oa Kleine deeltjes, grote kwesties

Small particles, big issues. An issue analysis of the Dutch national dialogue nanotechnology

In 2010 the Dutch government sponsored a national dialogue on nanotechnology. A wide range of activities was organised to bring scientific and societal views into this national debate. Issue analysis showed that risk issues concerning health and environment got most attention. Good legislation and ethical motives also came up as prominent topics in discussions. Next to issue analysis, we analysed the type of organizations that orchestrated the different projects and we looked at possibilities to bring in public voices. It turned out that there is no difference in public outreach or involvement among professional media, civil society, or academic organizations. Civil society organizations often set social and ethical issues on the agenda. Due to a lack of capacity and expertise their actual participation in dialogue projects was limited. To strengthen a more robust societal perspective in further national dialogues one could invest in capacity building for civil society organisations.