Responsible Risk? The Interface between Responsible Innovation, Ethics and Risk Assessment in the Regulation of Agricultural Biotechnology

This event is a collaborative initiative between two NFR funded research projects at GenØk Centre for Biosafety focused on operationalizing the Norwegian Gene Technology Acts unique assessment criteria (funded by the ELSA and FRIPRO programmes) and researchers at the University of Nottingham specialising in responsible innovation in the field of agricultural biotechnology. It will first involve a panel session in the morning (open to all) in which several academic experts from different backgrounds will briefly present their ideas on the interface between responsible innovation, ethics and risk assessment in the governance of agricultural biotechnologies, including the opportunities and challenges they see of opening up research and regulation in this field. These short and stimulating introductions from the panel will then be opened up for comment, discussion and debate from the audience. The morning session will then be followed by a light lunch in which audience members can continue to discuss and network. The afternoon session will then involve a focused expert workshop to explore how RA, ethics and RRI may be usefully integrated in the governance of agricultural biotechnology. This session will bring together a range of invited international academic experts in RA, ethics and RRI with experience on agricultural biotechnology to discuss the issues and suggest fruitful avenues for advancing integration and future research. The workshop will be captured by a rapporteur who together with the organisers will compile a workshop report for broad dissemination shortly after the event. Over a longer timeframe, the organisers of the event will also lead an academic paper exploring the concept of "responsible risk" in agricultural biotechnology as explored and developed through the workshop so as to initiate scholarly debate in this emergent area.