Updates on Societal Issues Research 2021
In reviewing and identifying societal issues, the ICF Secretariat runs several parallel programs over the year. The 2021 Listings of the Societal Issues is now being edited for publication in March 2022.
Release of the First Installment of The Societal Issues Report: Wellness and disaster prevention & infrastructure
Starting this year, the listings will be released through a series of installments, entitled the Societal Issues Report, prior to the full-text publication in spring. Three installments will be published on the ICF website over the course of the year.
The first installment of the Report covers wellness and disaster prevention & infrastructure. It has been released exclusively to ICF members.
In the Report, societal issues were updated to include new issues along with technological and regulatory trends.
The new issues in the wellness area are the increasing health risks for women and the escalating damages caused by loneliness and isolation.
The disaster prevention & infrastructure area too saw the addition of a new issue: increasing and worsening cyber-attacks.
*The English version of the Report is scheduled to be released in November
Second Seminar on Societal Issues Held on August 26th
A series of seminars has been underway since June that explain the content of the Listings for each of the focus area. Water and food was the topic of the second online seminar in August which illustrated the content of the FY 2020 edition along with new issues to be addressed in the FY 2021 edition.
The 56 participants posed many valuable questions and commentary in the zoom chatbox as well as throughout the post-seminar networking time.
Dialogue included such opinion as: “A certain amount of loss is unavoidable due to the nature of agricultural products that cannot be standardized. The key is how to convert this loss into resources”; and “a more precise agricultural procedure is required to improve the efficient use of water.”
Upcoming Activities (September – October)
Co-Creation Day Scheduled for October 26th
Following the ICF’s inaugural meeting in April, the autumn general meeting, Co-Creation Day, is planned for October. The secretariat will report on the ICF activities of the first half of FY 2021 as well as plans hereafter.
There also will be time for member companies to introduce their initiatives towards resolving societal issues and expectations for ICF activities.
Details will be announced later.
Time and Date: 3:00-4:45 pm, Tuesday, October 26th ※ Online