1st CoRE-CResT International Conference 2026 on Health Positivism

J-PEAKS PROJECT INITIATIVES 2025–2029
1^st CoRE-CResT International Conference (2026) on Health Positivism
Advancing Human Well-being through Transdisciplinary Research and Innovation

Date: 5–7 November 2026
Venue: Onsite: Akita International University, Akita, Japan; Online: via Zoom

Call for Conference Presentation Abstracts

Invitation to Participate

The 1^st CoRE-CResT International Conference (2026) invites researchers, practitioners, policymakers, industry leaders, and students to explore the emerging field of Health Positivism—an interdisciplinary approach that seeks to understand and promote the conditions that enable individuals, communities, societies, and ecosystems to flourish.

The conference aims to bridge the natural sciences, engineering, medicine, social sciences, humanities, and digital technologies to develop innovative solutions that support healthier people, healthier communities, and healthier environments. In this respect, the conference embraces the principle of Integrated Knowledge[1] (Sogochi), in which diverse forms of knowledge are brought together to develop a more comprehensive understanding of complex societal challenges and to translate that understanding into meaningful solutions.

Participants are invited to present original research, methodological advances, case studies, technological innovations, policy analyses, and interdisciplinary collaborations that contribute to advancing the emerging concept of Health Positivism, the main theme and purpose of the Conference.

The conference is an outcome of J-PEAKS (2025–2029), a select Japanese government programme supporting research excellence in universities and, thereby, enable wider societal impact.

The conference also builds on a track record of discussions between Akita International University and partner universities in Sri Lanka, bringing together researchers and practitioners from Japan and Sri Lanka to examine Health Positivism from complementary perspectives. While both countries face the common challenges of ageing populations, changing lifestyles, rising healthcare demands, and the need to promote healthy longevity, they differ substantially in their demographic, socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental contexts. This Japan–Sri Lanka perspective provides a valuable comparative setting for exploring how approaches to health and well-being can be adapted across different stages of social and economic development, and for identifying solutions that are both locally relevant and internationally transferable.

Significance of Theme: Health Positivism

Japan’s experience indicates that age cohorts beyond 75 years show an exponential rise in the prevalence of cancer, stroke, heart disease and dementia – all expensive-to-treat ailments that are often fatal, stretching normally over-burdened healthcare delivery systems even further. This issue, however, is not just confined to rich G7 nations but is also emerging in developing economies such as Sri Lanka, where in 2026, the average longevity at birth (78.0 years) is about the same as that of the United States (79.5 years), whilst over half a decade behind Japan (85.1 years). Sri Lanka’s per capita nominal GDP (2026), however, is a mere USD 5,000 in comparison to USD 90,000 for the US and around USD 35,000 for Japan[2] this year (2026). Where, then, will countries committed to universal healthcare delivery, like Sri Lanka and Japan, find the resources to deal with the rising healthcare costs of an ageing demography?

Keeping the population healthy for as long as possible is an obvious answer but, whilst average longevity has steadily increased, the gap of 10-12 years between average and healthy longevity has not closed over the last two decades, both nationally in Japan and in Akita Prefecture. Seeking innovative ways of closing this gap defines one aspect of the scope of this conference. Some hints from the societal response to the epidemiology of ageing and longevity in Abkhazia, an autonomous region wedged between the Black Sea and the mountains of the South Caucasus, now a part of the Republic of Georgia (Figure 1), lie at the core of the concept of Health Positivism (Figure 2), the theme of this conference. The Abkhazians are famed for their longevity and their positive approach to life (Robbins, 2008)[3].

Child and adolescent health too are of concern (Baird et al., 2025)[4]. This is the other aspect that defines the scope of this conference. Despite Akita being known as a non-metropolitan prefecture whose students perform well at Japanese university entrance exams, absenteeism has seen a threefold rise over the last 10 years. With the pervasiveness of smartphone usage in developed and developing countries alike, and the exponential transformations of Generative and Agentic AI, one wonders what the situation might be in emerging economies like Sri Lanka. The interim results of a survey currently being conducted by Akita Prefecture and Yokohama City University, in collaboration with Akita’s four national/public universities (of which AIU is one), may provide us with more insights. These too will be discussed at the conference.

Research Focus

The two central research questions defining the scope of the conference, namely Healthy Ageing, and Child and Adolescent Wellbeing, are bound by the concept of Health Positivism, which draws its inspiration from the Abkhazian attitude and approach to life:

1. Can healthy longevity be achieved by modulating lifestyles? and
2. Can child and adolescent wellbeing be furthered by modulating learning environments?

An evidence-based approach is advocated, including both the numerical findings from clinical tests and social surveys, as well as the semantic contents of narratives, both personal and societal (Figure 2). The conference particularly welcomes contributions that bring together different forms of knowledge, disciplines, methods, and perspectives to generate a more comprehensive understanding of health and well-being, and to inform practical and socially relevant solutions.

Conference Themes

Submissions are invited under the topics (but are not limited to) of the following thematic areas:

Theme 1: Attitudes, Behavioural Cues, and Social Interactions

This theme explores the psychological, behavioural, cultural, and social determinants that influence human well-being and healthy lifestyles.

