41 videoclips have been produced over the course of the GoNano project. They have been developed with different audiences in mind. Some aim to educate and inspire research and innovation actors to engage society, while others have been developed to educate and inform broader audiences of the potential impacts of nanotechnologies and of opportunities to integrate societal considerations at early stages of research and innovation.

Enabling co-creation in nanotechnologies

GoNano and Harvestore first teamed up in October 2019 at a joint workshop to explore how co-creation could be used in the design and development of emerging technologies. Specifically, Harvestore aims to use nano-enabled micro-technology to develop a radical new family of all-solid-state micro-devices able to concurrently harvest and store energy from heat and light, providing uninterrupted power to low power devices.

Federico Baiutti of IREC, a Harvestore researcher, saw a lot of value in the Gonano co-creation process:

“It can help understand how to communicate effectively with stakeholders and help to get in touch with potential stakeholders that were not previously considered relevant…

… meetings between scientists and diverse publics should be encouraged so that scientists can understand what the needs of each stakeholder are.”

As co-creation is highly dependent upon bringing together diverse groups of stakeholders, the COVID-19 pandemic affected plans for many face-to-face events in 2020, but the projects have continued and are adapting to the circumstances. The GoNano final conference will now be a digital event, where individuals and organisations will be able to exchange ideas virtually and learn about the state-of-the-art in co-creation, responsiveness and practicing societal engagement in research and innovation. Researchers from the Harvestore project will be there to share their experiences of co-creation and to pick up tips for their engagement activities, including a large upcoming expo in the center of London and a topical workshop in Spring 2021.

For more information and the latest announcements about these upcoming events, please visit their website (http://www.harvestore.eu/) or follow Harvestore on Twitter @harvestoreEU and LinkedIn. 

As a CSO, you are an important stakeholder with a indispensable perspective that is very important when it comes to co-creating the future of nanotechnology. During the GoNano co-creation workshop, various CSOs helped to identify not only the needs, values and concerns of society that matter when it comes to innovation in nanotechnology, but also, through mutual exchange, worked together with other stakeholders to create a more robust and sustainable future of nanotechnology.

Why co-creation?

As you may know, co-creation can be broadly be understood as a collaborative development of new value (concepts, solutions, products, and services) together with various stakeholders (such as citizens, industry, research, civil society organisations and policymakers). It is a form of collaborative innovation: ideas are shared and improved together. During the GoNano co-creation workshops, civil society representatives emphesized that they events appreciated the process:

“The added value of the co-creation process was mostly on getting to know new types of stakeholders. As the workshops were quite intensive, and we had in-depth discussion with each other, I learned about new perspectives on nanotechnology and health and got to know some new interesting people”

Interestingly, during one of our best practices interview, an environmental organisation in Amsterdam that works in the field of energy. They initiated Carbonkiller: an initiative that enables citizens to buy emission rights in the European Emission Trading Scheme. his experience with attracting and working directly with citizens is that people (especially citizens) get motivated when they are working towards substantial outcomes and have the opportunity to become a stakeholder in the system:

“a key to the success, is that His project gives people a real opportunity to do something concrete”.

GoNano experienced that a multiple stakeholder co-creating event can help with that.

Supporting CSO’s

As a CSO, you represent societal issues such as patient well being, sustainability, care for nature and safety for employees and are therefore indispensable in the nanodebate. GoNano want to support your causes, so we took a closer look into your needs and wishes when is comes to making nanotechnology more socialy robust. Firstly, participating CSOs emphesized some participating boundaries: they are often financed by their members and donors and therefore need to focus their attention on those initiatives where interests of citizens are best represented. This means that the topic of the discussion must have a sense of urgency, requeres the need to act, and is close to their own mission.

The neccessity of this focus was explained by one of the CSOs from the stakeholder workshop in the Netherlands

“I really need to justify the importance of the meeting, because we are funded by public money and donations.These limited resources force us to cherry pick the most important and relevant events to go to”.

This was also acknowledged during an interview with a Dutch environmental organisation working in the field of energy, they said (with respect to the involvement of civil society)

“[..] there has to be a sense of urgency. It first has to become clear why people or civil society organisations have to react now”.

