Spanning a period of 50 months, the Gov4Nano (G4N) project has responded with flexibility to a developing process inside the Commission, which has seen the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) become one of the key drivers at the heart of the European Green Deal. The EC-JRC Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) assessment Framework has been developed to target all chemicals and Advanced Materials (AdMa), including nanomaterials (NMs), and is supported by the industry driven AMI2030, highlighting the importance of SSbD in the manufacturing process. G4N from its inception focused on developing responsible governance of the risks posed by NMs, in pristine form or integrated into other products. The direction taken by G4N was also shaped by the collaboration with the two other NMBP13 projects, NANORIGO and RiskGONE, where a strong collaboration led to harmonization of objectives, deliverables and final results. The change in emphasis or refocusing of G4N which happened between 2021 and 2022 is shown in Figure 1. It is noteworthy that this is the first time that such interproject collaboration at this scale has ever been achieved in framework projects.
The project objectives were modified in this period to reflect the refocusing of G4N:
The overarching aim of G4N was to develop a proof of concept of an efficient and effective risk governance process for nanotechnologies, with a tangible legacy, and able to accommodate future technological developments. More specifically,
• To ensure reusable data is made available through the nano-Environment Health Safety infrastructure, which complies with FAIR principles (WP1)
• To develop harmonized guidance for characterization and testing of nanomaterials (WP2)
• To understand and influence how risk perception on nanotechnologies is formed in civil society and (re-)insurance industry (WP3)
• To develop a Nano Risk Governance Portal (NRGP) including Risk Assessment tools, data and guidance (WP4)
• To develop conditions for an organisational form for Nano Risk Governance to coordinate and harmonize transdisciplinary international efforts toward safe and sustainable nano-related products (WP5)
• To engage with stakeholders to provide a solid basis for developing a credible and sustainable mechanism to govern risks related to NMs along the value chain (WP6)
• To develop mechanisms and tools to monitor the progress on implementation of risk governance for nanotechnology across different regulatory sectors (chemicals, biocides, cosmetics, food, medicine) in Europe and beyond (WP7)
G4N evaluated a wide range of scenarios to understand how the scope of integrated nano risk governance could be shaped in terms of what was essential and what was realistically feasible to achieve:
#1 More connectivity and broader engagement with key stakeholders to collect opinions and concerns and critical expertise that may not be captured in technical hazard and risk assessment alone and need to be well understood to ensure effective risk management.
#2 Access to multidisciplinary knowledge and expertise, in particular for more systematically integrating social sciences in assessment and decisions.
#3 Better quality data and easier access to data sets along with appropriate tools for risk assessment.
These key conditions in terms of mission, goals and activities, led to two main options, which were evaluated. Option A, a “Roundtable”, focuses on #1 while option B, a “House” of Nano Risk Governance, addresses #1, #2 and #3. Proof of concept demonstrated broad acceptance and support for a ‘House’ of Risk Governance to address risk governance issues stemming from advanced (nano)materials. This House incorporates other outputs of the NMBP-13 projects such as the Portal and the main aim is to ‘foster safe and sustainable development, use and disposal of (products containing) NMs in Europe’.
