Context

The current situation in the contaminated territories leads to a feeling of incapacity from the population and radiological protection is no more considered as a priority. In the daily life, the recommendations concerning food and the environment are not always applied and accessible to the public. Furthermore, it is generally difficult for the population to deal with the complexity of the situation.

Young people have no memory of the events that occurred before and after the accident. In the four districts concerned by the CORE programme, a few isolated initiatives devoted to the construction and to the conservation of the memory already exist. Concerning radiological protection culture, seven schools have been involved within the ETHOS project in the development of practical approaches. Local actors expressed their will to develop practical radiological culture and to handle the issues of re-appropriation of the memory of the accident itself and its consequences.

Purpose of the TP

The overall purpose is to set up the conditions for the development and for the patrimonial intergenerational transmission of a practical radiological protection culture and of the memory of the accident and its consequences for humanity. This transmission of know-how and of memory is a key condition for sustainable improvement of living conditions, allowing the inhabitants of contaminated territories, as well as the national and international communities, to better address the problems of the affected areas.

Local, national and international partners of the Topical Project

Local partners : Districts of Bragin, Slavgorod, Stolyn, Chechersk (schools, recreation centres, libraries, museums etc.), local population, technical managers.

National Partners : State Chernobyl Committee, Belarusian State University, Ministry of Education, Republican Centre for tourism

International Partners : Nuclear Evaluation Protection Centre (CEPN), Patrimoine sans frontieres (PSF), Universite de Caen (LASAR), ACRO (NGO on control of radioactivity in the environment), National Institute for Radiation protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), French Institute of Architect (IFA), French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (through the French Embassy in Minsk), Lycee du Bois d'Amour - Poitiers, GRAINE (NGO on environmental education)

Success criteria of the TP (first element to be confirmed by the local partners of the TP)

• A practical radiological culture developed at school to enable the concerned local population to better assess the radiological situation
• Increased level of involvement among local staff in the fields of Culture and Education in the activities proposed in the frame of this TP, together with a broad participation of children, local people, local communities and more generally civil society
• An increase in international and national exchange and contributions dedicated to this TP
• Reliable, consistent and wide information about the different activities is made available at the local, national, European and international levels
• Creation of a memory corpus resulting from the work undertaken, notably available for the next generations and the persons concerned by the memory of the accident and its consequences;
• Emergence of places, tools, images, laying down the basis of a consistent patrimony, shared at local, national and international levels, that would help to restore the intergenerational link

Co-ordination and integration of the TP into the CORE Programme

The meaning of this TP is strongly related to the existence of the other components of the CORE Programme. The work undertaken in the Education-Memory group shall increase the awareness of the population regarding the place of Chernobyl in their daily life, improving their capacity to be involved in increasing their life quality. Nevertheless, this should be achieved only if they receive enough resources and support at local, national and international level. Therefore the activities presented in this document will be implemented in the districts as soon as other components of the CORE programme are covered.

Co-ordination is first provided by the presentation, discussion and orientation of the activities at the Liaison Committee on Education and Memory as well as with regular reporting to the European Partnership Committee and to the CORE Programme coordination committee.

Main activities provisioned throughout the CORE Programme duration

EDUCATION

Activity 1 : School twining on the environmental protection regarding radioactivity

The objective of Activity 1 is to favour exchange on the issue of environmental protection regarding radioactivity between pupils and teachers living in contaminated territories in the Stolyn District and pupils and teachers from Poitiers in France. This exchange will:

• Promote citizenship and cultural dimensions;
• Involve children in the "appropriation" of their own environment;
• Co-ordinate pedagogic methods and approaches based on the local socio-economic and environmental conditions;
• Favour a pedagogical approach on the protection of the environment and the sustainable development in each specific context as well as address the issue of risk;
• Share at the international level the issue of post-accidental situations.

This Activity will be implemented with the help of CEPN, and the support of IRSN:

• in the schools of Olmany and Terebejov of the Stolyn District, involved in the ETHOS project;
• and in the Lycee du Bois d'Amour in Poitiers, where pupils and teachers have got necessary skills and knowledge about radiation safety.

GRAINE, a French NGO, and Belarusian State University will help in preparing the pedagogical approach and in providing materials and documents.

The initial planning for this Activity is:

Preliminary phase: November 2003-June 2004:

• Identifying the pedagogical teams interested in the project;
• Identifying the thematic issues to be addressed for exchanging the experience and information between pupils;
• Mission of a French co-ordinator from the Lycee du Bois d'Amour to Belarus for discussing the organisation of the project and the exchange conditions;
• Presentation of the project to the parents (June 2004) and confirmation of the participants.

Organisation of the exchange: September 2004 - March 2005:

• First exchange of information between pupils and teachers through internet and post;
• Organisation of local "excursions" for pupils in Belarus and France in their own environment;

March 2005: Travel of Belarusian pupils to France.

April 2005: Travel of French pupils to Minsk.

