NIRT: Building Capacity for Social and Ethical Research and Education in Agrifood Nanotechnology

NIRT：农业食品纳米技术社会和伦理研究及教育能力建设

• 批准号: 0403847
• 负责人: Paul Thompson
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Michigan State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-08-01 至 2009-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0403847&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NIRT; Building; Capacity; Social; Ethical; NIRT; Building; Capacity; Social; Ethical

Nanotechnology - the development of devices constructed and operating at a molecular level - promises to revolutionize methods of manufacture and distribution throughout all phases of the economy. Agriculture - among the oldest and most established sectors of the economy - will be no exception. However, the recent attempt to introduce the revolutionary technical methods of recombinant DNA (i.e. agricultural biotechnology) has been associated with a number of critical ethical and social issues, including a prolonged and divisive social conflict. What will nanotechnology mean for agriculture? And what can agriculture teach nanotechnology? This project intertwines three broad objectives: 1) Deriving lessons from the social conflict over agrifood biotechnology that may be useful to the entire range of researchers engaged in the new nanotechnology initiative; 2) Building a new multi-disciplinary competence among a team of senior researchers with extensive experience in social and ethical issues associated with agrifood technology, who have collaborated to develop communication strategies in engineering applications, and relatively junior researchers starting research programs in social and economic dimensions of agrifood science; and 3) Identifying the most likely applications of nanotechnology within the agrifood sector (including food distribution and consumption), and developing a proactive strategy for understanding and addressing social and ethical issues associated with them. This third objective encompasses activities aimed at developing a conceptual and research framework, developing visions for governance, and engaging stakeholders as well as the general public. As part of this objective, the project will develop materials for education on the social and ethical dimensions of agrifood nanotechnology directed to nanotechnology scientists and engineers, agrifood stakeholders, and the general public. This research will contribute to understanding the societal dimensions of engineering, science and technology in the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, economics and philosophy. Methods of research involve interviews, content analysis, web fora, analytic deliberation and philosophical analysis, each deployed by team members who have used these methods in prior projects. Team meetings, conduct of symposia, and active integration and management on the part of team leadership will be used to strengthen these methods and integrate the findings from each. Key to this process will be three workshops in which all team members and invited guests will participate, to address the themes of a) lessons from agrifood biotechnology, b) the emerging shape of agrifood nanotechnology and c) emerging standards for food safety and product quality associated with agrifood nanotechnology. The team will also collaborate with a European research team presently starting a project on public participation in the management and development of nanotechnology. The research activities will be augmented with the development of an online course addressing social and ethical issues in agrifood nanotech, outreach/extension activities directed to nanotechnology scientists and engineers, agricultural producers, and the broader public, and papers or symposia presented at professional meetings. The research is applicable to non-agricultural domains of nanotechnology, as well as to other forms of technology, and papers and presentations will be structured to reach this wider audience. The emphasis on involving stakeholders and members of the public in the conduct of this research promises to help create a more participatory and democratic venue for decision-making regarding applications of agricultural nanotechnology. This proposal addresses the "Societal and Educational Implications of Scientific and Technological Advances on the Nanoscale" theme of NSF's Nanoscale Science and Engineering program solicitation (NSF 03-043).

纳米技术 - 以分子水平构建和运行的设备的开发 - 有望在经济的所有阶段彻底改变制造和分配方法。 农业 - 经济的最古老，最成熟的部门之一 - 也不例外。 但是，最近引入重组DNA的革命性技术方法（即农业生物技术）的尝试与许多批判性的道德和社会问题，包括长时间和分裂的社会冲突有关。 纳米技术对农业意味着什么？农业可以教纳米技术？ 该项目交织了三个广泛的目标：1）从农业生物技术的社会冲突中汲取教训，这可能对从事新的纳米技术计划的整个研究人员有用； 2）在与农业技术相关的社会和道德问题方面具有丰富经验的高级研究人员之间建立新的跨学科能力，他们已经合作制定了工程应用程序中的沟通策略，相对较小的研究人员在Agrifood Science的社会和经济维度方面启动了研究计划； 3）确定纳米技术在农业领域（包括食品分配和消费）中最有可能的应用，并制定一种积极的策略来理解和解决与之相关的社会和道德问题。 这个第三个目标涵盖了旨在开发概念和研究框架，发展治理的愿景以及吸引利益相关者以及公众的活动。 作为这一目标的一部分，该项目将开发有关针对纳米技术科学家和工程师，农业利益相关者和公众的农业技术科学家和工程师和工程师的社会和道德维度的材料。 这项研究将有助于了解社会学，人类学，经济学和哲学学科中工程，科学和技术的社会层面。 研究方法涉及访谈，内容分析，Web Fora，分析审议和哲学分析，每个人都由在先前项目中使用这些方法的团队成员部署。 团队领导力的团队会议，研讨会的行为以及积极的整合和管理将被用来加强这些方法并从每种方法中整合发现。 这一过程的关键将是三个研讨会，所有团队成员和邀请的客人都将参与，以解决A）Agrifood Biotechnology的主题，b）Agrifood Nanotechnology的新兴形状和C）新兴标准，用于食品安全和与Agrifood nanotechnology相关的食品安全质量和产品质量。该团队还将与欧洲研究团队合作，目前正在启动有关公众参与纳米技术的管理和开发项目的项目。 通过在线课程开发的研究活动将扩大研究活动，该课程针对Agrifood Nanotech的社会和道德问题，针对纳米技术科学家和工程师，农业生产者以及更广泛的公众以及在专业会议上呈现的论文或专题讨论会。 该研究适用于纳米技术的非农业领域以及其他形式的技术，并且将结构构建论文和演示文稿，以吸引更多的受众。强调让利益相关者和公众参与这项研究的进行，有望帮助创建一个更具参与性和民主的场地，以实现有关农业纳米技术应用的决策。该提案涉及NSF纳米级科学与工程计划招标的主题科学和技术进步的社会和教育意义（NSF 03-043）。