Stakeholder Workshop

The SEBEROC research consortium will host the workshop "The future regulation of nano- and GM-products" which gives special attention to the position of the consumer. The half-day workshop will take place in the morning of the 15 February 2011 at the EU Liaison Office of the German Research Organisations (KoWi), Rue du Trône 98, 1050 Bruxelles.

The number of participants will be limited. The consortium will send out invitations in the next days. However, if you are interested to attend the workshop, please write an email to the contact below.

The workshop will provide an opportunity for EU stakeholders to systematically compare the current regulatory framework for nano-products and GMO-products and to identify lessons learned, issues and possible ways forward. Discussion will be guided by the concept of responsive regulation which has originally been developed by John Braithwaite and Ian Ayres and further developed by members of the SEBEROC consortium. Particular attention will be given to the position of the consumer  and to issues of  risk communication and assessment as well as participation in the regulatory process. The workshop aims to identify lessons that can be learned for nano regulation from the experience of GM-regulation, but will also look at GM regulation can learn from nano-regulation.

The workshop build on findings from interviews with stakeholders in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Finland and Germany; and workshop results will inform the design of focus groups with consumers in these countries.  

Findings from these consumer focus groups will in turn be discussed with stakeholders in a second workshop later in 2011.

A draft agenda will shortly be published.

Containing risks to human health and the environment have been the main concerns in the regulation of nano- and GM-products. With converging technologies emerging, regulation, management and communication of risk becomes more demanding. With higher degrees of uncertainty about impacts and less agreement about the appropriate methodologies for risk assessment, controversy on principle (strictly precautionary vs. evidence-based regulation), procedures and methodology are pervasive. Against this background, consumer information and participation gain importance in creating trust in the regulatory framework; but also to enable consumer and producer choice and allow for individual strategies to avoid perceived risk.

Experience shows, however, that this is a delicate line of balance. In GM regulation, there is comparatively strict and complicated regulation but products reach the market only where consumers find it difficult to link them to GM technology (e.g., feed or food processing). On the other hand, novel nano-products enter the market place in great numbers, despite ongoing uncertainty and controversy about possible specific health and environmental risks from nano-scale materials. This situation is widely considered to be unsatisfactory and has triggered calls for “better regulation”.

For the success or failure of both nano- and GM-products, consumer responses (like avoidance, trust or disinterest) have been essential for the outcome of different regulatory frameworks. Despite this apparent link, regulatory impact assessment often fails to systematically include consumer perspectives when assessing regulatory measures and approaches. The SEBEROC project uses a bespoke analytic framework – responsive regulation and the homo oeconomicus institutionalis model of decision-making behaviour – that allows to include empirical evidence about consumer perspectives in evaluating and developing regulatory options for risk regulation, assessment and communication.

This perspective leads us to pay particular attention to communication and participation.  Knowledge and perception of all actors along the product chain, including consumers/end-users are taken into account for two reasons: First, they determine whether nano- or GM-products are purchased and used at all; second, environmental and health risks from a product can essentially depend on  how it is handled.  Participation is important to include relevant perspectives in drafting an evaluating regulatory measures and approaches, and creating trust.

Against this background, the SEBEROC project develops approaches to “better regulation” of converging technologies, with a particular focus of nano- and GM-product. In doing so, special emphasis is given to include the views of stakeholders and consumers. They are important promoters for economical, social or environmental interests and – amongst other organisations – potential political agents for bringing in and amplifying the interest of the public in regulatory approaches especially to new technologies.

For more information on the workshops please contact the project coordinator Nicola Below, below@sofia-darmstadt.de, Tel: 0049 (0)6151 - 16 7146.