230589 SE Technological Democracy in Europe (2007S)

In recent years, quite a few experiences of public participation in science and technology have taken place in European countries. Also, within the European 'Science and Society Action Plan', more active public participation is identified as one of the key ways for improving the relationships between science and society. However, this did not lead to global learning process yet, since such experiences were conducted using a variety of contexts, problems and participatory processes. It is now necessary to analyse such experience and their relevance for the future of the governance of science in Europe.

This seminar will cover the following points:
-origins of technology assessment (TA) and participatory TA
-in depth discussion of some public participation experiences on GMOs and nanotechnologies
-public participation in S&T and social theory
-public participation S&T and innovation theory
-roles of social scientists