Moving upstream

Wilsdon, J., & Willis, R. (2004). See-through science: Why public engagement needs to move upstream. London: DEMOS.

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I selected this reading because of my familiarity with the topic of “upstream” versus “downstream” engagement. This issue is currently very “hot” in regard to how to engage the public on nanotechnology-related issues. After this post are citations for two (2) really good articles that discuss upstream engagement in the context of nanotechnology.

According to Wilsdon and Willis, upstream engagement is based on the realization that “broader social acceptance of new technologies, especially where they are novel and raise concerns, requires open dialogue throughout the development process” (p. 26).

Engagement, in this context, moves “upstream” because we recognize the importance of debating issues in advance of any decision being reached about their implementation. The goal is not to “soften the blow” of already agreed-upon decisions (which downstream engagement implies), but instead to debate concerns before actually reaching such decisions.

The authors used the Royal Society inquiry into nanotechnology applications as an example, in which upstream engagement was used to broaden the scope of the public debate to involve issues that may have been overlooked, such as the social and ethical issues nanotechnology raises.

At its core, upstream engagement does not restrict public input to “particular stages in the cycle of research” (p. 18). Instead, it embraces – indeed, demands – public involvement at the very beginning, when the issue in question is still being defined and “deeper questions about the values, visions and vested interests that motivate” scientists and other stakeholders are still somewhat uncertain (and perhaps underrepresented).

Upstream engagement can help identify more socially-acceptance policies (at least in theory) if we work to get all the issues on the table.

This is a rather general summary. Here are the two citations I promised:

(1) Pidgeon, N., & Rogers-Hayden, T. (2007) Opening up nanotechnology dialogue with the publics: Risk communication or ‘upstream engagement?’ Health, Risk & Society, 9(2), 191-210.

(2) Rogers-Hayden, T., & Pidgeon, N. (2007) Moving engagement “upstream”? Nanotechnologies and the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering’s inquiry. Public Understanding of Science, 16, 345-364.