Expert Working Group on Human Enhancement

A series of seven expert meetings have been held on Convergence Technologies for Human Enhancement as part of the NanoBio-RAISE project. The aim of these meeting is to examine the ethical and societal implications of converging technologies which might enable the functional enhancement of the human body beyond medical purposes, responding to a 2004 EC expert group report, which called for the study of potential challenges to societal values.
For the full report click here.

Horizon Scanning Workshops

The aim of the workshops is to forecast the serious societal and ethical issues likely to emerge and to recommend the responses which should be made. The workshops tried to bring together key players in the nanobiotechnology scientific and commercial field together with the leading ethicists and public communication experts concerned with it to scan the horizon for further future issues.

Three workshops have been held during the NanoBio-RAISE project:

• The first workshop on Nanomedicine was jointly organised with Nano2Life and held from 19-21 January 2006 in Münster. The minutes of the meeting can be found in the download section of the website or click here. A book is about to be published on this meeting.

• The second workshop on Nanotechnology food and environment was organised by DECHEMA and held from 19-20 March 2007 in Frankfurt am Mainz. The minutes of the meeting can be found in the download section of the website or click here.

• The third and final workshop on Theranostics was again jointly organised with Nano2Life and held from 6-8 June 2007 in Münster. The minutes of the meeting can be found in the download section of the website or click here. Part of this meeting was broadcasted on local German television. For the fragment click here (in German).

Convergence Seminars

The Philosophy Division at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm has conducted four focus group discussions on nanotechnology as part of the NanoBio-RAISE project. The focus group discussions have successfully been organised in Sweden, Great Britain, Poland and Portugal to explore public views on Nanobiotechnology and to clarify the potential ethical issues that might emerge from their development. What are key issues for the public and what would their recommendations to policy makers be?

For the full report click here
For an interview on the Convergence Seminars in a Swedish Science Magazine Click here to have a look. In Swedish only

Democs game

Democs (deliberative meeting of citizens) is part card game, part policy-making tool that enables small groups of people to engage with complex public policy issues. A Democs game on NanoBiotechnology has been developed as part of the NanoBio-RAISE project. The game has already been played by different groups in the UK and the Netherlands. Please click here for the report.

Briefing Papers

Four briefing papers are being prepared on the following topics:

• Nanomedicine
• Nanotechnology and food
• Ethics and Nanbiotechnology
• Nanobiotechnology and public communication

As soon as they have been finalised they will be published on the website.

International Advanced Courses on Public Communication & Applied Ethics of Nanotechnolgy

Two one-week, intensive training courses for all those with an interest in nanotechnology and its public communication and ethical implications were successfully held in St Edmund Hall, Oxford, UK. The first course was held from 11–16 March 2007 and the second one from 23-28 September 2007.

The courses consisted of an alternating programme of expert lectures, case studies, media training, role play, group discussions and debate. The programme provided leading experts in public affairs and communication, bioethics, risk assessment and regulatory affairs in the field of nanotechnology. Participants were trained in writing, speaking, debating, preparing communication plans and ethical case studies applied to the various fields of nanotechnology.

The courses were highly evaluated by the students. Please click here for the full evaluation report that summarises the participant’s feedback on the first course and here for the evaluation of the second course.

Steering group meetings

Three Steering Group Meetings have been successfully held during the NanoBio-RAISE project with the aim to over look and monitor the project components on a practical basis, and provide expertise, experience and advice in all phases of the project on strategic planning and general oversight of the aims and objectives of the project.

• The First Steering Group Meeting was held 11-12 November 2006 in Brussels, Belgium. For the minutes click here.

• The Second Steering Group Meeting was held 10 December 2007 in Frankfurt am Mainz, Germany. For the minutes click here.

• The third and final Steering Group Meeting was held 6-7 November 2008 in Delft, The Netherlands. For the minutes click here.