NANOETHICS 2011

Governance and ethics of nanosciences and nanotechnologies

 Partecipanti

Mappa

 Word cloud

Esplora la "nuvola delle parole (Word Cloud) per avere un'idea di massima del progetto.

 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The main objective of the project is to raise awareness of policy makers, experts, scientists, representatives of industry, third sector and general public in regard to the Commission’s Code of Conduct for responsible nanosciences and nanotechnologies research as well as other developments in governance and ethics of such research. It should also inspire further discussion on these subjects on national and European level, and encourage actions of the EU Member States concerning development of national regulations in the area of responsible nanosciences and nanotechnologies research.

The above mentioned objectives will be achieved through organization of the Polish Presidency conference “Governance and ethics of nanosciences and nanotechnologies” (Nanoethics 2011), follow-up activities and the overall promotion of the project.

The conference will be organized in Warsaw on 20-21 October 2011. It will have a particular focus on the EC Code of Conduct for responsible nanosciences and nanotechnologies research, and activities of Member States concerning implementation of the Code will be presented and discussed. Stakeholders opinions will be heard as well. The conference will also be an occasion to present other initiatives in the field of governance and ethics of N&N research, and will contibute to dissemination of the results of the EU funded projects in this area.

The event is planned for 200 participants. Among them there will be: the EC representatives, policy makers from the EU Member States, scientists, experts, representatives of industry and CSOs, delegates of national academies of sciences, and representatives of media and general public.

The event will result in elaboration of the conference proceedings and the post-conference report that will contain summary of the event and recommendations concerning the EC Code of Conduct. Both publications will be broadly disseminated. The conference discussion will be continued on an on-line forum.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Nanosciences and nanotechnologies (N&N) have far-reaching socioeconomic and environmental effects, but demand a safe and responsible approach to research and development (R&D). An EU initiative has raised widespread awareness on governance and ethics concerns in N&N.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The EU invests substantial funds in R&D for N&N to benefit society without harming humans or the environment. In 2008, the European Commission set forth a code of conduct to ensure safe, ethical and sustainable N&N research and general principles and guidelines to achieve good governance. Creating the right conditions for responsible N&N research remains a challenge.

In this context, the EU-funded NANOETHICS 2011 (Governance and ethics of nanosciences and nanotechnologies) project set out to inform a broad range of public and private stakeholders on the code of conduct and other governance and ethics developments.

To achieve this, project partners organised an international conference in Warsaw during the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU. It provided an overview of the key issues concerning N&N governance and ethics. It also served as a discussion forum for the code, including current developments in the Member States, problems arising from its adoption and how it is viewed by various key actors.

The two-day event attracted more than 120 policymakers, industry and non-governmental organisation representatives, experts, scientists and the general public from around the world. The conference led to recommendations for the code's successful uptake.

NANOETHICS 2011 engaged relevant stakeholders and citizens in dialogue in order to tackle N&N challenges. Realising the full potential of R&D for N&N will help achieve sustainable growth, boost European competitiveness, create jobs, protect the environment and enhance quality of life.