SYN-ENERGENE

Synthetic biology (SynBio) offers huge potential for applications in energy, health and the environment. It also brings with it various challenges such as regulatory issues of biosafety, biosecurity and intellectual property rights, as well as potential environmental and socio-economic risks in developing countries. As yet, however, there is scant public knowledge about the technology. It is thus essential to establish an open dialogue between stakeholders concerning SynBio’s potential benefits and risks and to explore possibilities for its ‘collaborative shaping’ on the basis of public participation. SYN-ENERGY will organise a wide range of mobilisation and mutual learning processes relating to these challenges. Besides a number of well-established European and international networks, the consortium encompasses and can mobilise a wide variety of stakeholders from science, industry, civil society, policy, education, art and other areas. Learning processes will contribute to a better understanding of SynBio research and innovation and to enhanced public engagement, while at the same time stimulating reflection on novel approaches to an inclusive governance framework that is capable of fostering responsible research and innovation. The processes will involve citizens and specific publics through well-established and innovative means of engagement, and will support the convergence of stakeholders and perspectives. Activities will be structured by four platforms, highlighting SynBio’s future, public, cultural and research & innovation perspectives. The iterative mutual learning process within SYN-ENERGY will be open to change in order to accommodate the dynamics of an emergent field. By dint of its approach, design and consortium, SYN-ENERGY will be a Science in Society activity with significant impact, raising public awareness of SynBio and yielding benefits for involved stakeholders, public discourse and European policy making in an international context.

MMLAP and other EU Projects

Health system analysis to support capacity development in response to the threat of pandemic influenza in Asia
Making society an active participant in water adaptation to global change
Public Participation in Developing a Common Framework for Assessment and Management of Sustainable Innovation
Engaging all of Europe in shaping a desirable and sustainable future
Expect the unexpected and know how to respond
Driving innovation in crisis management for European resilience
Effective communication in outbreak management: development of an evidence-based tool for Europe
Solutions to improve CBRNe resilience
Network for Communicable Disease Control in Southern Europe and Mediterranean Countries
Developing the framework for an epidemic forecast infrastructure
Strengthening of the national surveillance system for communicable diseases
Surveillance of vaccine preventable hepatitis
European monitoring of excess mortality for public health action
European network for highly infectious disease
Dedicated surveillance network for surveillance and control of vaccine preventable diseases in the EU
Modelling the spread of pandemic influenza and strategies for its containment and mitigation
Cost-effectiveness assessment of european influenza human pandemic alert and response strategies
Bridging the gap between science, stakeholders and policy makers
Promotion of immunization for health professionals in Europe
Towards inclusive research programming for sustainable food innovations
Addressing chronic diseases and healthy ageing across the life cycle
Medical ecosystem – personalized event-based surveillance
Studying the many and varied economic, social, legal and ethical aspects of the recent developments on the Internet, and their consequences for the individual and society at large
Get involved in the responsible marine research and innovation
Knowledge-based policy-making on issues involving science, technology and innovation, mainly based upon the practices in Parliamentary Technology Assessment
Assessment of the current pandemic preparedness and response tools, systems and practice at national, EU and global level in priority areas
Analysis of innovative public engagement tools and instruments for dynamic governance in the field of Science in Society
Public Engagement with Research And Research Engagement with Society
Computing Veracity – the Fourth Challenge of Big Data
Providing infrastructure, co-ordination and integration of existing clinical research networks on epidemics and pandemics
Promote vaccinations among migrant population in Europe
Creating mechanisms for effectively tackling the scientific and technology related challenges faced by society
Improve the quality of indoor air, keeping it free from radon
Improving respect of ethics principles and laws in research and innovation, in line with the evolution of technologies and societal concerns
Investigating how cities in the West securitise against global pandemics
Creating a structured dialogue and mutual learning with citizens and urban actors by setting up National Networks in 10 countries across Europe
Identifying how children can be change agents in the Science and Society relationship
Establishing an open dialogue between stakeholders concerning synthetic biology’s potential benefits and risks
Transparent communication in Epidemics: Learning Lessons from experience, delivering effective Messages, providing Evidence