ISLE – Innovation for Science, Life and Ethics
7th October 2019
From ISLE’s website:
AIM
In this project, we explore challenging ways to build creative connections between emerging biomedical technologies and society. For this purpose, we research, work and act interdisciplinarily and internationally, collaborating with artists, designers, journalists and policy makers.
This project is supported by RISTEX, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)
SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES
1. WORKSHOPS ON ISLES
We aim to design exploratory workshops on three islands, Teshima (Kagawa), Sakushima (Aichi), and Sadogashima (Niigata) in Japan, which are famous for their artwork and art festivals. Our workshops are based on the combination of our original artwork and a visual-based critical thinking method. One of our important workshop objectives is to think together in order to collect and deliver people’s voices on emerging technologies for policy making.
2. REFRAMING ETHICAL, LEGAL AND POLICY ISSUES
Technologies to modify and design the genome information of organisms have the potential to cause long-term, irreversible effects on entire living systems, where the boundaries between the natural and artificial are increasingly blurred. To formulate regulations on these technologies for the coming future, we try to reconceptualize human values and relationships within our living environments, based on past international and national ethical and legal regulations.
3. EXPLORING NEW SOCIAL SURVEY METHODS
While public questionnaire surveys have provided ample evidence for policy making, there are potential limitations to these surveys such as passive involvement of respondents and unclear responses. To address these issues, we propose a novel approach to public surveys for enhancing respondents’ engagement, and for demonstrating their ambiguous or ambivalent behaviors on these emerging technologies.
4. CO-DESIGNING PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT FUNDING PROGRAMS
Through research programs, many public funding agencies across the globe appreciate arts and humanities sectors as having a key role in the public engagement with science. However, we may be able to better the practices of these programs by the use of more organized and strategic methods. Drawing lessons from several successful practices around the world, we suggest a basis in co-designing novel inter- and transdisciplinary public engagement programs.
We believe that ISLE project is not only the reverse idea of ELSI (Ethical, Legal and Social Implications), but that it also offers great opportunities for the integration of the cultures of science, technology and the arts with the public.
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