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Implementation of Risk Governance: meeting the needs of nanotechnology

Project description

Managing nanotechnology risks

Nanotechnology is an increasingly growing field of scientific innovation offering societal benefits. However, nanotechnology poses significant challenges to risk governance structures and processes. The EU-funded Gov4Nano project will design and create a self-sustained Nano Risk Governance Council (NRGC) to implement the Risk Governance Framework for managing nanotechnology risks relevant to social, environmental and economic benefits. The team will develop an operational transdisciplinary Nano Risk Governance Model for nanotechnologies lying on a framework developed by the International Risk Governance Council. The NRGC will engage and coordinate stakeholders to overcome the fragmentation of existing knowledge and information, prepare its transfer, and establish a self-sustainable Nanosafety Governance Portal for dialogues between stakeholders.

Objective

Gov4Nano will design and establish a well-positioned and broadly supported Nano Risk Governance Council (NRGC). Organizing, connecting and engaging are key activities in Gov4Nano and its creation of a sustainable NRGC. Gov4Nano will develop an operational trans disciplinary Nano Risk Governance Model (NRGM) for nanotechnologies, building on an established governance framework developed by the International Risk Governance Council (IRGC). Engaging stakeholders (including regulators) to proactively address nano-specific safety and seek dialogue for joint activities. NRGC and its precursor project Gov4Nano will engage, in order to support these activities, with the broad variety of stakeholders across all relevant nano-disciplines (chemical, biocides, food and feed, pharma and medical devices and materials development) and draft a review on our knowledge progress over the last decade whilst initiating dialog. To boost the quality of the dialog it will create a platform for dialogues between stakeholders in a “trusted environment” inclusive of civil society.

The NRGC core business is to coordinate, guide and harmonize in order to overcome the fragmentation of current knowledge, information and needs over various sectors and disciplines (workers, consumers/patients, environmental safety) and to prepare the transfer of this knowledge.

To that end, the NRGC will be equipped with a self-sustainable NanoSafety Governance Portal (NSGP) consolidating state-of-the-art and progressive nanosafety governance tools including ones for dialogues and measuring risk perception. Major efforts will be towards requirements for data harmonization and data curation to be defined and laid down in guidance on obtaining harmonized and standardized quality-scored data collections promoting a big data approach for nano-toxicology. Research activities will be initiated for regulatory sound knowledge in support of harmonized (OECD) guidance for characterization and testing of nanomaterials.

Call for proposal

H2020-NMBP-TO-IND-2018-2020

See other projects for this call

Sub call

H2020-NMBP-TO-IND-2018

Coordinator

RIJKSINSTITUUT VOOR VOLKSGEZONDHEID EN MILIEU
Net EU contribution
€ 1 192 175,25
Address
Antonie Van Leeuwenhoeklaan 9
3721 MA Bilthoven
Netherlands

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Region
West-Nederland Utrecht Utrecht
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost
€ 1 582 767,50

Participants (38)