SIA

What is Social Impact Assessment?

We use Social Impact Assessment to describe the processes organisations can undertake to assess the potential social, ethical, environmental, cultural and http://www.matterforall.org/principles-for-responsible-innovation-january-2016/economic impacts and implications of their innovations and explore their response. These assessments are generally conducted with an organisation’s stakeholders and our Principles for Responsible Innovation (also developed with stakeholders) form the basis of the exploration. […]

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Our Outreach strategy for Industrial Biotech

Trustworthiness builds trust, trust builds confidence, confidence builds markets. Our strategy prepared for Jonathan Porritt and Forum for the Future to support his IB Done Well Report

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Food Irradiation & Responsible Innovation

Could Food Irradiation really give us fresher, safer food? How could we all contribute to making that decision? Our multi-stakeholder discussion started the conversation.

Why Brexit might be the jolt of electricity which brings RRI to life!

One could imagine that Brexit will sound the death knell for RRI, (Responsible Research and Innovation). With the potential for Horizon 2020 research funding to be cut quite significantly, it could be regarded as a luxury – something mildly interesting during the good times, but which has no place in the new dog-eat-dog […]

What are academic researchers for?

I’m helping a University and some academic researchers think through how their areas of work can be more about being ‘for’ the particular areas of society they serve, than ‘about’. Actively contributing rather than dispassionately observing. Or, of course, ensuring that if dispassionately observing is their main contribution that they are dispassionately observing something that […]

GM Insects: The Lords fail spectacularly to learn the lessons of the past

Today the House of Lords has published their report into GM Insects. I am astonished at how little they appear to have learned from the past in this report. This blog is my quick attempt to illustrate where the failures lie. The inquiry chair, Lord Selborne, certainly should know better, he chaired our multi-stakeholder Responsible Nano […]

Academic partnerships with NGOs – What To Do & What Not To Do!

I presented virtually to a conference at Notre Dame University’s John J Reilly Centre for Technology, Society and Values. The conference, called The Collaboration Conundrum, explored the new collaborations and partnerships between different stakeholders and academia. My talk was on Working with NGOs, what do to and & what not to do. In proper RRI […]

Observations on NGO campaign on Ecover use of Synbio

I prepared this overview of the issues around this particular debate for the UK Synthetic Biology Leadership Council Governance Sub-Group meeting at the end of last year and thought someone may be interested. Background: NGO campaign against Synbio in cleaning materials In Spring of 2014 Ecover and Method (brands owned by Ecover) came under pressure […]

Emerging technology risk – are we asking the wrong questions?

Our joint project with the Univ Michigan Risk Science Centre explores a new approach to understanding emerging technology risk based on real world, plausible use of materials