Riichiro Oda

Consultant, Leaning and Dialogue Facilitator, and Lecturer

Co-Founder, President and CEO, Change Agent Inc.

Lecturer, Tokyo Institute of Technology

Treasurer, International Network of Resources and Information Centers (US)

Director, Global Association of SoL Communities (Austria)

Riichiro Oda is a change agent for sustainability and a champion on systems thinking and organizational learning in Japan. After working at a multinational company and at an environmental NGO, he co-founded Change Agent, Inc. in 2005, which provides learning and process consulting addressing social issues and business opportunities in co-creating shared values with the society. His focus is on shared value creation across sectors and capacity development at both individual and organizational levels. He has accumulated 14 years of experiences in facilitating collaborations and/or learning in more than 1,000 sessions and for more than 20,000 participants from corporations, governments, international organizations, and NGOs in Japan and abroad. He currently hosts a supply chain initiative on food sustainability in Japan.

He has collaborated with Dennis Meadows, Peter Senge, Adam Kahane, Bill Torbert and many other practitioners through the international network of Society for Organizational Learning (SoL). He has co-founded the Society for Learning Organization (SoL) Japan community and Global SoL, and serves for the board of several international organizations on leadership, organizational development and sustainability.

He has also served as a lecturer at Tokyo University, Kansai University, Tohoku University, Shizenkan University, and Tokyo Institute of Technology. He received MBA in General Management from the University of Oregon.

He has translated and written many books in the field of organizational learning and systems thinking:

Bibliography

• Oda, R. 2017 'Primer: Learning Organization' Tokyo, Japan. Eiji Press Inc.
• Oda, R. 2017 'Easy Cartoon Guide for Learning Organization' Tokyo, Japan., JMA Management Center Inc.
• Oda, R. 2007 'Why Her Solutions Succeed' Tokyo, Japan., Toyo Keizai Inc.
• Oda, R. 2010 'Learning Guide for Systems Thinking' Tokyo, Japan., Toyo Keizai Inc.
• Oda, R. 2009 'Easy Guide on Biodiversity for Business People' Tokyo, Japan., Gijutsu-Hyohron Co., Ltd.
• Senge, P. 2011. 'The Fifth Discipline' Trans. Edahiro, J., Oda, R., Nakakoji, K. Tokyo, Japan., Eiji Press Inc.
• Sterman, J. 2009 'Business Dynamics - Systems Thinking and Modelling for a Complex World' Trans. Edahiro, J., Oda, R. Tokyo, Japan., Toyo Keizai Inc.
• Kahane, A. 2014 'Transformative Scenario Planning - Working Together To Change The Future' Trans. Oda, R. Tokyo, Japan., Eiji Press Inc.
• Kahane, A. 2018 'Collaborating with the Enemy - How to Work with People You Don't Agree with or Like or Trust' Trans. Oda, R. Tokyo, Japan., Eiji Press Inc.
• Torbert, W. 2016 'Action Inquiry - The Secret of Timely And Transforming Leadership' Trans. Oda, R. Tokyo, Japan., Eiji Press Inc.
• Meadows, D. 2015 'Thinking in Systems: A Primer' Trans. Oda, R. Tokyo, Japan., Eiji Press Inc.
• Stroh, D. 2018 'Systems Thinking for Social Change - A Practical Guide A Practical Guide to Solving Complex Problems, Avoiding Unintended Consequences, and Achieving Lasting Results' Trans. Oda, R. Tokyo, Japan., Eiji Press Inc.

Junko Edahiro

Social Entrepreneur, Environmental Journalist, and Translator

Co-Founder and Chairperson, Change Agent, Inc.

Founder and President, e's Inc.

President, Institute for Studies in Happiness, Economy and Society (ISHES)

Professor, Department of Leadership and Innovation, Graduate School of

Leadership and Innovation, Shizenkan University

Initiator, Candle Night campaign

Member of the International Expert of Working Group for the New

Development Paradigm appointed by the King of Bhutan

Junko Edahiro is one of most prominent environmental journalists in Japan and is a major icon for slow movements in Japan. She has translated books of Lester Brown, Al Gore, Dennis Meadows, Donella Meadows, David Suzuki and many others into Japanese, and also writes by herself dozens of books on climate change, energy, happiness, systems thinking, and many other sustainability topics. She promotes and facilitates environmental communication and dialogue among governments, corporations and citizens.

She also invites prominent opinion leaders from outside of Japan, and resides several networking events, which attracts hundreds of business people, policy makers, researchers, and concerned citizens. With these activities, she is deemed as an icon figure of networking across different sectors.

In 2002, along with other collaborators, she founded Japan for Sustainability (JFS), a non-profit environmental communication platform. JFS provides information on Japan's activities promoting sustainability on the website (www.japanfs.org) and publishes weekly digests and monthly newsletters. Serving as a Chief Executive, she has mobilized hundreds of volunteers to research, write, translate and publish 30 news articles every month on new regulations, policies, business initiatives, technology development and citizens' local initiative. JFS and its website have won several awards for advancing sustainable development.

