People's Inquiry on Nanotechnology and the Environment

Skip navigation

Home >> Case Studies >> browse case studies >> People's Inquiry on Nanotechnology and the Environment

Method(s) Used

Deliberative Workshops (Methods)

Name of person who posted the project:

Karin Gavelin (Involve)

Location of project:

United Kingdom

Date when the project started:

2006

Date when the project ended/project ongoing:

2006

Background to project:

The People's Inquiry was part of Nanodialogues, a series of four practical experiments to explore whether the public can meaningfully inform decision-making processes related to emerging technologies in four different institutional contexts.
.

Purpose of project:

Objectives included:

Experiment in a theoretically informed way with new methods of upstream public dialogue in societal debates about nanotechnologies.
Ensure that these dialogue experiments are framed in a way that can inform processes of institutional decision-making and priority-setting.
Generate intellectual and practical resources for enriched public, policy, and scientific debate about the social implications of nanotechnologies.
Identify wider lessons and insights that can inform the policy and practice of public engagement in science and technology.

Project activities:

The Inquiry consisted of three deliberative workshops with a group of 13 east London residents, which focused on the use of nanoparticles to clean up chemically contaminated land. The workshops involved input from scientists, Environment Agency staff, government policy-makers, and other stakeholders, and ended with public participants drawing up a set of recommendations.
.

Project results:

After the process ended, a group of participants presented their recommendations to Defra. The final Nanodialogues report was launched in June 2007 to an audience of policy makers, research council staff, scientists and social scientists.
.

Contact details:

Website: http://www.demos.co.uk/projects/currentprojects/nanodialogues/
.
Contact: Jack Stilgoe, Demos. jack@demos.co.uk
.

Browse all case studies