The Nanodialogues
Four experiments in upstream public engagement
Nanotechnology - the science of small things - promises to be one of the defining technologies of the 21st Century. But what will it mean for society and the environment? And how can public engagement in deciding the direction of research be moved 'upstream'?
Nano Nano
at 9:40am on Friday, 18th March 2005Lord Sainsbury announced yesterday his new grants for public engagement with science, one of which is funding a new Demos project with Lancaster University. After See-Through Science, we are squaring up to our own challenge and doing some innovative public engagement experiments with a handful of organisations who have different approaches to 'science' and 'the public'.
For more info on this project, which we call Nano-Dialogues, email me.
Last night, I was part of another form of nano-engagement at the Science Museum's new Dana Centre. I was on a panel looking at attitudes to innovation and nanotech in the US and the UK. We had Harry Kroto (nano-pioneer) beamed live from Florida, George Gaskell and the excellent Alexis Vlandas. We started politely enough, but strayed off-message. By the end, I was in an argument with a couple of audience members about MMR safety. They thought I was being 'anti-science'. I tried to remind them that it is not 'anti-health' to try to democratise and engage with health policy. Nor is it 'anti-education' to discuss what is best for our kids. The debate smoulders on...
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