She is also an initiator of the Candle Night campaign (www.candle-night.org/en/), in which over five millions of people join to turn lights off in the night of the summer and winter solstices to think about the environment and peace.

From 2002 to 2005 she founded three companies, all related to sustainability in one way or the other. e's, Inc. sells eco-products and support those who would like to transform themselves. Eco Networks, Inc. provides translation and consulting services and help Japanese corporations to conduct effective communication on sustainability and CSR. The other company is named Change Agent, Inc., and it provides consulting and education services, with tools such as visioning, systems thinking, communication and management systems.

In addition, she was an advisor to Japan's Prime Minister at the "Climate Change Roundtable," preparing for the Toya Lake Summit in 2008. She has served many other government committees and corporate boards related to climate change, biodiversity, and energy issues.

She speaks on sustainability outside of Japan, too - in Beijing, Bandung, London, Stockholm, Berlin, Davos, Washington DC, Singapore and Hong Kong. She has been selected as a council member of International Sustainability Innovation Council of Switzerland in 2008. She also gave a paper at the Fourth GNH Conference held in Thimphu, Bhutan in November, 2008. She spoke about her concept regarding a new lifestyle and mindset toward a more sustainable society as "De-Ownership, De-Materialization, and De-Monetization" at TEDxTokyo in May, 2011.

She has been chosen as a most successful career woman by Nikkei Career Women magazine in 2003. She has been selected as one of the "100 Planet Earth Lovers" at the World Expo 2005 held in Aichi, Japan. Also, she was named a Prominent Woman Leader in the Environment Movement by the Health and Human Services University of US.

In 2011, she founded the Institute for Studies in Happiness, Economy and Society (ISHES) to rethink on the relationship among happiness, economy, and society and explore better systems and indicators. ISHES engages in many activities, for example, seminars for thinking true happiness in relation with economy and society, and study meetings for developing dialogue skills to co-create even with people in different positions.

On June 12, 2011, Prime Minister Naoto Kan met in his office with prominent experts for a discussion on the future of Japan's national renewable energy policy and she was requested her participation in this meeting. In July, she launched Minna-no [Everybody's] Energy and Environment Conference (MEEC) with a variety of organizers, aiming to create a platform where people in various positions and with various philosophies can freely talk, discuss and conduct a dialogue about the future of energy in Japan. She intends making a groundswell through MEECs held in many places in Japan, as well as playing a role in creating and connecting processes for change in which each of us could think the most important question as one's own problem, "what is the truly desirable energy for our society?" and act for it.

In 2013, to comprehensively study the relationship among happiness, economy, and society and work on these themes, she holds workshops on happiness and sustainability. She organizes a website "e's Future Co-Creation Forum" to co-create new value from finding relationships among factors within a problem. She contributes to co-creation of happy and resilient future through human connections and dialogue.

Translation:

• Brown, L. 1998. Revolution for Eco Economy. Trans. Edahiro, J. Tokyo, Japan. Tachibana Publishing, Inc.
• World Watch Institute. 1999. State of the World 1999. Trans. World Watch Japan. Tokyo, Japan. ISS Corp.
• Meadows, D., Meadows, D. and Randers, J. 2005. Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update. Trans. Edahiro, J. Tokyo, Japan. Diamond, Inc.
• Gore, A., 2007. An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It. Trans. Edahiro, J. Tokyo, Japan. Random House Kodansha Co., Ltd.
• Sterman, J., 2009. Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World. Trans. Edahiro, J. and Oda, R. Tokyo, Japan. Toyo Keizai Inc.
• Meadows, D., 2009. The Message from Professor Donella H. Meadows. Trans. Edahiro, J. Tokyo, Japan. Random House Kodansha Co., Ltd.
• Resurgence magazine, 2009. The Anthology of Resurgence Magazine: Toward an Era of Reconnection: Environmental Thoughts and Actions Aiming for a Sustainable Society. Trans. Edahiro, J. Tokyo, Japan. Otsuki Shoten.
• Gore, Al, 2009. Our choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis. Trans. Edahiro, J. Tokyo, Japan. Random House Kodansha Co., Ltd.
• Senge, P. M. 2011. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. Trans. Edahiro, J., Oda, R. and Nakakoji, K. Tokyo, Japan. Eiji Press Inc.
• Brown, R. R. 2012. World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse. Trans. Edahiro, J. and Nakakoji, K. Tokyo, Japan. Diamond, Inc.

And more

• Gore, A. Jr. 2013. The Future. Trans. Edahiro, J. and Nakakoji, K. Tokyo,Japan. Kadokawa Corporation.
• Gore, Al, 2017. An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power: Your Action Handbook to Learn the Science, Find Your Voice, and Help Solve the Climate Crisis. Trans. Edahiro, J. Tokyo, Japan. Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha., Ltd.