agder). I was the UNU focal point for the World Summit on the Information Society from 2002 to 2005.
I have been a peer reviewer for the 5th and 6th Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and a member of the IUCN Committee on Education and Communications from 2006 to 2015.
I have published opinion pieces in 360info, The Conversation and Our World online magazines, with articles syndicated in Newsweek (Japan), the Guardian, Al Jazeera online, and in the Resilience and Solutions magazines.
In my early career, I undertook research on environmental policy and impact assessment in Japan and worked as a senior environmental planner with Arup Environmental in London. My first position on graduating from university in the mid-1980s was as a consultant undertaking socio-economic impact assessments of nuclear power stations at Oxford Polytechnic.
HONOURS, Awards and FELLOWSHIPS
2022: Osaka University Prize in the Educational Contribution Category for the Anniversary Project Online Special Lecture Program
2020: Osaka University Prize for Outstanding Achievement
2019: Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, United Kingdom
2011: Award of Distinction in the Green/Eco-friendly Category for the Our World Online Magazine, The Communicator Awards
2009: Excellence Award in the Category of New Media Creation for the Wisdom Years documentary and website, Society for New Communication Research
2009: Earth Journalism Awards Honorary Mention for the Our World Online Magazine, Earth Journalism Network
2008: Finalist in the Stockholm Challenge Awards (Environment category) for the Saving the Ayuquila River Documentary and e-Case Study
2007: Award of Excellence in the Education Division for Saving the Ayuquila River, Society for New Communications Research
1996: Ph.D. Fellowship to the United Nations University, Institute of Advanced Studies Tokyo, Japan
1994: Canon Europe Foundation Visiting Research Fellowship, Kyoto University, Economic Research Institute
1986: Research Fellowship award to undertake research at Kyoto University from the Japan Ministry of Education, Sports and Science
Research interests
I am engaged in action research on ethical cities and the co-design of sustainable communities. I have written and lectured extensively on accelerated decarbonization, energy transitions, urban environmental management, decentralization, sustainability science, environmental governance, environmental assessment, ecological modernisation, environmental attitudes and values, environmental information networks, and environmental education.
Citations can be viewed via Google Scholar.