Regina M. Bichler, M.Sc.
Research Associate
Japan-Center
Office address:
Oettingenstraße 67
Room 141
80538 München
Office hours:
By appointment
Postal address:
Oettingenstraße 67
Current Research
The idea of a "Zero Waste City" represents a local approach to reducing waste, but there has been a lack of research on such transformations towards sustainability from a social and cultural science perspective. My dissertation uses case studies to provide insight into everyday life in a Zero Waste Town or City and to explain what such an initiative means for the lives of its residents. Using discourse analysis, participant observation, interviews and practice theory as a theoretical basis, three case studies examine the relationship between waste and society: Kamikatsu, Japan's first zero waste town; Kyoto, Japan's least wasteful major city; and Munich, which is currently undergoing transformation.
https://www.hazardoustravels.carsoncenter.uni-muenchen.de/projects/zero_waste_cities/index.html
Research Interests
- Zero Waste
- waste and waste management in Japan
- social practices of consumption
Curriculum Vitae
- Year
- Academic appointments and education
- since 02/2026
- Research fellow (Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin) at Japan Zentrum, LMU
- 11/2025-12/2026
- Fellowship of the CRC "Cultures of Vigilance" (SFB 1369) at LMU
- 04/2025-10/2025
- Protocol Assistant in the German Pavilion, Expo 2025 in Osaka
- 10/2024-03/2025
- Grant Program for Japanese-Language Program for Specialists in Cultural and Academic Fields at the Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute Kansai, Osaka
- 06/2022-08/2023
- Visiting Researcher at the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, with DAAD scholarship
- since 10/2021
- PhD candidate in Environmental Humanities at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, LMU, with scholarship of the German Environmental Foundation (DBU)
- 07/2018-10/2020
- Staff Office Management at Namics Europe, Oberschleißheim
- 10/2015-06/2018
- Bachelor of Japanese Studies, LMU
- 09/2014-08/2015
- Exchange student at the Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, with DAAD scholarship
- 04/2014-03/2017
- Master of Biochemistry, LMU
- 02/2013-06/2013
- Exchange student at the National Research Center for lMolecular Genetics, University of Pavia, Italy
- 10/2010-03/2014
- Bachelor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, LMU
Publications
Bichler, Regina M. (2024). „Kamikatsu as a Zero Waste role-model? Lessons for future Zero Waste Cities”. In: Hommerich, Carola/Kimura, Masato (Hrsg.): Sustainability in a Fragile World – Approaches from Germany and Japan. Tokyo: Sophia University Press, pp.15-38.
Bichler, Regina M. (2023). „Harm and Harmony – Concepts of Nature and Environmental Practice in Japan”. Histories, 3(2), S.62-75; https://doi.org/10.3390/histories3020006 (Part of the Special Issue Images of Nature – From the Middle Ages to (Non-)Western Modernities).
Frank, Jakob; Gebrande, Clara; Bichler, Regina M.; Vogel, Rudi (2020). „Insights into the pH-dependent, extracellular sucrose utilization and concomitant levan formation by Gluconobacter albidus TMW 2.1191”. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-020-01397-3.
Beyeler, Laura; Eimterbäumer, Marlene; Jürgens, Meret; Böckel, Alexa; Schoch, Konrad; Bichler, Regina M.; Straub-Mück, Michael; Molnár, Magdolna; Jaeger-Erben, Melanie (2025). „We have to talk! Claims of early career researchers to transform circular economy research”. Resources, Conservation & Recycling 221, 108423.
Bichler, Regina M. (2019). Regionale und nationale Identitätsbildung im Nihon Minka Shūraku Hakubutsukan 日本民家集落博物館 (Freilichtmuseum japanischer Bauernhäuser) in Toyonaka. Universitätsbibliothek der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. DOI: 10.5282/ubm/epub.60649 https://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/60649/.
Further information
“Environmental sustainability and the German Pavilion at the Osaka Expo 2025”. Symposium “Beyond Expo: Sustainable Futures”, Leiden University, 24.11.2025.
“Zero Waste Cities in Germany and Japan – different approaches to similar problems”. 17th Conference of the German-Japanese Society for Social Sciences, Tokyo, German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ), 23.10.2024.
„Von der Müllflut zu Zero Waste? Konsum, Abfall und Gesellschaft in Japan“ (From the waste flood to Zero Waste? Consumption, waste, and society in Japan). University Duisburg-Essen. Online Lecture „Umwelt und Klima in Japan“, 15.09.2023.
“Kamikatsu – Zero Waste role-model or drop in the waste ocean?”. 16th Conference of the German-Japanese Society for Social Sciences, Tokyo, Sophia Universität, 19.11.2022 (Online).
“Waste-society relations in ‘Zero-Waste Cities’ and their implications for the establishment of sustainable practices: a case study of Munich, Kamikatsu, and Kyoto”. Sophia University Tokyo. Presentation für Master students of “Sophia Program for Sustainable Futures” (SPSF), 06.07.2023.
„Die Zero Waste City München: Ziele, Maßnahmen und Erfahrungen aus Kamikatsu“ (The Zero Waste City Munich: goals, measures, and experiences from Kamikatsu). 19. Leipziger Deponiefachtagung, 15.03.2023 (Online)
“The ‘Zero Waste Cities’ Munich and Kamikatsu: waste prevention, recycling, and the integration of technological innovations to establish sustainable waste practices.” Technology, Environment and Resources. Panel “My PhD in 10 min”. The 10th Tensions of Europe Conference, 29.06.-01.07.2022.