Citizen needs and values in relation to nanotechnology in food, energy and health: A report form citizen workshops in the Czech Republic, Spain and the Netherlands

Nanotechnologies – the purposeful engineering of matter on the atomic or molecular scale – have given rise to great expectations in recent years, unlocking new research opportunities in areas as diverse as energy, healthcare, electronics, food and construction. At the same time, concerns have been raised about possible unintended consequences of particular uses of nanomaterials.

GoNano is an EU-funded initiative aiming to explore how nanotechnology research and innovation can become more responsive to societal needs and values. It does so by enabling co-creation between citizens, industry, civil society organizations, policy makers and researchers within the areas of food, health and energy. GoNano builds on previous efforts in public engagement and new technologies to develop a pilot project in each of the nanotechnology research areas: health, energy and food. The pilot projects will engage with citizens, researchers, professional users, civil society organisations, industry, and policy makers in a continuous process of deliberative workshops and online consultations to co-create research aims and concrete suggestions for future nanotechnologies.

Three thematic deliberative and envisioning citizen workshops on food, energy and health formed the first step of the co-creation process. The goal of the workshops was to inform citizens on nanotechnologies and possible future application areas in order to facilitate their reflection on wishes, needs and concerns. The citizens’ inputs form the basis for understanding social needs and values, and for working with professional stakeholders to align future nanotechnology applications with these societal values and needs. The citizen workshops were held during the autumn of 2018 in the three pilot countries: the Czech Republic (Food), Spain (Energy) and the Netherlands (Health).