This project
will help stakeholders understand the NABIR program and its value by
developing communications protocols that scientists can use when they
engage NABIR stakeholders. Those stakeholders include citizens, regulators,
technology developers, science and technology users, Congress, Native
Americans, local officials, environmental groups, and public interest
groups. This primary project goal will be accomplished by communicating
information about the NABIR program to Hanford Site stakeholders, and
to selected stakeholders across the DOE complex. Specific objectives
during FY98 are to 1) educate stakeholders about NABIR research and
development efforts on the Hanford Site and nationwide, and solicit
opinions about the scope and technical direction of laboratory and field
programs; 2) engage and solicit opinions from stakeholders about NABIR
activities that could be conducted on the Hanford Site; and 3) educate
Hanford stakeholders and elicit their concerns about field testing that
could occur if the Hanford Site is selected as a Field Research Center.
This information will be used to develop a representative picture of
stakeholder issues for the NABIR program. It will also be used to develop
protocols that NABIR scientists can use to help them communicate effectively,
develop trust, and establish viable long-term partnerships with stakeholders
across the DOE complex. This project will, in the words of Neal Lane
(Director, National Science Foundation), help "carry our understanding
of science and its value into the lives of all Americans" (Science,
February 23, 1996).
OBJECTIVE:
Genetically engineered microorganisms (GEMs) potentially can reduce
the costs of responsibly treating many of the nation's most vexing remediation
problems to a fraction of currently projected costs. Whether or not
these technologies actually find their way into practical application
depends on the willingness of society to accept their potential costs
relative to their promised benefits-the metric of social acceptability.
APPROACH:
The proposed project will identify and analyze the determinants
of social acceptability of using GEMs for bioremediation. More specifically,
the project will undertake a three-stage process -- a literature review,
a case study of the first field application of GEMs for bioremediation
in the United States, and a simulation exercise -- to accomplish the
following goals:
Develop
a generic model of the kinds of issues of most importance to each of
several prototypical constituency groups involved in the dialogue that
accompanies the social acceptability of new and controversial technologies;
Test and
refine that model through a case study of the field application of GEMs
and a simulation exercise; and
Suggest
the kinds of responses (provide data, provide information about the
decision-making process, etc.) that may be most appropriate in public
dialogues that seek to resolve the issues raised.