Topics may include:

• Human attitudes and behavioural change
• Social connectedness and community engagement
• Social psychology
• Cultural influences on health
• Education and lifelong learning
• Lifestyle and health behaviours
• Behavioural economics
• Human flourishing
• Community resilience

Theme 2: Empowering Assistive Autonomy through AI, Robotics, and Wearables/Nearables

This theme focuses on emerging technologies that enhance human capabilities, independence, rehabilitation, healthcare delivery, and quality of life.

Topics may include:

• Artificial intelligence
• Rehabilitation technologies
• Wearable/nearable technologies
• Digital therapeutics
• Intelligent sensing systems
• Assistive robotics
• Human–robot interactions
• Smart healthcare
• Ambient assisted living
• Assistive autonomy

Theme 3: Food Culture, Food Habits, and the Human Microbiome

This theme examines the relationships between nutrition, culture, lifestyle, microbial ecosystems, and long-term health outcomes.

Topics may include:

• Nutrition and health
• Dietary behaviour
• Human microbiome
• Sustainable food production
• Precision nutrition
• Food systems
• Traditional food cultures
• Gut health
• Functional foods

Theme 4: Planetary Health and Habitat Ecology

This theme investigates how environmental systems, ecosystems, biodiversity, and habitat quality influence human health and societal resilience.

Topics may include:

• Planetary health
• Sustainable landscapes
• Ecosystem services
• Nature-based solutions
• One Health
• Climate change and health
• Biodiversity and habitat ecology
• Urban and rural environments
• Environmental quality and resilience
• Satoyama, or socio-ecological production landscapes

Theme 5: Digital Health, Social Structures, Systems Science and Data Science

This theme explores data-driven approaches for understanding, managing, and improving health systems and societal well-being through advanced analytical methods.

Topics may include:

• Digital health
• Systems science
• Health informatics
• Machine learning
• Decision-support systems
• Data science
• Complex systems
• Big data analytics
• Digital twins
• Social systems modelling

Submission Categories

Authors are invited to submit abstracts of the papers they intend to present at the conference, which could include the following:

• 1. Original research papers
• 2. Case studies
• 3. Poster presentations
• 4. Proposals for special sessions/panels
• 5. Review papers
• 6. Work-in-progress papers

Conference Format, Participation, and Fees

The conference will be held in a hybrid format, enabling both in-person and online participation.

Participation in the conference is free of charge. No participation, registration, or publication fees will be charged to authors or participants.

Additional information regarding registration, accommodation, presentation guidelines, and the conference programme will be announced in due course.

NOTES:
CoRE-CResT (Collaborative Research & Enterprise through Cyber Research Teams) is a cyber platform for collaborative research and engagement initiated by Akita International University (AIU) under Japan’s Peak Research Universities (J-PEAKS) programme. J-PEAKS is a national research support program in Japan funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and officially designated as the “Program for Forming Japan’s Peak Research Universities”.
J-PEAKS aims to strengthen the research capacity of selected regional core and specialized research universities in Japan. It supports them in building an environment that enhances research excellence, promotes international collaboration, and accelerates the social implementation (technology transfer and societal impact) of research outcomes.
The program encourages universities to develop long-term strategic visions and leverage their distinctive research strengths to contribute to both national and international research landscapes.
J-PEAKS at AIU, with Nagaoka University of Technology as the lead institution, is a five-year interdisciplinary research initiative (2025–2029) aimed at advancing Sustainable Social Transformation (SX). The project at AIU is anchored in Health Positivism—a proactive, systems-based approach that views health as a dynamic outcome of human attitudes, lifestyles, environments, and technology.

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[1] For more insights on Integrated Knowledge (Sogochi): https://www8.cao.go.jp/cstp/sogochi/index.html

[2] A low exchange rate for JPY vis-à-vis a strong USD exchange rate exaggerates the per capita GDP disparity between the US (USD 90,000) and Japan (USD 35,000). Adjusted for recent currency inflation and depreciation, cost of living and domestic purchasing power, USD 60,000 (US) and USD 45,000 (Japan) are likely to be closer to the ground reality.
Notes on abbreviations: CoRE-CResT = Collaborative Research & Enterprise through Cyber Research Teams; G7 = Group of Seven nations; GDP = Gross Domestic Product; J-PEAKS = Japan’s Peak Research Universities; JPY = Japanese Yen; US = the United States of America; USD = United States Dollar.

[3] Robbins, J. (2008). Healthy at 100: The scientifically proven secrets of the world’s healthiest and longest-lived peoples. Random House Publishing Group.

[4] Baird, S., Choonara, S., Azzopardi, P. S., Banati, P., Bessant, J., Biermann, O., Capon, A., Claeson, M., Collins, P. Y., De Wet-Billings, N., Dogra, S., Dong, Y., Francis, K. L., Gebrekristos, L. T., Groves, A. K., Hay, S. I., Imbago-Jácome, D., Jenkins, A. P., Kabiru, C. W., … Viner, R. M. (2025). A call to action: The second Lancet Commission on adolescent health and wellbeing. The Lancet, 405(10493), 1945–2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(25)00503-3