Find more interviews with the workshop participant and best practice example on the GoNano Youtube channel.

Secondly were the needs of CSOs: on the one hand CSOs are seraching for ways to include more citizens in research and innovation, and on the other, CSOs are searching for ways to themselfs have a larger impackt on research and innovation in general. To support these needs, we as GoNano have merged our experiences into various tools and materials, inculing 1) a public engagement database listing initiatives that are currently interested in involving citizens and CSOs in their debate and may ease the search for engagement options, 2) a co-creation toolkit on how you as a CSOs can become empowered during a co-creation even or yourselfs develop a co-creation event, and 3) a toolkit for citizens to help them prepare for a engament event.

Besides the tools and materials, GoNano also wrote three White papers that provide insights into different aspects of co-creation and responsiveness in the field of nanotechnology. Especially white paper 2 can be helpfull for CSOs, as it provides a strategic focus regarding how to implement co-creation. Complementary to the white papers, below you will find our policy briefs, presenting the main results of the GoNano engagement activities and provide recommendations based on the GoNano experiences.

Materials for CSOs

Three ways to become involved in the Nanodebate

1) Join in: engagement opportunities

One way to become involved in the Nanodebate is to search for engagement opportunities. Nanotechnology researchers and developers, like in all novel scientific advances, struggle with opportunities and uncertainties. This invites important questions about what products citizens may or may not want, and about the risks we are prepared to tolerate. Some forward-thinking companies or research centres invite you to participate in their future research and innovation processes, and would like to find out more about your concerns, needs and wishes on nanotechnology-related topics. To give you a hand in finding these initiatives, GoNano did some exploratory research and developed a public engagement database, listing organizations and projects that are currently out there looking for your feedback.  The list is not meant to be exhaustive, but it is a good base and gives an indication of what is out there and how to get involved. You will find three types of initiatives; EU-projects, networks or platforms, and local projects and organisations. As you will see, some initiatives would like to find out about your concerns, needs and wishes on nanotechnology-related topics, others directly invite you to join their discussion or offer guidance on how to become involved in the nanodebate . Click here for the public engagement database.

2) Co-creation toolkit

Another way to become involved in the Nanodebate is to create your own engagement opportunity. Please note, this is more challenging and costs more time and effort. To support you, GoNano developed a Co-creation toolkit in which we would like to share our lessons learned. The toolkit was initially created for researchers and engineers who would like to engage with citizens and societal stakeholders as a source of creative thinking. But the co-creation approach can also be used by CSOs interested in co-creation with other stakeholders.

The toolkit offers a six-step approach to help researchers and engineers define their goal, identify the relevant stakeholders and design, implement and reflect on the co-creation process. GoNano hopes to inspire researchers and engineers to continue this journey, working together with citizens and societal stakeholders to create value in new settings, with new topics and with creative outcomes.

Downloadable tools:

Brochure with all information for a co-creation workshop.
PowerPoint presentation to support the process
Two posters (extended and simpel version) to print for your event, showing the six-step approach to co-creation
Practical and strategic canvases to support step 3: Start planning
Toolkits from other projects and organizations to support step 4: Organize your co-creation event
YouTube clips with an impression of the GoNano workshop to support step 4: Organizing your co-creation event
Questionnaire canvas used by GoNano to support step 5: Evaluation and reflection on the process

3) Citizens’ guide

As a CSOs, you may know citizens who themselves are interested in participating in the nanodebate. To support those citizens, GoNano developed a ‘How to..’ guide on public participation. With this guide, we would like to share our lessons learned. It helps citizens to express their own needs and concerns and ensure that their thoughts are taken into account in future developments. The guide offers a five-step approach which aims to help you define your interests, identify the right opportunity and become involved in nanotechnology research and development. It’s an invitation for interested citizens to express their own needs and concerns and help shape the future directions of nanotechnologies. Click here for the ‘How to..’ guide.

White papers and policy briefs

To understand the concept and values of co-creation, with a focus on responsiveness, innovation eco-system, and gender and diversity aspects GoNano developed three white papers and seven policy briefs.

