Ca’ Foscari University, Cultural Center Don Orione Artigianelli, Venice, Italy

Wednesday 1st – Friday 3rd  March 2017

www.sra.org/riskgovernanceforum2017

About the Forum

The continued development and growing opportunities for commercialization of key enabling technologies (e.g., nanotechnology, synthetic biology, biomaterials) raises fundamental environmental health and safety (EHS) challenges for regulators in various governments. Even though existing practices for risk assessment and management (RA&M) are applicable to these technologies, their implementation requires information that is difficult to obtain given the limited availability of quantitative data to populate models corresponding to material exposure, hazard, and consequences. To facilitate regulatory decision making for emerging technology research and innovation and account for corresponding EHS risks, a comprehensive risk governance (RG) framework must account for both qualitative and quantitative data under high uncertainty and local/regional requirements for technology governance.

The SRA Forum will provide discussion of current initiatives that are centered on refining the risk governance of emerging technologies through the integration of traditional risk analytic tools alongside considerations of social and economic concerns. Such an approach will help account for objective and subjective information alike in order to foster effective governance for emerging technologies with uncertain and potentially consequential risks. The Forum will develop summaries of current activities of multiple efforts in the United States, European Union, Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere, and will indicate opportunities for future meetings and research.

Call for Abstracts

The extended deadline for abstract submission is Saturday, 15 October 2016. This will be the final deadline – submit your abstracts now!

Target Audience
The SRA Forum is targeted for personnel from research and academic institutions as well as from industry, governmental agencies, and other relevant organizations. The forum is aimed at senior researchers as well as interested in nanotechnology, industrial and medical biotechnology, synthetic biology, advanced materials, and advanced manufacturing technologies. The convergence of various perspectives on these topics will create helpful discussion related to the risk perception, management, and governance of these emerging technologies.

Topics of Discussion

The discussion topics for this Forum will center on emerging risk issues of key enabling technologies. These include issues of traditional risk assessment (detection, toxicology, fate, and material exposure), risk communication (stakeholder engagement), and more novel approaches (risk governance under uncertainty). In this vein, discussion will focus on both the measurement and assessment of emerging technology risk on one hand, and the characterization and governance of such technologies on the other.

Conference Flyer

Please feel free to distribute the Conference Flyer among your colleagues!

For more information please visit the official webpage of the event: www.sra.org/riskgovernanceforum2017!