The Chornobyl - 40 conference at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

Forty years is a reason to look back. But we decided to hold an unusual conference: to talk less about the events of 1986 and more about what to take from them today.

In a hall of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Chornobyl University and NaUKMA brought together international experts. Chornobyl was examined from several angles at once: radiobiology, ecology, public administration, law, history, economics, social psychology and national memory.

The topics ranged widely: - how Chornobyl is seen in the West and how Ukrainians see it; - the use of contaminated lands and pension payments: what the state is doing and why change is so hard; - Chornobyl and Fukushima: how our experience helped Japan and what we should learn in turn; - whether today's radiation monitoring is sufficient in case of emergencies; - how the Zone's nature has recovered over 40 years; - how the Chornobyl accident differs from the Chornobyl disaster; - how Ukraine can use its expertise - both in the war and in its international image.

Events like this usually come down to speeches and applause. This time the result was a genuine expert discussion. The conference's conclusions and proposals are being prepared for the relevant ministries.