Dr Aki Suwa is a Professor at the Faculty of Contemporary Society, Kyoto Women’s University (KWU). Her primary responsibility at KWU is to research environment and sustainable policy and approach based on community and regional analysis in Japan and Asia. Prior to her appointment, she was a Research Fellow at the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS), under the Sustainable Urban Futures Program, working on a project funded by the Ministry of Environment Japan (MOEJ), “Urban Development with Co-Benefits Approach” (2010-2014). Her research focuses on how environmental understanding facilitates policy formulation and how this subsequently influences the degree of policy implementation on the ground. Prior to working in UNU-IAS, she completed a doctorate from the University College London, the University of London, about energy planning and back-casting analysis to assess whether and how Japan can use its indigenous renewable energy to substitute fossil fuels nuclear energy dependency. She also holds an MSc degree in Environmental Technology and Policy from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, the University of London. She has a variety of academic and business experiences, with a close collaborative relationship with non-governmental climate research institutes in Japan.