Safety

Precaution for Responsible Innovation: New Options to Move Forward

chiara.mazzetti@ecologic.eu — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 10:32:52 +0000

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Precaution for Responsible Innovation: New Options to Move Forward

RECIPES Dissemination Conference

On May 11, the RECIPES project has held its dissemination conference “Precaution for Responsible Innovation: New Options to Move Forward”.

At the conference, the RECIPES project presented and discussed some of the ideas on how to improve the use of the precautionary principle that were developed in consultation with several stakeholders at various points during the project period (the RECIPES guidance). The conference brought together around 90 participants from a range of different actor groups including several of those who had participated in one or more of the RECIPES workshops. The conference was carried out in hybrid format, so the participants joined it onsite or online.

Several of the speakers and panellists stressed that the topicality of the precautionary principle has increased in the past, e.g., due to the increasing transgression of planetary boundaries. They considered the principle to be even more important in the future. They appreciated that the RECIPES guidance reconfirms the importance of the precautionary principle and reinstates its innovative potential, especially by stressing its dual role as a legal principle and safeguard and as a policy principle and compass. They identified the RECIPES guidance as a timely document.

It was emphasised that the use of the precautionary principle requires political discussions at all levels (local, regional, national, EU, global). These would need to open up complex issues to the wider public, involve the knowledge and perspectives of a wide diversity of actors, and deal with (uncertain) risks as well as (uncertain) benefits, and address questions such as “(uncertain) risks and potentially serious harm for whom?” and “(uncertain) benefits for whom?” and “what are sustainable and public-interest-oriented pathways out of interlinked multiple crises such as climate change and loss of biodiversity?”.

It was highlighted that recent reports by IPBES, IPCC and UNEP, CBD and WHO on biodiversity, climate change and environment, agree that solutions for these wicked challenges of a systemic nature, characterized by uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguities, can only be achieved by systemic, multidimensional, cross-sectoral, interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary and participative approaches. The benefit of the precautionary principle would be that it enables solutions for (uncertain) risks in a systemic way that not simply shifts responsibility to the individual level.

For more information, you can find the programme of the conference HERE and the presentations held at the conference below. Moreover, you can find statements by some panellists below (the panellists were not asked to provide a written statement but some have made it available to the RECIPES team).

Welcome note by the coordinator: Guidance for the future use of the precautionary principle, Ellen Vos & Kristel de Smedt (University of Maastricht)
The RECIPES engagement approach: Reaching out to society and policy for developing the guidance - Aske Palsberg & Niels-Kristian Tjelle Holm (The Danish Board of Technology Foundation)
Discussion input no. 1 from the RECIPES guidance: The precautionary principle works best in a double role: safeguard and compass - Tijs Sikma (Rathenau Institute)
Discussion input no. 2 from the RECIPES guidance: The precautionary principle is a knowledge and participation issue - Jeroen van der Sluijs (University of Bergen) and Pia-Johanna Schweizer (Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies)
Intervention by Christine von Weizsäcker
Intervention by Carolina Vigo

In the videos below Christine von Weizsächer and Nina Holland, RECIPES Advisory Board Members, offer their perspectives on the RECIPES project, during the final conference held in May 2022:

Organiser

Dialogik, DBT, IASS, UM, Ecologic Institute with support from KNAW, UiB, K&I and ARC

Contact

Dr. Marion Dreyer, Dialogik

Email: dreyer@dialogik-expert.de

Themes

Artificial Intelligence in healthcare, CRISPR-based gene drives, Endocrine disruptors, Environment, Financial risks and urban waste planning, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s), Glyphosate, Health, Innovation, Microplastics, Nanotechnologies, Neonicotinoid insecticides, Precaution, Regulation, Safety, Science

Interesting for

Policy Makers, Regulatory Authorities & Agencies, Research & Academia, Industry & Business, Funding Sources & Finance, NGOs & Associations, Citizens & Civil Society Organisations

RECIPES Event

Event Date

11 May 2022

Location

Hybrid Format: Online & Brussels

Language

English

The pollinator crisis and the role of entomologists: editorial

chiara.mazzetti@ecologic.eu — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 09:15:07 +0000

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The pollinator crisis and the role of entomologists: editorial

Pollinator decline, and more broadly insect decline, has become a pressing societal challenge. Jeroen P. van der Sluijs, from the RECIPES Consortium, together with Stéphane Foucart and Jérôme Casas just published the editorial in the Insect Science journal: Halting the pollinator crisis requires entomologists to step up and assume their societal responsibilities.