4. Policy brief

The GoNano policy briefs present the results of the engagement activities and provide recommendations based on the GoNano experiences.

Policy brief 1: Co-creation: A Practical Tool to Enhance Responsiveness in Research and Innovation

About: Co-creation can enhance responsiveness

Policy brief 2: Moving from reflection to proactive engagement and action on societal needs, values, and concerns 

About: The move to action

Policy brief 3: Opportunities and Challenges of Co-Creation: Experiences from the GoNano Project

About: Strategies for overcoming challenges for co-creation

Policy brief 4: The Value Chain: An approach to Implement Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) practices in Nanotechnologies Development

About: How the value chain approach can support the implantation of RRI

Policy brief 5: Positioning Co-Creation: Democratisation versus Added Value

About: Possible uses of co-creation in research and innovation

Policy brief 6: Inclusion in Co-creation: What is Needed in Practice?

About: Key requirements for realising inclusion in co-creation

Policy brief 7: Gender Issues in Nanotechnologies research and innovation

About: Gender issues in nanotechnologies research and innovation include

5. Whitepaper

The white papers provide insights into different aspects of co-creation and responsiveness in the field of nanotechnology. Each paper addresses the question of ‘conditions for Responsible Research and Innovation in nanotechnology research and innovation from a different angle. Whit these white papers GoNano aims to 1) feedback GoNano outcomes towards the development of concrete policy recommendations for governance of research and innovation in nanotechnology for increased responsiveness to societal needs and values and 2) feedback governance recommendations widely to policymakers, industry, research and innovation partnerships and consumer groups.

White Paper one establishes the foundation as to why co-creation responsiveness makes sense in nanotechnology and describes conceptual and empirical aspects of responsiveness of researchers and engineers in co-creation processes. It mainly addresses researchers, engineers, as well as other stakeholders involved in the research system (e.g. research funding or research institutions).

White Paper two provides a strategic focus regarding how to implement co-creation, considering research and the innovation eco-system. Thus, it addresses industrial and business partners, research institutions, and policy makers who are active in and are influencing research and innovation processes.

White paper three provides guidance on how to realize co-creation considering a gender and diversity perspectives in order to better integrate these in nano-related R&I. The main addressees of the paper are organizers and/or researchers in a position to put co-creation into practice.

The GoNano approach

GoNano believes that research and innovation can benefit from being more open to societal needs and concerns. Over the course of three years (2017-2020), GoNano enabled collaborative development (co-creation) in three nanotechnology application areas: food, energy and health. We first consulted citizens about their wishes, needs and concerns regarding future nanotechnology applications. This was used as input for the first and second stakeholder workshops, which aimed to stimulate citizens, civil society organisations, industry, researchers and policy makers across Europe to co-create research aims and think about concrete (product) suggestions for future nanotechnologies. Read more about the GoNano approach and results. 

This report aims to integrate the insights and lessons learned over the course of the project, reviewing findings from the knowledge base and methodology developed in the early stages of the project and the results of a series of engagement activities organised in the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Spain from October 2018 to November 2019. It considers how the various project activities have contributed to the specific objectives of the GoNano project as well as the overall aim to improve the responsiveness of research and innovation processes to public values and concerns.

The overall GoNano experience has elucidated opportunities and challenges of co-creation as a tool to enhance the responsiveness of research and innovation. The results suggest how focused, guided interactions between different stakeholders can in principle lead to novel suggestions on how to integrate broader considerations in research and innovation decisions. Several insights evolved from wild ideas into specific propositions towards the end of the co-creation process. That said, the gap between the appreciation of broader issues around research and innovation, and the actual integration of those issues in daily research practices and priorities remains significant: the challenge is to get from constructive dialogue to practical action. The GoNano experience suggests that co-creation processes need to identify the concrete interests and address the motivations of all participants, maintain continuity of thought, ‘translate’ needs and concerns from the social realm to practical options in the technological realm, and drill down to the level where the discussion topics and identified courses of action are specific enough to affect the decisions of the actors involved.

