Waseda Brussels Office conferences boost EU-Japan cooperation

Building on the success of the 2024 WBO 6th Annual Conference Environmental Studies for Carbon Neutrality, Waseda Brussels Office recently organised several international researchers’ fora on highly topical scientific and policy issues. High-level researchers from leading scientific organisations and universities from 10 EU Member States, the UK, the US and Japan, as well as representatives from EU and Japanese governmental bodies (EC, ESA, Japanese Space Agency, Japanese Coast Guard), met in Brussels to boost cooperation in astrophysics, cultural studies, international criminal justice, and nuclear risks assessment and mitigation.

“Exploring the Early Universe: the Next Frontier”
This workshop presented groundbreaking results from the James Webb Space Telescope in the study of early galaxies formation. Looking forward, it introduced the GREX-PLUS space telescope’s wide-field imaging surveys. This Japanese-led initiative is building international support with a view to launch this revolutionary instrument by the early 2030s. Representatives from, inter alia, the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics (UK), Kapteyn Astronomical Institute (DK), Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma (IT), Steward Observatory (US) and Waseda University discussed this project’s challenges and its exciting scientific promises. 

“Cooperation in criminal justice and anti-corruption, and Culture and politics in Japan and Europe”
These were the themes of the 2025 EU-Japan Forum. Organised by the ULB Centre for European Studies and WBO, the workshops addressed new collaboration opportunities in these key research areas. Recent developments, such as the USA’s exit from the ICC and the shelving of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, until now the most powerful instrument to fight international corruption in the private sector, give added urgency for Japan and the EU to strengthen their cooperation - building on shared values and a rule-based approach to security, economic and trade issues.

“Lessons from Fukushima: Nuclear risks assessment and mitigation”
Organised in the context of the WBO-ULB-Kansai partnership, this seminar focused on the complex phenomena surrounding nuclear fission, in particular its effects on biology and health. The meeting was part of the multidisciplinary research effort launched following the 2011 Fukushima accident. EU and Japanese presenters discussed, amongst others, the biological effects of radiation using mathematical models. A key focus was the health impact of low-dose and low-dose-rate radiation, where the quantitative effects of radiation remain unclear and need further research.

Source: Waseda Brussels Office