The decline of bees and other pollinators continues at a high pace, and time for action is running out. Entomologists need to work with and for insects, in a much more complex settings but in a more positive and nurturing attitude. They need to step up to increase the policy relevance of their research, to help adequately diagnose the problem, and to help develop timely structural solutions and policy options. Breakthroughs such as the ban of an entire class of proven harmful pesticides implied in pollinator decline became only possible following deep engagement of scientists with all stakeholders and entomologists assuming their societal responsibilities. This needs to become the norm, not the exception.

Jeroen P. van der Sluijs is professor at the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities at the University of Bergen, Norway. Within the RECIPES project, he conducted the case study on "Neonicotinoid insecticides", which outlines scientific uncertainties and ambiguities regarding the effects of neonics on pollinators.

A full overview of the RECIPES’s case studies can be found HERE.

Authors

Jeroen P. van der Sluijs (Email: jeroen.sluijs@uib.no)

Stéphane Foucart

Jérôme Casas

Published in

Insect Science journal

Themes

Environment, Neonicotinoid insecticides, Safety, Science

Interesting for

Policy Makers, Regulatory Authorities & Agencies, Research & Academia

Scientific Publication

Publishing Date

27 September 2021

Language

English

Pollinator conservation requires a stronger and broader application of the precautionary principle

chiara.mazzetti@ecologic.eu — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 09:10:37 +0000

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Pollinator conservation requires a stronger and broader application of the precautionary principle

Pollinator decline, and more broadly global insect decline, is increasingly recognised as an emerging global environmental risk urgently requiring an internationally coordinated and integrated policy response.

The paper “Pollinator conservation requires a stronger and broader application of the precautionary principle”, published on the Insect Science journal by Jeroen van der Sluijs and Lura Drivdal, from the University of Bergen, reviews the role of the Precautionary Principle (PP) in pollinator conservation.

The current research front is fragmented: the PP is briefly mentioned as relevant in literature on biodiversity conservation because of the scientific uncertainties regarding insect decline and their diverse drivers. A separate strand of literature contains studies on specific cases where the PP has played a role in the regulation of specific threats to pollinators: systemic insecticides and global trade in bees. Although limited to two significant threats to pollinator abundance and diversity, these studies provide important lessons on the challenges of implementing precautionary pollinator conservation policies and underline socio-political aspects of the ‘human-dimensions’ of pollinator conservation.

Within the RECIPES project, Jeroen P. van der Sluijs and Laura Drivdal conducted the case study on "Neonicotinoid insecticides", which outlines scientific uncertainties and ambiguities regarding the effects of neonics on pollinators.

A full overview of the RECIPES’s case studies can be found HERE.

Authors

Laura Drivdal, University of Bergen (Email: Laura.Drivdal@uib.no)

Jeroen P. van der Sluijs, University of Bergen (Email: jeroen.sluijs@uib.no)

Published in

Insect Science journal

Themes

Environment, Health, Neonicotinoid insecticides, Precaution, Regulation, Safety, Science

Interesting for

Policy Makers, Regulatory Authorities & Agencies, Research & Academia

Scientific Publication

Publishing Date

21 April 2021

Language

English

The Blaise case: The precautionary principle and its role in judicial review

chiara.mazzetti@ecologic.eu — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 09:06:06 +0000

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The Blaise case: The precautionary principle and its role in judicial review

Glyphosate and the regulatory framework for pesticides

The approval renewal of glyphosate as an active substance for pesticides in the EU has also kept the Court of Justice occupied.

The article “Case C-616/17 Blaise and Others: The precautionary principle and its role in judicial review – Glyphosate and the regulatory framework for pesticides” was published on the Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law by Sabrina Röttger-Wirtz, Assistant professor of EU law at Maastricht University.

Within this line of case law, the Blaise case is the most recent one. In this preliminary reference procedure, the Court was asked to review the validity of the Plant Protection Products Regulation 1107/2009, examined against the precautionary principle as benchmark. The case is relevant not only for the questions raised about the Regulation, but also as it sheds a light on the – albeit limited – use of the precautionary principle in the judicial review of EU legislative measure.