Read the full report here: GoNano D4.4 – Insights and lessons from the engagement activities

In summary

GoNano sought to design and implement a co-creation process that aligns nanotechnologies with societal needs and values. The co-creation process aimed to derive concrete suggestions from a deeper understanding of the needs and values of European citizens, and to explore the potential commercial value of integrating societal considerations in nanotechnology research and innovation. To realise these ambitious objectives, the project partners have produced a wealth of information on research and innovation policy, public engagement and co-creation in nanotechnologies.

The overall co-creation process spanned a wide range of activities across Europe. All in all, the workshops have mobilized 249 participants around co-creation in nanotechnologies. Moreover, 46 interviewees from 14 countries have provided their views on nanotechnologies and engagement in the initial stages of the project, 893 respondents from across Europe have commented through an online consultation on the product suggestions resulting from the workshops, and 198 persons responded to the evaluation questionnaires and interviews.

The overall GoNano experience has elucidated opportunities and challenges of co-creation as a tool to enhance the responsiveness of research and innovation. The findings of the GoNano co-creation process confirm that with some effort and careful preparation, it is possible to demonstrate to stakeholders that it does make sense to look at the broader dimensions of research. Participants valued the general opportunities for mutual learning and networking. However, getting from constructive dialogue to practical action remains a significant bottleneck: there is a gap between the appreciation of broader issues around research and innovation and the actual integration of those issues in daily research practices.

The GoNano experience suggests that co-creation processes need to identify the concrete interests and address the motivations of all participants, maintain continuity of thought, ‘translate’ needs and concerns from the social realm to practical options in the technological realm, and drill down to the level where the discussion topics and identified courses of action are specific enough to affect the decisions of the actors involved.

Aligning research and innovation to societal needs and values is not just a matter of deciding what sorts of future applications European citizens and stakeholders want and need (which is difficult enough, given widely divergent responses). It is also a matter of practically realising the desired change. Due to the relative autonomy of the research and innovation system, calls for responsiveness will need to identify the win-win opportunities where ‘doing good’ and ‘doing well’ coincide.

Read the full report here: GoNano D4.4 – Insights and lessons from the engagement activities

*The document may not be seen as an official deliverable of the GoNano project as it has not yet been approved by the European Commission

Deliverable 6.2 is part of the overall community and capacity building activities of GoNano. This deliverable specifically aimed to offer guidelines to citizens and other stakeholders who would like to have a voice in nanotechnology. To support citizens and stakeholders in the nanodebate, various output was developed, including a subtask report on exploring engagement opportunities for citizens and stakeholders, a public engagement database, ‘how to..’ guide on participating in the nanodebate, and a website section with easy to understand information about nanotechnology and results of the GoNano project.

For a details overvieuw of the various output please see D6.2 – Guidelines and information for citizens and CSOs

In summary

Mapping already available opportunities for public and professional stakeholders to have a say on the development of nanotechnology.

This first task focussed on mapping already available opportunities for public and professional stakeholders to have a say on the development of nanotechnology. GoNano reviewed 49 engagement initiatives (European projects, networks or platforms, and local projects and organisations) that aim to engage citizens and stakeholders with nanotechnologies (and emerging technologies more broadly) to map exisiting engagement opportunities in more detail. A key finding of the report is that concrete opportunities for citizens and CSOs to actively engage with nanotechnologies are relatively scarce, despite a plethora of public engagement initiatives. For those citizens and stakeholders interested in engaging with nanotechnology, suitable engagement opportunities can be hard to find. The report concludes that more engagement initiatives are needed that focus on the ’empowerment’ of citizens and stakeholders rather than on passive engagement. The responsive capacity of research and innovation needs to be enhanced in order to align research and innovation with the values, needs and expectations of society.

Please read the full subtask report here: Subtask 6.2 – Information and guides for citizens and CSOs

Developing an online resource database

Based on the findings of subtask report 6.2, GoNano developed an online public engagement database. The database lists engagement initiaitives that are currently inviting citizens and stakeholders. The list is not meant to be exhaustive, but gives a first indication of what is out there and how to get involved.

Click here for the public engagement database.

