The report on SUN Stakeholder workshop, held on 21 October, 2014 in Utrecht is now published

   A key objective of EU FP7 Sustainable Nanotechnologies (SUN) project is to build a software Decision Support System (DSS) to facilitate safe and sustainable manufacturing and risk management of nanomaterials. The aims of this workshop were to introduce potential users to the state of the art of the development of SUN Decision Support System (SUNDS), and to collect their feedback to improve the design of the tool. Participants included representatives from SMEs and large industry, policy makers, authorities, insurance companies, risk assessors and tool developers.
Plenary discussions with users was facilitated through presentations on the concept of sustainable nanotechnology, the aims of the SUN project, results of stakeholder interviews, and the initial proposal on the framework and methodology of the SUNDS Decision Support System. SUNDS was proposed to comprise of a two-tiered framework with different complexity of tools and data requirements to cater to different types of users and availability of data. Tier 1 comprises of LICARA NanoSCAN, which is a deterministic tool with low data requirements that was developed for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) by the LICARA FP7 project. Tier 2 comprises of modules based on more specialized tools developed in SUN whose outputs will be integrated using Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) to produce a ranking of technological alternatives based on their cost and efficiency. Modules in Tier 2 include Risk and Environmental Impact Assessment module (which in turn includes sub-modules on Ecological Risk Assessment, Human Health Risk Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessment), Economic Assessment Module and Benefits Assessment module.

   The workshop resulted in some practical design recommendations for the SUNDS tool discussed above that will be incorporated in the next step of the project. It is also recommended to coordinate the development of the SUN and GUIDEnano tools to develop a three tiered approach. The first (LICARA) tier could address the needs of SMEs, the second GUIDEnano tier could be used in a regulatory context of Manufactured Nanomaterials risk prioritization and identification of testing needs and the third would be the most data demanding SUNDS tier 2.

You can download the report here.