Evaluation of the activity and identification of perspectives (May 2005 - October 2005)

Activity 2 : Fostering practical radiological protection culture with children

The objective of Activity 2 is to develop a radiological protection culture at school. For this purpose, this Activity will be based on the experience gained in the ETHOS approach. It will aim at:

• Favouring the access for the pupils to information on the radiological situation related to their own village, district, or country; trough activities based on children's involvement;
• Favouring the exchange between schools at the local, regional, national and international levels;
• Training teachers and other local educational staff, in preparing and organising their own project for addressing the practical radiological protection culture with children of different ages;
• Training teachers and other local educational staff, in the practical knowledge and know-how for organising practical lessons at school;
• Encouraging the sharing of know-how and experiences between people involved in education on contaminated environment.

As far as the technical and pedagogical material is concerned, this Activity will notably benefit from the best practices of the CORE Topical Project on methodological and information assistance for radiological education, developed under the leadership of the Belarussian State University.

This Activity is closely related to the CORE Topical Project on the implementation of an inclusive radiation monitoring system. The first implementation of this Activity is already initiated in the Braguin District under the leadership of the NGO ACRO in cooperation with the University of Caen (Lasar), and in connection with the Department of Education of the District and the NGO "Sprout of life", and with the support of IRSN.

The initial planning for this Activity is:

• December 2003-May 2004: Presentation of this Activity to the schools of Bragin, Komarin, Maleika and Krasnoye;
• May-September 2004: Identification of project participants;
• October-December 2004: Preparation of projects by school teachers with the technical support of the local technical managers and experts;
• December 2004: Launching of the projects;
• Beginning of 2005: Providing methodological support to the teachers according to their needs;
• May 2005: Evaluation of the first phase of the project and reflections on its continuation and extension.

MEMORY

Activity 3 : Memory of the Chernobyl accident and its consequences

Existing ways of representation related to Chernobyl, its memory and its consequences, are not enough developed to allow a comprehensive awareness of what happened and what is still happening in the affected villages. Starting from local actions, including an inventory of all information (oral statements, documentation, photos, etc.) gathered on the field and artistic work, this activity focuses on the definition of a complex of memory and on its evolution in a dynamic and renewed perspective, helping making it also a universal heritage for Humanity. This Activity was initiated by PSF. Nowadays, the first ongoing action is devoted to the issue of lost villages. The other sub-activities proposed hereafter are under development.

3.1 : Lost Villages - Looking for vanished landscapes

The Chernobyl accident left behind contaminated and forbidden territories where villages are lost forever. Some of them have been buried, others abandoned. For their inhabitants, forced to leave, these villages do not exist anymore or will remain permanently inaccessible. For perpetuation of memory about the lost villages and recollection of the vanished landscapes, two working groups have already started their work: one in Bragin with local staff of the Museum, and one built up around the House of culture of Komarin. These working groups have initiated a first collection of information about lost villages. A common reflection will be set up for preparing a "20 Years Since Chernobyl" exhibition at the local, national and international levels.

3.2 : "White book" and memorial sites about Chernobyl

The idea of a "white book" will allow to assemble oral statements and recollections of the population. This material will form the basis for launching an international contest for architects, designers and other artists in order to seize the most suitable way to honour this Memory. Museums, statutes, events are all eligible ways to give shape to such a memorial. Voluntary architects will take part in these actions, which will recall the pre-existing configuration of the contaminated area as well as the value of the local cultural heritage for the future.

3.3 : "Life in the contaminated areas: giving a face to the invisible"

The main purpose is to invite people in the contaminated areas to bring out their thoughts and feelings on the accident and to reformulate them in various forms (digital photos, videos, etc.) under the supervision of artists. A series of workshops on various topics is therefore envisaged. Two workshops are already planned for 2004: one focused on photography, the other one on videos. These workshops will be organised in the Bragin District. The materials produced will be collected by the local population and shared at local, national and international level, through projections, mini-exhibitions and web sites.

3.4 : "Fairytales : Tell me my cloud"

This activity will involve some schools in Belarus and some schools in Ukraine and Russia (also affected by the Chernobyl catastrophe) together with some schools in Western Europe. Small creative working groups will be initially writing fairytales under the supervision of teachers, writers and artists. The fairytales produced will form the basis for an exchange of material among schools by setting up a Web site. A re-adaptation of the most appreciated fairytales in music, film or cartoon is also envisaged.

Technical co-ordination

For the development of this Technical Project, a team of two technical managers has been recruted. Located in Gomel in the Institute of Radiology, they are in charge of methodological and technical assistance at the local level, ensuring the link between local, regional, national and international partners involved..

TP will be carrying out in Stolin district of Brest region, Slavgorod district of Mogilev region and Bragin and Chechersk districts of Gomel region of 2004-2006. The total estimated budget for TP implementation is _ 457 000. Present identified funds are _ 238 000 at the beginning from French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IRSN, PSF, Chernobyl Committee, Poitiers Municipality.

All Rights Reserved, CORE, 2004