Developing guidelines for and citizens and CSOs who would like to engage with nanotechnologies

With the ‘How to..’ guide for citizens, GoNano aims to support citizens who would like to engage with nanotechnologies to express their own needs and concerns and ensure that their thoughts are taken into account in future developments. The guide offers a five-step approach which helps citizens define their interests, identify the right engagement opportunity, and become involved in nanotechnology research and development:

1. Define your purpose;
2. Find the place and community;
3. Get prepared;
4. Create together;
5. Reflect on the process and results.

Each step in this guide is supported by a brief summary of the step, followed by an example or exercise to help visualize and act as guidance through the step. For each stage there is a hint or advice based on the experience gained during the GoNano project. This also includes background information, tools, formats and inspiring ideas.

Click here for the ‘How to..’ guide.

Produce easy-to-understand information on nanotechnology and the results of the GoNano project

The findings from the GoNano project have been made available in a dedicated section on the project website to make it easier for citizens and societal stakeholders to understand the key concepts and possible developments of nanotechnology and support them to engage in research activities or in the public debate on nanotechnologies. This website section offers all the output developed as part of Task 6.2, but also includes relevant outputs from other GoNano work packages and external content. A brief summary of the website sections is given below; a full description is available directly on the website.

• The homepage of the section: ‘Join the nanodebate’ introduces the information available on the other pages. The sidebar at the right-hand side provides easy access to tools developed or citizens; the public engagement database
• The page: Nanotechnology in a nutshell presents easy to understand information on nanotechnology. This section briefly answers the question what is nanotechnology? and provides some examples of nanomaterials applications in commercial products. Supporting background material, including informative videoclips and brochures
• The page: Why might you care about nanotechnology gives a short introduction about the governance of nanotechnology. The videoclips and posters of future scenarios that GoNano developed are introduced as an example to help visualize future nanotechnology applications and raise questions on acceptability, sustainability and desirability that come with it.
• The page: Join in: engagement opportunities provides the public engagement database developed as discussed previously.
• The page: The GoNano approach summarises the aims, activities and main findings of the GoNano project. It provides a complete overview of the outcomes and results per work package, including the deliverables, toolkits, videoclips and the white papers.

Click here to visit the Join the nanodebate webapage

The full report can be found here D6.2 – Guidelines and information for citizens and CSOs

*The document may not be seen as an official deliverable of the GoNano project as it has not yet been approved by the European Commission

As part of its overall efforts towards training and community capacity building in Work Package 6, this report reviews European projects and other initiatives that aim to engage citizens and stakeholders with nanotechnologies (and emerging technologies more broadly). The explorative review of 49 engagement initiatives in this report resulted in the following findings:

• The bulk of public engagement initiatives on emerging technologies in the sample are from EU projects funded under the NM(B)P and Science in Society programmes.
• Relatively few engagement initiatives focus exclusively on nanotechnologies; those that do are predominantly EU-funded (86%).
• The majority of engagement initiatives reviewed (78%) are organised in a top-down fashion; they are carried out by technology ‘enactors’ or engagement professionals, often in return for payment or other forms of compensation.
• There is significant variation in the types of public engagement offered by the different initiatives.
• The different types of engagement activities are unevenly distributed: 45 initiatives (92%) have engagement activities that fall within the ‘Inform’ category. Relatively few initiatives aim to empower citizens and stakeholders.
• Only 3 out of the 49 initiatives reviewed currently offer concrete opportunities for citizens and CSOs to engage specifically with nanotechnologies.

These findings suggest that concrete opportunities for citizens and CSOs to actively engage with nanotechnology research and innovation processes are relatively scarce, despite a plethora of public engagement initiatives. The overall conclusion from this review is that the current engagement landscape does not fully address recent policy objectives to actively involve citizens and civil society in the development of research and innovation missions and projects. To strengthen the role of civil society in European research, there should be more attention to the active involvement of citizens and CSOs in shaping the research and innovation agenda. Public engagement needs to focus on the empowerment of citizens and CSOs, moving beyond the conception of societal stakeholders as passive recipients of information. Better alignment of research and innovation with the values, needs and expectations of society requires that the responsive capacity of research and innovation is enhanced.

The findings from this report have been used as input for the online resource database and the ‘How to.. ‘ guide for citizens and other stakeholders who would like to engage with nanotechnologies.

