Iwate Prefecture Office of Science and ILC Promotion Director Jun Sasaki recently gave a lecture at the Oshu Space and Astronomy Museum in Mizusawa ward, Oshu. He explained future developments including the international ILC conference “LCWS2016” to be held in Morioka from December 5th to 9th this year. He emphasized the importance of opportunities for researchers and local people to meet each other considering that there are expected to be more international conferences and visits in the future.
The lecture was held in conjunction with the regular meeting of the Iwate ILC Accelerator Science Promotion Council (Chairman Tomio Kikegawa), a group working to invite the ILC based in Mizusawa, Oshu.
Director Sasaki talked about the current status of ILC project developments for the Japanese government and for researchers. Explaining that the Japanese government is expected to make a decision on inviting the ILC in the 2017-2018 fiscal years, Sasaki proposed that the area hosting the ILC “should make outstanding efforts not seen anywhere else.”
Director Sasaki predicted that researchers from overseas would come to visit the candidate site more often in the future, such as for international conferences like LCWS2016 to be held this year in Morioka in December. He stated it was “important to make opportunities for researchers to meet local residents” during those visits.
When the public relations staff from particle physics research facilities in seven countries visited the candidate site in Iwate last year, they were surprised to see that the area was already actively raising awareness for the general public, such as holding poster contests for children, related Director Sasaki. “Raising public awareness after the ILC comes is too late. We have to take the initiative and raise awareness from the present.”