The ‘From Fukushima to the World’ project aims to convey the lessons of the Fukushima nuclear disaster to the world, from the perspective of civil society.
One catalyst for this project is the ‘3rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction’ which will be held in Sendai in March 2015. A range of specialists in disasters and risk reduction will gather at this conference to discuss international cooperation in these matters, making it the ideal opportunity to air the concerns of civil society. The Japan CSO Coalition for 2015 WCDRR (JCC2015) is a network of concerned NGOs, Universities and community groups formed to ensure that the voices of the victims of the disaster are heard, and to make proposals for the ongoing resilience of communities.
Members involved in this network met people from all around the work at preparatory meetings overseas. Several NPO and university representatives from Fukushima attended such a meeting in Bangkok to discuss the Fukushima nuclear accident, and they heard similar responses from several people. “We understand the gravity of the situation in Fukushima” they said, “but what should we do next”?
At the heart of this statement is a recognition that many countries already have nuclear plants, and others are planning to introduce them.
This is an attempt to respond to the questions of our international partners. We aim not only to convey the truth of what happened, but to make clear how the lessons of Fukushima can inform people overseas when they consider nuclear issues in their home nation. This is the motivation behind the creation of the booklet. Four of the organizations that comprise the secretariat of JCC2015 (Fukuden, JANIC, Peace Boat and CWS Japan) have collaborated to form the ‘Fukushima Booklet Publishing Committee’. With the cooperation of countless Fukushima residents, and others active in the Prefecture, we are proud to present the “10 Lessons from Fukushima: Reducing risk and protecting communities from disasters” booklet, initially translated into several major languages.
Furthermore, in advance of the UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, we will hold a conference at the Fukushima Culture Center beween March 11 and 13, entitled the Global Citizens’ Conference on Fukushima. This will also be the forum for launching our booklet. We look forward to welcoming around 20 international guests to this event, giving them an opportunity to interact with Fukushima locals and discuss how to ensure such tragic disasters can be prevented in the future. Some of the organizing committee members for this conference are also a part of the booklet committee.
This website’s first role is to introduce the “10 Lessons from Fukushima: Reducing risk and protecting communities from disasters” booklet and the Global Citizens’ Conference on Fukushima. However we will also provide ongoing updates on various activities aimed at conveying the lessons of the Fukushima nuclear disaster to an international audience. From next year we plan to translate the booklet into more languages for even wider distribution.