Read the full report here: Subtask 6.2 – Information and guides for citizens and CSOs

The public engagement database

The public engagement database lists organisations and projects that are currently looking for feedback from citizens and civil society organisations. The list is not meant to be exhaustive, but it is a good base and gives an indication of what is out there and how to get involved.

The database lists three types of initiatives;

• EU-projects,
• Networks or platforms,
• Local projects and organisations.

How-to guide on participating in the nanodebate

GoNano also developed a “How- to” guide to support citizens who would like to engage with nanotechnologies to express their own needs and concerns and ensure that their thoughts are taken into account in future developments. The guide offers a five-step approach which aims to help define your interests, identify the right opportunity and shares how to become involved in nanotechnology research and development.

For more information about nanotechnology, please visit the join the nanodebate webpage

A complete overview of the content developed in deliverable 6.2 can be here: D6.2 – Guidelines and information for citizens and CSOs

*The document may not be seen as an official subtask report of the GoNano project as it has not yet been approved by the European Commission

Part of the GoNano objectives are to create an engagement process which is cognisant of gender, diversity, culture and communication traditions across Europe. By being aware of what aspects of gender, culture, diversity and communication methods affect public discourse and public opinion, we can engage the public in a more immediate and significant way, and thereby develop a better and more effective communication and consultation methodology. This report is divided into two parts, where the first part consists of a literature review where these issues of gender, culture and communication is investigated. The second part is an analysis of societal debates, where online tools are used for harvesting, mapping and analysing social data on social media and websites on national debates in five European countries –the Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Denmark, Netherlands and Spain

Read the full report here: D1.2- Understanding the role of culture, gender and communication traditions and their implications for enagagement methodologies communication and dissemination

In summary

Part of the GoNano objectives are to create an engagement process which is cognisant of gender, diversity, culture and communication traditions across Europe. This engagement process will inform future nanotechnology development, by ways of public discourse and methodology development, as well as co-creation. In order to adequately align nanotechnology Research and Innovation with societal needs, it is important to look at societal issues such as gender, culture, and diversity.

These areas of focus present us with an opportunity to get a deeper insight into what motivates opinions, thoughts, needs, values and concerns — are these the same, or are there differences between or within various groups? Does gender have any impact on how values, needs and concerns around nanotechnology are shaped; does demographic diversity influence such concerns? What information and knowledge can we glean from looking into divergences of opinions and differences in discourse? What can we gain from increased awareness and focus on these issues?

This report is divided into two parts, where the first part consists of a literature review where these issues of gender, culture and communication is investigated. The second part is an analysis of societal debates, where online tools are used for harvesting, mapping and analysing social data on social media and websites on national debates in five European countries –the Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Denmark, Netherlands and Spain.

Conclusion

The findings from the data-mapping exercise showed that organisations have a very important role to play in disseminating information and building trust with the general public on topics like nanotechnology, and if the aim is to start a dialogue, dissemination needs to be both one-way and two-way in order to have an impact beyond those who already have an interest in the issue at hand. Public opinion can be influenced and change from a generally positive attitude towards nanotechnology to a hostile and negative perception –it is only by having a solid, facts-based communication channel that is effective in its reach that this can be avoided. In addition to this, the literature review informed us of how the lay public form opinions, how they are influenced, how they assess risk, and how gender and diversity play out in this area.

Read the full report here: D1.2- Understanding the role of culture, gender and communication traditions and their implications for enagagement methodologies communication and dissemination

During the first part of the GoNano project about fifty stakeholders with different roles in the R&I value chain have been interviewed in order to discuss the main technological developments in food, health and energy sectors. Representatives of R&I networks, public and private research, industry, policy makers, and end-users from several different countries in Europe have been involved. The respondens were asked about the main technological developments in the three sectors, in order to highlight the potential applications with significant impact on society and the issues that could be relevant to discuss in public debates.

