Smart Community Proposals for Reconstructing the Disaster-Affected Areas:
The World’s Wisdom for the Disaster-affected Areas, the Disaster-affected Areas’ Activities for the World
Panel discussion On March 2, 2012, just prior to the one year anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, the International Energy Seminar on “Smart Community Proposals for Reconstructing the Disaster-Affected Areas” was held in Iizaka, Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture. This international seminar was jointly hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of the Environment, and was attended by approximately 430 people from both within and outside of Japan including people from the disaster-affected areas, foreign diplomatic delegations and staff of international organizations in Japan, and experts from enterprises and research institutes.
The seminar was held with the theme, “the world’s wisdom for the disaster-affected areas, the disaster-affected areas’ activities for the world.” The seminar introduced the pioneering smart community* initiatives being conducted by different countries across the word. These initiatives are designed to create low-carbon, resource circulating communities. The seminar also facilitated vibrant discussion on the possibility of applying these initiatives in the disaster affected areas. Furthermore, the specialists recommended by people from the affected areas discussed the necessity and the appeal of smart communities from the perspective of those affected by the earthquake. This discussion turned into vibrant debate. Some opined that a successful smart community project needs to be citizen-centered, pursue security and safety, and create new industries and employment opportunities. The results of these discussions are summarized in Smart Community Initiative towards the Reconstruction of the Disaster-Affected Areas. Furthermore, some of the participating international organizations expressed their intention to provide assistance to the affected regions.
We will gather global wisdoms in the affected areas and advance reconstruction while fully leveraging that wisdom and share the outcome with the world. We strongly hope that this will contribute to the restoration of the affected areas.
* Development of communities in which the energy consumption of households, offices, commercial facilities, public transportation and other energy users is viewed as one entity to be fully optimized.