Stakeholder involvement in the rehabilitation of living conditions in contaminated territories affected by the Chernobyl accident. The ETHOS Project in Belarus

The management of the Chernobyl post-accident situation is a complex process comprising not only radiological protection but also psychological, social, economic, political and ethical dimensions. Involving in this process local communities who are directly concerned by the consequences of the accident is a strong lever in improving their living conditions as well as restoring their confidence in experts and the authorities. This paper presents the experience of the involvement of a group of mothers from a village in the Republic of Belarus in activities to improve the radiological protection of their children. This experience took place in the framework of the ETHOS Project supported by the radiation protection research programme of the European Commission with the objective of implementing an alternative approach to the rehabilitation strategies adopted so far in the contaminated territories of the CIS. The first part of the paper presents briefly the main features of the methodological and practical approach of the ETHOS Project. The second part describes in more detail how the mothers voluntarily got involved in a working group set up within the framework of the Project, the characterization of the radiological situation they carried out, the concrete approach they developed to regain control of the situation, the way the health care system has been involved in the process and finally, the results they achieved in reducing the internal contamination of their children. (author)