Research Center for Cooperative Civil Societies (RCCCS) was established in April 2010 with the aim of contributing to the realization of sustainable and cooperative civil societies by promoting research through collecting, preserving, and making available large amount of documentations on local and global activities by citizens worldwide.

In line with the agreement signed by Rikkyo University and Saitama University in March 2009, the renowned collection on people's activities at Saitama University was transferred, in whole, to the Center. That includes: large collection of non-commercial, hard-to-locate publications by citizens' groups and individuals since early 70s (over ca. 18,000 titles / 276,000 items), more than 40 archives of high-profile grassroots movements such as "Peace for Vietnam! Citizens' Committee", and personal archives of renowned researcher/activist Jun Ui and Yoshiyuki Tsurumi.

The collection offers diverse and lively picture on what ordinary people thought and did to tackle issues such as war, pollution and human rights violations, at different times and places.

The Center is committed to:
1) make its collection accessible to students and faculty members of Rikkyo University, Saitama University, and any other research institutions, to promote research on grassroots movements and citizens' activities in the society.
2) work actively with people outside the university and make utmost effort to function as an open forum for citizens and researchers so that people can share their experiences, ideas, knowledge and wisdom.