MATTER

Communication lessons from GM

The responsible development and use of new technologies, such as nanotechnologies, synthetic biology, new biotech and genomics applications is the new CSR frontier. Nano in particular is used in areas as diverse as energy, cosmetics, packaging, coatings, medicines and chemicals. Companies in these areas need to consider how they use these responsibly to bring useful and safe products to market.

What the public wants to know about new technologies

This is the first report in our Walking with Stakeholders initiative where we explore how companies can best engage with their stakeholders around the use of new technologies.

Here is the report of our findings. The top line is:

• Make the use of the technology compelling in terms of benefit to human health or the environment, not just company profit
• Be open about your use of the technology and communicate a richer picture of that benefit to the public
• Understand the risks and any wider social or ethical implications of its use and communicate about the process you use to bring products to market, explore complexities with a wider group of stakeholders
• Be open and innovative in your communication and engagement - and don’t duck the tricky issues.

If you would like to make a contribution to our debate - see our Debategraph

Take a look at the article we prepared for The Ethical Corporation Magazine

Take a look at our presentation on YouTube to hear more about our project.

Here is the final report of this phase of our project exploring what the public, investors, NGOs and retailers expect of companies in their use of innovative technologies and our proposal for how companies could respond.

Companies wishing to participate in the next phase of this project - called Society Inside® which explores good practice in this area, should contact hilary@matterforall.org.

Purpose

We believe that communication and engagement between companies and their stakeholders is at the heart of strong governance and the appropriate use of new technologies. This project seeks to help stakeholders crystalise what they believe is important and useful to know and help companies explore how they can respond effectively.

Outcome

Improved understanding of stakeholder concerns and greater clarity about what information, if shared by companies, will help alleviate those concerns and exploration of the possible responses by companies in stakeholder engagement and communication. Though this work can be applied across any technology, we will use nanotechnologies as the focus for this work.

Our approach

Stakeholder consultation
First we will work with stakeholders to explore what information they think is important and would find useful to learn direct from companies and what they believe should be shared with others, including the government and the general public. We will clarify with them the detail of their expectations and where when and how they would find information and engagement useful.

Business deliberation
We will explore these findings with business through the MATTER Business Group and in consultation with a number of trade associations and business groups who are interesting in debating with their members how businesses and governments may reasonably be expected to respond.

Output
We will prepare a report and recommendations for business, government and stakeholders which we will communicate widely. This will feature a 'business case' for engagement, case studies on good practice and lessons from successes and failures.

What about the public?

Our funding won't cover specific research among the general public though we will ask this question as part of our participation in the current UK Food Standards Agency Nano & Food Public Dialogue. To understand public views we will use the views expressed in the public dialogues around nano, synthetic biology, GMOs, geoengineering, stem cells and others.

Funding

The project is currently funded by contributions from members of the MATTER Business Group (comprising AstraZeneca, College Hill Communications, GSK, Leatherhead Food Research, Marks and Spencer, Nestle and Unilever) and in-kind partnerships or hosting consultation events. Organisations expressing interest in such in-kind involvement include the European Commission DG Sanco, the Nanotechnology Knowledge Transfer Network, the Nanotechnology Industries Association and a number of investor groups, insurers, campaigning organisations, individual businesses, trade associations and business groups. We are seeking further funding to allow us to increase the number of consultations and undertake research with the general public.

Timing

We are currently in the design phases of this project and expect the research to begin in early 2011 and the project to be completed by mid 2011.

If you would like to be involved in Walking with Stakeholders, either as a participant in the dialogue, a partner or a funder, please contact Hilary Sutcliffe on +44 (0)207 520 9086