/technicallyspeaking_off/$file/technicallyspeaking_off.gif)
/whatistechlit_off/$file/whatistechlit_off.gif)
/benefits_off/$file/benefits_off.gif)
/context_off/$file/context_off.gif)
/whatsbeendone_off/$file/whatsbeendone_off.gif)
/whatsnext_off/$file/whatsnext_off.gif)
/resourcesandlinks_off/$file/resourcesandlinks_off.gif)
/buildthissite_off/$file/buildthissite_off.gif)
/search_off/$file/search_off.gif)
/naeML08/$file/naeML08.gif)
|
/barleft/$file/barleft.gif) |
|
|
The International Experience (Print This) | |
In some countries, formal mechanisms for involving the public in discussions about the development and use of technology are more common than they are in the United States. Consensus conferences bring together experts and nonexperts to encourage discussions about the scope and implications of technology. Unlike the approach to consensus conferences pioneered by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, in European consensus conferences the conclusions and recommendations are developed by a panel of laypersons, not experts.
The Danish Board of Technology (Teknologirådet), which provides technology assessment services to the Danish Parliament, held what was probably the first such consensus conference in the world in 1987, on gene technology in industry and agriculture. To date, the board has sponsored 19 conferences on various topics, including electronic identity cards, educational technology, and the future of private automobiles. A least a dozen other countries, including Japan and South Korea, have attempted to emulate the Danish approach.
Scenario workshops, also pioneered by the Danish Board on Technology, involve the public and other stakeholders-usually business leaders, policy makers, and technical experts-in forward-thinking discussions of the local dimensions of sociotechnical challenges. Scenario workshops are intended to develop solutions to specific problems rather than to explore the use and regulation of technology generally.
The scenario approach was used first in Denmark in the early 1990s to examine the topic of urban ecology. A modified version of the technique, called the European Awareness Scenario Workshop® (EASW), was adapted by the European Commission's (EC) Sustainable Cities and Towns Campaign in 1994. EASW is a tool to help communities respond to the sustainability agenda (Agenda 21), drafted during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. EASW scenarios have been developed on four broad themes: the urban environment, regeneration, information and communication, and mobility. In addition, 60 workshops have been held in nine European cities under the auspices of FLEXIMODO, an EC project overseen by a consortium of Dutch, Danish, Italian, and Portuguese organizations.
Science shops, which originated in the Dutch university system in the mid-1970s, coordinate and sometimes conduct research on social, scientific, and technological issues in response to questions posed by community and public-interest groups as well as by individuals. Public participation in the process is essential, but it is not the overarching purpose. The science-shop approach was developed to engage the academic research community in the solution of societal problems.
According to the General Secretariat Dutch Scienceshops, there are 33 science shops at 11 universities in the Netherlands. Each has one or more areas of expertise, such as the environment, physics, chemistry, medicine, or architecture. Science shops or similar organizations are doing work in Denmark, Norway, Germany, Austria, Northern Ireland, England, Canada, South Korea, and Romania. The EC is currently studying ways to internationalize the science-shop model to increase public access to science.
Another approach, constructive technology assessment (CTA), is designed to include technology users in the technology design process. Rather than focusing on the problems of existing technologies or the potential applications of a technology, a CTA focuses on public concerns and desires during the "construction" of a technology. In this respect, CTA is different from other methods of involving lay citizens in technology assessment. The Rathenau Institute (formerly the Netherlands Organisation of Technology Assessment) has been instrumental in the development of the CTA concept. The Dutch government has used the CTA approach to examine the introduction of novel protein foods that could replace meat in the diet. Other countries, notably Denmark, Norway, and Germany, have also used CTA-like processes.
|
| | /bar/$file/bar.gif) |