Speaker
Description
The nuclear disaster in 2011 urged the public to reconsider disaster prevention and energy issues. Osaka University has been working to measure environmental radioactivity in Fukushima Hamadori. Through this work, we have communicated with local people and learned a great deal. We found that the measurements in Hamadori are educational not only from a radiation science perspective but also from a social science perspective. Therefore, we started a school program for students.
The aim of the school is not simply to learn how to measure radioactivity. It is to understand the situation in Fukushima-Hamadohri based on hands-on experience with radiation measurements. Knowledges of physics are necessary to understand radioactivity, and knowledges of chemistry and geophysics are required to understand how radioactive substances exist and circulate in the environment. Understandings of biology and medicine are essential to grasp how these substances affect the human body. However, natural science perspectives are not enough to fully understand how human society responds to environmental radiation.
At the Fukushima Environmental Radiation School, experts from various fields gather. However, the school places great importance on students seeing with their own eyes, feeling, and measuring things for themselves. The aim of the school is for students to develop the ability to synthesize information obtained in Fukushima-Hamadohri, understand issues through discussions among students, and search for solutions.
The school began in 2016 with 10 students. Since then, the number of students has increased each year, and we continued to hold in-person classes even during the pandemic. In 2024, 215 students participated. We also emphasize diversity in students' areas of study. By not setting restrictions on fields, grade levels, nationalities, etc., students from various backgrounds have been able to share their ideas and perspectives.
We will present our activities.