Within the RECIPES project, Sabrina Röttger-Wirtz conducted the case study on "Glyphosate", which analyses the role that the precautionary principle played in the EU procedures for the re-approval of glyphosate.

A full overview of the RECIPES’s case studies can be found HERE.

Authors

Sabrina Röttger-Wirtz, Maastricht University (Email: S.Roettger-Wirtz@maastrichtuniversity.nl)

Published in

Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law

Themes

Glyphosate, Precaution, Regulation, Safety, Science

Interesting for

Policy Makers, Regulatory Authorities & Agencies, Research & Academia

Scientific Publication

Publishing Date

10 September 2021

Language

English

Society for Risk Analysis Annual Meeting 2021 Roundtable

chiara.mazzetti@ecologic.eu — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 12:46:51 +0000

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Society for Risk Analysis Annual Meeting 2021 Roundtable

Reconciling Science, Innovation and Precaution through the Engagement of Stakeholders

On December 8, 2021, the Society for Risk Analysis hosted the online Roundtable “Reconciling Science, Innovation and Precaution through the Engagement of Stakeholders” at their Annual Meeting “Risk Science and the Policy Interface”. The roundtable convened and facilitated by Dr. Pia-Johanna Schweizer (IASS) discussed interdisciplinary perspectives on the precautionary principle, presenting RECIPES project results, lessons learnt, as well as next steps.

Prof. Kristel de Smedt (Maastricht University) presented insights from the legal analysis of the precautionary principle’s application in the EU. Dr. Fritz-Julius Grafe (University of Zurich) offered results from the case study on "Financial risks in water infrastructure planning" that aimed to understand the complexities and controversies around the application of the precautionary principle in the context of urban wastewater infrastructure provision in Milan and London. Tijs Sikma MA (Rathenau Instituut) gave an overview of key results from the case study comparison, followed by Prof. Jeroen P. van der Sluijs (University of Bergen) who provided reasons why risk assessment should be informed by the precautionary principle. Dr. Marion Dreyer (DIALOGIK) discussed the role of co-creative, transdisciplinary approaches towards developing guidance for the future application of the precautionary principle.

The roundtable concluded with remarks by Prof. Ortwin Renn (IASS) who provided a framework for dealing with risk-risk tradeoffs and Prof. Jonathan B. Wiener (Duke University) who stressed the need for adaptive learning in regulatory systems in a multi-risk world.

Read the abstract HERE.

Organiser

Society for Risk Analysis

Contact

Dr Pia-Johanna Schweizer, IASS

Email. Pia-Johanna.Schweizer@iass-potsdam.de

Themes

Precaution, Regulation, Safety, Science

Interesting for

Policy Makers, Regulatory Authorities & Agencies, Research & Academia, Industry & Business, NGOs & Associations

Event Date

8 December 2021

Location

Online

Language

English

Online conference on precaution and innovation in Germany and beyond

chiara.mazzetti@ecologic.eu — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 14:49:40 +0000

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Online conference on precaution and innovation in Germany and beyond

On the 18 and 19 November 2021, the German non-governmental organization NABU organized the online conference “Vorsorge und Innovation - Fit for Future?”. The meeting was set up to discuss the relationship between innovation and the precaution principle. For two days, the conference gathered experts including academics, government officials, and industry actors.

On Thursday 18 November, after an opening by Michal Schäfer (NABU representative) and Dr. Carsten Neßhöver (representative of the German Environment Agency), Prof Andrew Stirling presented and discussed the current challenges for the governance of technological innovation. Dr Heidi Stockhaus the presented the results of the RECIPES project regarding the effect of the precautionary principle. She explored the legal status and current implementation of both principles in different legal orders. The presentation was followed by a comment by Ulrich Petschow.

On Friday 19 November, the conference continued, and Prof Sebastian Pfotenhauer discussed the role of the precaution principle in risk governance and innovation governance, for a responsible and sustainable innovation process. Dr Pia-Johanna Schweizer then presented the methodology and preliminary results of the RECIPES project, focusing on the co-creative approach.

