EARTH Co-Organizes "Minamata @ 60" Seminar

IPEN Participating Organization Ecological Alert and Recovery-Thailand (EARTH), along with Chulalongkorn University, National Health Commission Office of Thailand, Kumamoto Gakuen University, and Collaboration Center for Minamata Disease Victims, organized a program and public conference from 9th-12th September, 2016 in Thailand. The program aimed to discuss lessons learned from the Minamata industrial disaster and how to apply those lessons for a sustainable society and environment.

The seminar included testimony by Ms. Shinobu Sakamoto, Minamata Disease patient, as well as presentations by representatives from The Council of Work and Environment Related Patients’ Network of Thailand (WEPT), the Open Research Center for Minamata Studies at Kumamoto Gakuen University (KGU), the Collaboration Center for Minamata Disease Victims (CCMDV), the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies at Chulalongkorn University, and more. Discussions revolved around themes such as "social consensus" building for realizing a sustainable local society and how Thailand can apply the lessons from Japan. A press conference was also organized. 

Watch a video and find more information about the seminar on EARTH's Facebook page (Thai and English).

Japan Times: Seminar seeks to shine spotlight on mercury-linked Minamata disease