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challenges , Belarussian public authorities launched a programme in the early 2000s aimed at developing public infrastructure , in particular hospitals and schools , but also at improving the comfort of residents in rural areas by developing the gasification of villages and methods of transportation . It is undeniable that these efforts have encouraged a certain return to the affected regions of young households in search of a life away from the turbulence and economic constraints of large cities , as has been highlighted above . However , this movement was still very limited at the end of the 2000s when the CORE Programme ended .
The discussions during the 24 th Dialogue showed that the major concern of the younger generations is to assess to what extent contaminated territories can be attractive for the future . Is it possible to live sustainably in these areas ? It should be noted that the issue of radiation protection has not been addressed much during the Dialogue because the level of residual radiation is significantly less important in Fukushima than in Belarus . However , the organizers , who mentioned the effectiveness of the practical radiological protection culture during the discussions , were consulted by several participants for more precise information on the radiological situation in the affected areas where they live and how it was possible to protect themselves . The perception of the risk after a nuclear accident remains a significant issue ( Hande et al ., 2023 ).
After the Fukushima accident , many adults struggled with the turmoil caused by its consequences and they achieved some accomplishment to regain control on their lifes . For instance , some local projects aiming at developing the necessary radiological protection culture to live in a contaminated environment were carried out in Fukushima and neighboring area after the nuclear accident by residents in cooperation with local leaders and local or academic experts . These projects , aimed to give the concerned populations the means to develop a practical culture of radiological protection within the framework of co-expertise processes ( ICRP , 2020 ). Thus , the communities of Kawauchi ( Takamura et al ., 2018 ), Suetsugi ( Lochard et al ., 2020 ), Yamakiya ( Yasutaka et al ., 2020 ) and Kashiwa ( Igarashi , 2022 ) benefited from the support of volunteers or institutional experts who empowered them to regain control of the radiological situation in their daily lives and the experiences have proved to be efficient for them to go ahead and to envisage the future .
It is interesting to note that the Dialogue highlighted that these experiences are in fact not known to the younger generation . Participants who heard about these projects for the first time during the Dialogue expressed their surprise but also their satisfaction to learn that the situation was not blocked as they believed and that there are perspective and experience on which to rely on .
Despite this prospect of a possible improvement in the situation , it is important to emphasize that young people remain doubtful about the future . For example , a young couple who consulted organizers after the dialogue said they did not have children at the moment but would leave the affected area when it was time to have them . In fact , the question of motherhood is indeed a critical issue for many young couples after the nuclear accident ( Ito et al ., 2023 ).
This clearly shows that concern for children remains very present and that radiological issues must be considered in a long-term perspective as well as the potential for developing a practical culture of radiological protection among young people . Helping people to understand their own exposure and to open a dialogue with experts to interpret the results including the potential health effects has demonstrated to be crucial both in Belarus and Japan . In this perspective , young people have a key role to play to ensure the relevant vigilance with regard the residual contamination .
5 Conclusion
Beyond the differences between Belarusian and Japanese experiences highlighted in this article , in particular the individual dimension of the Fukushima youth initiatives , while in Belarus they were more part of well-structured projects at the local level , the 24 th Dialogue highlighted many common aspects . There is no doubt that the late lifting of the evacuation order in communities close to the Fukushima nuclear power plant constituted a serious handicap for the implementation of local projects , unlike the ETHOS Project and in particular the CORE Programme which supported the reconstruction of disaster areas as part of an approach shared by stakeholders with the support of public authorities . Surely , some local projects were conducted after the Fukushima accident , however , they were essentially focused on the control of radioactivity and limited in scale compared to the projects carried out in Belarus .
The 24th Fukushima Dialogue made it clear that the generation following the one that handled the consequences of the nuclear accident in Japan in the first years after the accident clearly aspires to be involved in the reconstruction process . The experience of Belarus has demonstrated the importance of developing a governance framework to ensure the effective and sustainable implementation of stakeholder involvement in this process . From this perspective , the development and dissemination of the practical culture of radiation protection is very important . The Dialogue showed that this culture remains a vague notion for most participants . It therefore seems important to deploy activities in the near future with the support of the younger generation aimed on the one hand at promoting vigilance with regard to the residual radioactivity of the accident , and on the other hand at developing the practical radiation protection culture to accompany the recovery process . The Dialogue clearly showed that the young generation in Fukushima is resolutely focused on the future with the desire to contribute to the rehabilitation of living conditions in the affected areas by the accident by putting themselves at the service of others .
Finally , the participants express their wish to engage not only in ‘ small activities ’ but also large-scale projects implemented by the authorities , which will bring significant impact on the future of the region . They are motivated to cooperate with the local administration to share the common vision for the future of the areas and to get involved in the recovery process . Following the experience of the ETHOS project and the CORE programme above , working together across generations may be the most effective option to revitalize the affected region where social bonds have been seriously damaged , but it is also crucial to respect the freedom of everyone to get involved or not in the post-accident situation .