EU Focus Workshop Report: Who should communicate with the public and how?

Participants comprised leading scientists, industrialists, government officials, ethicists and social scientists, public interest (consumer and environmental) organisations and the media.

The workshops aimed to distil from the experience of the participants who have been centrally involved during the last fifteen years or so of the debate their views on biotechnology communication, the effectiveness of activities thus far, and novel and innovative methods to be explored. The workshops have been held in the four main regions of Europe as the salience of the various concerns and issues about biotechnology differs considerably between EU countries. The ways in which religion and cuisine are held vary vastly, with considerable consequences for biotechnology-related issues. Journalism and the media work differently and have different impacts in different European countries. Differences in scientific cultures between countries lead to variations in the preparedness of scientists to be active in public communication and engagement.

This report will first examine the concept of communication in further detail: it will be seen that the ‘deficit model’ of communication, which directly relates public attitudes towards biotechnology to the availability of objective information, cannot be successful. The particular nature, subjects and circumstances of the biotechnology debate require a broad dialogue, which opens up the parameters for objections which fall outside the scope of scientific rationality.

In a similar vein, practical answers to the questions of who should communicate and how are partly determined by the motivation and interests of the actors for engaging in the debate. This draws attention to the questions of why and what we should communicate. There can be different and often conflicting aims and motives for communicating, and corresponding differences in the strategies and subject material used to achieve desired ends.

Following from the discussions during the four workshops, a model for communication will be recommended in which the creation of an open platform for discussion is central. To assess the desirability of developments in biotechnology and the life sciences, open-ended discussion between the various stakeholders is required, as well as a common ground on which objections can be formulated and their legitimacy evaluated.

The workshops have been organised by the European Federation of Biotechnology Task Group on Public Perceptions of Biotechnology. Funding was provided by the Research Directorate of the European Commission.