Seventeenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Many emerging biotechnologies have the potential to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. However, emerging technologies are generally characterized by large degrees of uncertainty concerning their impacts - whether these are in the sphere of health or environmental safety, sustainability, effectiveness, or societal uptake. Anticipating these aspects is a complex, but valuable process that aims to serve the development of biotechnologies that meet societal needs and to do so responsibly. Because, what works in the lab still requires an entire system to ensure its practice. Therefore, in a project commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Watermanagement, the Athena Institute is developing a learning tool to help young biotechnologists anticipate the way their projects may interact with the world and to integrate these insights into their design-efforts. We conducted an iterative design research and piloted the tool at the iGEM Jamboree and a master’s course in Ethics in Life Sciences offered at VU Amsterdam. The learning tool offers exercises and questions that prompt systemic reflection across crucial areas of socio-enviro-technical interactions. In this session, we share the learning tool and the insights we gained from testing it. Furthermore, we invite you to join the conversation: How may we help young biotechnologists to anticipate and design for optimal interactions between their work and the world?