Masatoshi Funabashi

Synecoculture that overcomes the trade-off between productivity and environmental damage

Humans have engaged in agriculture for more than 10,000 years. The history of agriculture involves a constant trade-off between productivity and environmental impact. Modern agriculture is still situated along the same line, further loading the environment to pursue economic profits in large-scale monoculture production.

Meanwhile, when we look back at the history of Earth's biosphere, plants have co-evolved in their ecosystems, creating complex, competitive mechanisms of symbiosis. This process brought substantial changes to the environment, a change that proceeded in favor of plants. Against this background, I aim to utilize the advanced self-organizing ability of ecosystems, known as ecological optimization, which is characterized by autonomous and decentralized processes, in ways that benefit food production and other industrial and social activities. This is because I believe that doing so can fundamentally overcome the trade-off between essential human activities and environmental degradation.

Theoretical framework of Synecoculture

Synecoculture is a method of farming that produces useful plants while making multifaceted use of the self-organizing ability of the earth’s ecosystem. More specifically, "Synecoculture is a method of open-field agriculture that - without the use of any plowing, fertilizers, agricultural chemicals, or anything else except for seeds and saplings - allows for the creation and management of ecosystems that bring out essential qualities of the plants growing in natural state, and produces practically useful crops in ecologically optimized environment." (Source: Synecoculture Manual)

By creating an environment where a diverse range of plants grow together in a mixed and dense manner, this method enhances the multifaceted ecosystem functions related to material cycles and food webs. It is characterized by the creation of an ecosystem that possesses both greater diversity and utility than natural ecosystems.

Synecoculture is based on initial experiments informed by conventional farming practices, organic farming, natural farming, local natural ecosystems, and ecosystems that have been partially diversified by human activity. Through this, we have integrated and scientifically formulated new definitions of productivity in both agricultural science and ecology, continuously testing and verifying these concepts.

The main achievements have been published as a perspective paper (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41538-018-0026-4) and a research paper (https://www.nature.com/articles/s44264-024-00014-4) by Nature Research, as well as a theoretical book chapter (https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-96454-6_1) by Springer Nature.

With the development of the theory and implementation of Synecoculture, we have been conducting demonstration experiments in various parts of Africa since 2015, where the conflict between food production and environmental destruction is severe.（Synecoculture in Africa）

From Synecoculture to Augmented Ecosystems

In 2018, we established the Synecoculture Association as a non-profit organization with the aim of contributing the research results from Sony CSL to society and expanding into various activities.

The principles of Synecoculture are being applied beyond food production, in education and everyday life, to enhance various ecosystem services. This involves deepening the concept of the "Augmented Ecosystems" and promoting its social implementation through community-based activities in collaboration with the Synecoculture Association.  From November 2019, a demonstration on Synecoculture and augmented ecosystems was conducted in Roppongi Hills (Sony CSL to Begin Synecoculture Proof of Concept Trial in Tokyo). These activities have shown that implementing augmented ecosystems is also possible on urban rooftops. We have developed a learning platform for Synecoculture and Augmented Ecosystems, including the creation of the "Syneco Portal (Introduction Kit to Augmented Ecosystems)."The concept of urban augmented ecosystems is also featured in the international initiative "BiodiverCities by 2030," led by the World Economic Forum and the Humboldt Institute (https://proyectos.humboldt.org.co/biodivercitiesby2030/).

In 2021, we established SynecO, inc. to provide solutions that support the creation of "Augmented Ecosystems." The aim of SynecO is to improve ecosystem literacy, promote ecosystem restoration, achieve sustainable food production, strengthen the foundational infrastructure of urban spaces, create next-generation educational platforms, and contribute to health and welfare services in an aging society.

SynecO is expanding its initial business not only in Japan but also in regions such as China, Africa, Indonesia, and South America (SynecO, Inc.) Syneco is committed to creating a sustainable environment and industry based on renewable capital that society and nature should share a common root.

In academia, since 2022, I have also served as a Program-Specific Professor in the 'Social Common Capital and the Future' endowed research division at Kyoto University, expanding my research area to the natural-social common capital as a civilizational platform supporting sustainability.
https://sccf.ifohs.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ja/

Synecoculture has been widely featured in media both domestically and internationally, as well as on platforms of government agencies.
https://www.human-augmentation-of-ecosystems.net/blog/category/press/

Academically, numerous papers and books related to Synecoculture and expanded ecosystems have also been published, including in Nature Research.
https://www.human-augmentation-of-ecosystems.net/blog/category/article/

UniTwin UNESCO CS-DC e-lab, a virtual laboratory on the Complex Systems Digital Campus of the UNESCO UniTwin program, has been established - you can find the latest information and activities here.

Synecoculture in short movies:

Renewing agriculture to rebuild a broken environment Sony Computer Science Laboratories,Inc.(Sony) (5:46)

The Challenge to Global Agenda - Paradigm Shifts in Food Production and Agriculture- (Sony) (4:23)

Synecoculture short movie (17:03)

Keynote: Synecoculture and Megadiversity Management Systems (27:01)