Interview findings include examples of applications using nanotechnologies in the sectors of food, health and energy, with particular focus on short to medium term product solutions. Both common, and sector specific issues have been identified and have been turned into future applicaitons and product scenarios.  Most of them are expected to have a significant social impact, and are also aligned with acknowledged R&I priorities at policy and industrial level. These include applications of nanotechnologies for smart packaging, nano‐filtering, novel foods and plant protection products (food and agri‐food sectors), and regenerative medicine, diagnostic and assistive medical devices, targeted and personalized medical treatments (healthcare), and energy generation and storage, energy efficiency and application of the internet of things (energy).

In the report, the research priorities, product scenarios, and the needs and concerns emerged from the interviews are analyzed. Differences and similarities between the three sectors have been discussed and some cross-sectorial or general issues have been highlighted. Also, several insights to design future dialogue initiatives on nanotechnologies have been collected, regarding the methodology, the stakeholders to be engaged, the issues to debate and the goals to be pursued through societal engagement.

Read the full report here  D1.3- Stakeholders engagement in nanotechnologies: areas and issues for a dialogue

During the autumn of 2018, three thematic deliberative and envisioning citizen workshops in the areas food (Czech Republic), energy (Spain) and health (the Netherlands) formed the first step of the co-creation process. The goal of the workshops was to inform citizens on nanotechnologies and possible future application areas in order to facilitate their reflection on wishes, needs and concerns. The citizens’ inputs formed the basis for understanding social needs and values, and for working with professional stakeholders to align future nanotechnology applications with these societal values and needs.

Video impressions of the workshops are available on the project website and on YouTube.

Read the full GoNano report- D3.2 Briefing report from the citizen workshops

In summary

The three pilot partners organised a series of face-to-face citizen workshops in the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Spain in October/November 2018. The goal of the workshops wasto inform citizens on nanotechnologies and possible future application areas in orderto facilitate their reflection on wishes, needs and concerns. The citizens’ inputs form the basis for understanding social needs and values, and for working with professional stakeholders to align future nanotechnology applications with these societal values and needs.

Workshop design

The participants of the citizen workshops were guided in a process of envisioning and co-creating suggestions for the early stage of nanotechnology research and innovation that would live up to their needs.The aim of the workshop was to enable the citizens to come together, to consider and commonly reflect on specific nanotechnology applications. The outcome would thus be an overview of citizens’ needs, values and concerns related to future nanotechnologies and their application in the areas of food,energy and health. The figure below shows the pahses guiding the organisation of the citizen workshops.

Prior to the workshop,all participants received an information package. Participants worked in small groups and with the help of a moderator throughout the day. The moderator’s role was to make sure every participant wa sable to contribute to the debates at the tables, to take notes, and to make sure key points of discussions were recorded in the online tool. In terms of the composition of participants, organisersworked with the aim of collecting 48 participants from different backgrounds based on various demographic criteria (gender, age, education, economic activity, place of residence).

Workshop findings

In general, the discourse from the citizen workshops reproduced well-known repertoires of optimism and concern: public perception studies consistently show that European citizens are cautiously optimistic about nanotechnologies.They have positive expectations; however, they also have concerns about the risks to human and environmental health and to societal well-being ingeneral. Throughout the three workshops, citizens highlighted the need to engage in dialogue on the impacts of nanotechnologies. A number of characteristics of the technology application correlated with the strength of the need to engage in dialogue:

1) The more widespread or the closer to a person’s body a technologyapplicationwould be, the stronger theneed the citizens expressed for dialogueand information

2) The less obvious a technology application’scontribution was to solvinga societal need or challenge, the more questions the citizens would have about the application. E.g. participants could understand nanotechnologies in health applications as a solution to aspecificdiseasemore easily than the preventative benefits of modified food

The results from the citizen workshops point both to desirable ends (reduce the use of food and energy; increase health and well-being; make water more available to more people, especially people in the third world) and to important needs that should be safeguarded in implementation (avoid harm to environment and humans; avoid polarisation in society;ensure accessibility and affordability; ensure nanotechnologies develop under public scrutiny and in dialogue with societal stakeholders and publics; support a circular economy; reduce waste;increase recycling;ensure sustainability;safeguard privacy and security, ease of use and maintenance).

Read the full GoNano report- D3.2 Briefing report from the citizen workshops