RECIPES Stakeholder Workshop

In June 2020, a diverse group of stakeholders met online to discuss the challenges of the precautionary principle and share their visions for the future of the precautionary principle, taking into consideration research and innovation.

Like the rest of the world, the RECIPES project has had to translate their activities into a reality affected by a pandemic. A planned face-to-face stakeholder workshop in Brussels was therefore replaced by a series of nine online meetings, which took place on 09 -12 and 15 - 16 June.

The objective of the workshops was to discuss and identify what the current implementation of the precautionary principle is lacking, but also share visions for a future that takes into consideration research and innovation. The stakeholders who took part from across Europe brought their deep knowledge on the precautionary principle and innovation, acquired either through academic research, policy work, working in civil society organisations or in relevant industries.

Despite the limits of meeting online, the stakeholders eagerly discussed the topic at hand, which led to many unique and important insights that will be valuable for the RECIPES project going forward.

The final workshop is planned to take place in September in Brussels. There, stakeholders will pinpoint barriers for their vision and what tools and guidelines could help ease decision making for lawmakers, and propose mechanisms for public involvement in decisions on research and innovation. Based on the stakeholder discussions, we will go forward to the next and final phase of the workshop and work on topics such as comprehensive and foresight decision-making, transparency, participation, and consistency.