The 4th Environmental Plastics Seminar was held on Tuesday, January 6, 2026.
This study meeting aims to promote open and informal information exchange on environmental plastic pollution. It is organized throughout the year, led primarily by the Marine Science Research Group of the Environment and Food Unit. Since this fiscal year, the meeting has been continued within the framework of the Social Impact Framework (SIF) as part of the socially oriented research and development program “Environmental Plastics Research Complex (EPReC),” launched by the FS.
On this occasion, we invited Toshiya Kobayashi of Kyushu University to deliver a lecture entitled “Research Ethics Education Applying Science Communication: Initiatives at Kyushu University.”
In the lecture, he discussed the historical background behind the development of premium leaded gasoline and chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases, as well as the subsequent process of regulation, to illustrate how the appropriate social implementation of emerging science and technologies should be advanced. In this context, he introduced the usefulness of “Technology Assessment (TA),” an approach that evaluates not only the direct effects of new science and technologies but also their secondary and potential impacts. He emphasized that TA should not be limited to evaluations conducted by third parties, but should also be undertaken by the researchers who themselves create new science and technologies.
Such TA is also considered to be an effective approach for addressing issues discussed in this study group, including environmental plastics, as well as artificial intelligence (AI), which is currently giving rise to various challenges in many fields. In this way, researchers are expected to carefully consider the diverse implications of the science and technologies they create before proceeding with their social implementation.
Information regarding the next study meeting will be announced on the FS website.
