In the Dutch nanoscience and technologies research and development (R&D) consortium NanoNed, an additional ‘Flagship’ for Technology Assessment (TA) & societal aspects of nanotechnology was created [www.nanoned.nl/TA]. This has given us an opportunity to experiment in real time with interactions between nanoscientists and technologists, and build on our earlier work in Constructive Technology Assessment. The fact that the consortium was prepared to spend some of its funding on TA and societal aspects is part of larger dynamics: the wish of nanotechnologists (in the US and elsewhere) to avoid the impasse around (green) biotech, by taking into account ethical legal and social issues (ELSI) from the beginning, and taking them seriously.
I will offer an overall diagnosis of the reflexive co-evolution of science, technology and society (Rip, 2002), which will allow me to better position the specific problem structuring that we developed. The ‘doubly-fictional’ character of TA of nanotechnology is still mostly promise: the societal impacts can only be speculated about. This has led us to further develop socio-technical scenarios and their use in interactive workshops with various stakeholders and other actors. Actors involved in such workshops, or working with the scenarios, are expected to become more reflexive. This may lead to the modification (hopefully for the better) of technological developments and the way these become embedded in society.
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Rip, A. (2008). Nanoscience and Nanotechnologies: Bridging Gaps Through Constructive Technology Assessment. In: Hadorn, G.H., et al. Handbook of Transdisciplinary Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6699-3_9
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