The event ended with a round table discussion on precaution and its role for future innovation challenges, as well as its possible adaptations. Prof Christian Calliess, Prof Katharina Hölzle, Max Müller and Prof Martina Schraudner discussed different point of views and possibilities – considering the various stakes and challenges of innovation and precaution and suggesting conciliation possibilities.

Organiser

NABU

Contact

Dr Heidi Stockhaus, Ecologic Institute

Email: heidi.stockhaus@ecologic.eu

Dr Pia-Johanna Schweizer, IASS

Email. Pia-Johanna.Schweizer@iass-potsdam.de

Themes

Governance, Innovation, Precaution, Regulation, Safety

Interesting for

Policy Makers, Regulatory Authorities & Agencies, Research & Academia, Industry & Business, NGOs & Associations, Citizens & Civil Society Organisations

External Event

Event Date

18 November 2021 - 19 November 2021

Location

Online

Language

German

The Blaise case: The precautionary principle and its role in judicial review

chiara.mazzetti@ecologic.eu — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 19:26:50 +0000

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The Blaise case: The precautionary principle and its role in judicial review

Glyphosate and the regulatory framework for pesticides

The approval renewal of glyphosate as an active substance for pesticides in the EU has also kept the Court of Justice occupied.

A full overview of the RECIPES’s case studies can be found HERE.

Contact

Sabrina Röttger-Wirtz, Maastricht University

Themes

Glyphosate, Precaution, Regulation, Safety, Science

Interesting for

Policy Makers, Regulatory Authorities & Agencies, Research & Academia

Date

10 September 2020

Pollinator conservation requires a stronger and broader application of the precautionary principle

chiara.mazzetti@ecologic.eu — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 18:46:49 +0000

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Pollinator conservation requires a stronger and broader application of the precautionary principle

A full overview of the RECIPES’s case studies can be found HERE.

Contact

Jeroen P. van der Sluijs, University of Bergen

Email: jeroen.sluijs@uib.no

Themes

Environment, Health, Neonicotinoid insecticides, Precaution, Regulation, Safety, Science

Interesting for

Policy Makers, Regulatory Authorities & Agencies, Research & Academia

Date

21 April 2021

European Policy Workshop: “Precaution for responsible innovation”

chiara.mazzetti@ecologic.eu — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 18:26:38 +0000

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European Policy Workshop: “Precaution for responsible innovation”

On February 22 and 23, the RECIPES project will organize the European Policy Workshop: “Precaution for responsible innovation”.

The workshop aims to review the pre-final version of the RECIPES guidance on how to ensure the PP’s ability to drive responsible innovation. It will take place online and will address, as main target groups, EU policy makers, European agencies, EU policy support organizations and bodies and similar experts.

Participants will have the chance to discuss a pre-final version of the RECIPES guidance (Sent in advance to registered guests). A series of Break-out sessions taking place on both days will allow participants to discuss the guidance to further improve its clarity, plausibility, policy relevance and future-orientation, as well as to brainstorm on the exploitation of the document.

For more information, you can find the programme of the Workshop HERE.

The workshop will be moderated by the RECIPES partners.

Organiser

Dialogik, DBT, IASS with support from UM, KNAW, UiB, K&A and ARC

Contact

Frank Dratsdrummer, Doalogik

Email: dratsdrummer@dialogik-expert.de

Themes

Artificial Intelligence in healthcare, CRISPR-based gene drives, Endocrine disruptors, Environment, Financial risks and urban waste planning, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s), Glyphosate, Governance, Health, Innovation, Microplastics, Nanotechnologies, Neonicotinoid insecticides, Precaution, Regulation, Safety, Science

Interesting for

Policy Makers, Regulatory Authorities & Agencies, Research & Academia

RECIPES Event

Event Date

22 February 2022 - 23 February 2022

Location

Online

Language

English

The pollinator crisis and the role of entomologists: editorial

chiara.mazzetti@ecologic.eu — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 13:51:05 +0000

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The pollinator crisis and the role of entomologists: editorial

A full overview of the RECIPES’s case studies can be found HERE.

Contact

Jeroen P. van der Sluijs, University of Bergen

Email: jeroen.sluijs@uib.no

Themes

Environment, Neonicotinoid insecticides, Safety, Science

Interesting for

Policy Makers, Regulatory Authorities & Agencies, Research & Academia

Date

30 September 2021