Hosted by OSOS , contributed by yairbh on 6 February 2018
Nanotechnology is an upcoming scientific and technological field that is expanding in our lives and gaining great influence on them. This can be seen in new tech consumer products, and could change the face of medicine, energy production and water purification, electronics, materials and security. Hence the great importance of the public understanding of this new field and engaging in a significant discussion on the topic.
NANOCHANNELS was an FP7 project. It was a unique public experiment of democratic dialogue in action about the new industrial revolution. The main goal of the project was to inform the public regarding nanotechnology and its effects and to engage it with the pros and cons of this subject. This project suggests materials, tools and ideas for achieving these objectives.
NANOCHANNELS gave the opportunity for a real first intervention, with students and stakeholders, such as the industry, NGOs, consumers and the general public, at the forefront. People obviously require new cutting-edge knowledge to make up their mind, and NANOCHANNELS addressed this need through its own unique variety of social interactions, which were designed to cast its net as wide as possible. Such variety included public round tables, live school debates, a range of expert opinion blogs, online social networking and talkback via online press microsites.
Responsible Research and Innovation
One of the key aspects of OSOS is the inclusion of RRI - Responsible Research and Innovation principles (more information at RRI-Tools.eu). This is how the NanoChannels Accelerator fits into the RRI model:
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Governance |
Students will share what they are learning throughout the activity, both among themselves and with other stakeholders, proposing transparent and shared procedures among all stakeholders involved in the project.
I.e.: students will share what the progress they are achieving during the Accelerator with other stakeholders, sharing responsibility in the activity and in a transparent and reflective way. |
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Public engagement |
Students will share both the process and the progress made in the research with stakeholders, in order to involve them in the educational process.
I.e.: once students know the basics of nanotechnology, they will have a meeting with stakeholders to explain what they have learned and to know their feedback. |
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Gender equality |
Students will promote a gender equality environment through mixed work teams, and will find an approach that seeks to find gender-neutral solutions based on nanotechnology to global problems.
I.e.: the teams of students who carry out this activity should be equal in gender. That is, incorporate the same number of men as women, and will be able to work from a gender equality perspective. |
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Science Education |
Students will look for daily problems and they will face them through solutions based on nanotechnology. They will use a scientific approach based on critical thinking and decision making as a whole.
I.e.: once students know the bases of nanotechnology, they will work to find solutions to environmental problems through the realization of a scientific project that encourages the participation of the citizens and stakeholders involved. |
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Ethics |
Students will be able to reflect on different phases of the project about what technology is and how it can contribute to society, including how it can help the society challenges.
I.e.: students will be able to develop a round table in which they will discuss, together and with other stakeholders (neighbors, experts in nanotechnology, researchers, etc.) the benefits of applying nanotechnology to their environment. |
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Open Access |
During this project, students will be able to create dissemination materials to disseminate the knowledge they have acquired.
I.e.: students will be able to create a website in which to share everything they have learned throughout this activity, with the aim of spreading their new knowledge to any Internet user interested in the topic. |
Feel
Addressed Challenge: Students will be introduced to a subject usually far away from schools: Nanotechnology. In this FEEL phase of Nanochannels we propose that students know the foundations of nanotechnology and its main objectives; once they know their bases and understand the reason for their existence, they will be able to know which problems are capable of being solved through nanotechnology, something that they can do in the following phases of this Accelerator.
Session #1:
45 minutes
- Introduction to nanotechnology
Session #2:
90 minutes
- Choosing a dilemma (using the NANOCHANNELS Teachers’ Kit)
- Learning about the topic and its ELSA
Imagine
Session #3:
120-165 minutes
- Deepening the knowledge and preparing for the public debate – PBL
- Preparation of arguments and presentations for the debate
- Logistics and arrangements
Create
Session #4:
120 minutes
- Live School Debate, including a panel of societal key stakeholders