April 2004 - December 2006

European Commission 6th Framework Programme for Research. Coordination Action. Science and Society.

The aim of the PATH project is to form a network of interested parties concerned with the involvement of society in the deliberation of science-based policy issues. This group of academics, practitioners, policy-makers and stakeholders will exchange knowledge and develop future directions for public participation in science and technology issues. It will focus specifically on two persistent and ongoing challenges: scale and representation. These two cross-cutting themes will be explored at a generic level, and also be illustrated and analysed via three case study areas. The case study areas have been selected to represent ongoing areas of debate, areas of current policy development and upcoming issues: genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture, biodiversity conservation and nanotechnology.

The project will run an international workshop focussing on the issues of representation and scale, and an international conference which will integrate elements of best practice and sketch out potential future directions for science-based policy deliberation.

For further information please contact the co-ordinators: Wendy Kenyon or Claudia Carter.