Societal Dialogue Research Articles

Ethical Impact Assessment of Sharing Nanosafety Data

Decades of research on environmental, health and safety impacts of nanomaterials have generated large amounts of nanosafety data, but not all data are available online following the Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) principles. This lack of FAIR data delays progress in regulatory research, needed by regulators to develop evidence-based policies. In this context, researchers collaborating in the EU NanoSafety Cluster (www.nanosafetycluster.eu) engaged in a discussion on the ethical impacts related to (not) sharing nanosafety data. Screening the potential ethical impacts suggested that openly sharing nanosafety data relevant to risk governance of nanomaterials could give rise to ethical issues related to health and to liberties, and that these data might be misused. On the other hand, not openly sharing such nanosafety data could raise issues related to health, equity, common good, environment, and sustainability. A small-scale Ethical Impact Assessment (EIA) was performed between June 2022 and April 2024 to identify and evaluate more specific ethical issues and to propose recommendations for remediating ethical concerns. Preliminary results were presented in scientific conferences (one poster and three oral presentations), while the comments of the participants were incorporated in the final version of the presented paper. The EIA identified ethical issues and value conflicts related to the following sectors: intellectual property, social justice, public health, dual use, environmental ethics and animal ethics. Some recommendations for remediation are the competence of research organisations. Other recommendations call for societal dialogue and engagement. Yet other recommendations call for political action.

The impact of counselors’ values and religious beliefs on their role identity and perspectives on heritable genome editing: a qualitative interview study

The implementation of the noninvasive prenatal test has shown the importance of involving future care providers in healthcare innovations at an early stage. Therefore, in this explorative study in-depth interviews were performed with Dutch midwife counselors who explicitly identify as religious, to explore how they currently deal with their worldview during counseling for prenatal anomaly screening and regarding their perspectives on heritable genome editing (HGE). HGE is a potentially disruptive technology in which a pregnancy is initiated with a modified embryo or gamete, thus passing on modified genes to a future child and the following generations. Currently, a significant majority of countries prohibit HGE. However, implications for healthcare policy and practice are discussed in an ongoing scientific and societal dialogue. Eleven counselors participated: eight Christians and three Muslims. Two main themes were identified: ‘a search for role identity as a healthcare counselor’ and ‘concerns about the application of HGE’. Our findings showed that both values and underlying worldview-based beliefs influence perspectives on current and emerging reproductive techniques. Healthcare counselors search for ways to harmonize their professional role with contrasting values based on worldview-based beliefs. Moreover, for HGE, counselors fear ‘slippery slopes’ regarding the boundaries between treatment and enhancement, the severity assessment of certain conditions, and society’s appreciation for the quality of life of people with disabilities. Regarding future implementation, counselors’ medical education might benefit from a focus not only on qualification (acquiring knowledge) but also on balancing between socialization (e.g., adhering the norm of nondirective counseling) and subjectification (being a ‘self’ in relation to everything learned). In the global call for broad public and stakeholder engagement to explore the acceptability of HGE, the influence of both values and beliefs should be deliberated.

Metacommunication Versus Conversational Practices of Teaching Personnel at a Constituent Campus of a Southern Tagalog State University, the Philippines: A Study on Manifestation and Their Relationship

This study examines the intricacies of metacommunication and conversational practices of an incidental sample of 106 teaching personnel engaged in remote teaching at a constituent campus of a Southern Tagalog state university, the Philippines. The primary objective of this study is to measure the extent to which teaching personnel manifest metacommunication across different forms of communication, including verbal, non-verbal, and written expressions, and how they exhibit conversational behaviors during pedagogic interactions. These behaviors encompass openness, empathy, positivity, immediacy, interaction management, and expressiveness. The research also endeavors to test if a significant relationship exists between metacommunication and these conversational practices. Employing a correlational research design, a survey questionnaire, and utilizing statistical tools such as mean, standard deviation, and Pearson r to analyze the quantitative data collected, the findings reveal heightened levels of metacommunication and a prevalent presence of conversational practices among educators in the higher education context. Furthermore, the research identifies a correlation between metacommunication and conversational practices. In light of these findings, it is recommended that educators proactively nurture a positive and professional classroom environment while considering individualized student assessments. This approach can foster more constructive pedagogic interactions within the higher education teaching community while enhancing the learning experience for both educators and students. The study also emphasizes the vital link between metacommunication and conversational practices in education while illustrating its impact on communication quality, learning experiences, and societal dialogue for enhanced empathy and positivity for broader societal benefits.

Moving beyond Technical Issues to Stakeholder Involvement: Key Areas for Consideration in the Development of Human-Centred and Trusted AI in Healthcare

Discussion around the increasing use of AI in healthcare tends to focus on the technical aspects of the technology rather than the socio-technical issues associated with implementation. In this paper, we argue for the development of a sustained societal dialogue between stakeholders around the use of AI in healthcare. We contend that a more human-centred approach to AI implementation in healthcare is needed which is inclusive of the views of a range of stakeholders. We identify four key areas to support stakeholder involvement that would enhance the development, implementation, and evaluation of AI in healthcare leading to greater levels of trust. These are as follows: (1) aligning AI development practices with social values, (2) appropriate and proportionate involvement of stakeholders, (3) understanding the importance of building trust in AI, (4) embedding stakeholder-driven governance to support these activities.

Adolescent Premarital Sexual Behavior: A Narrative Review of Challenges, and the Vital Role of Comprehensive Sex Education in Promoting Health and Well-being in Islamic Countries

Introduction: Adolescents, comprising 1.2 billion globally, face unique challenges during the transformative phase of sexual maturation. This review emphasizes the prevalence of premarital sexual behavior among adolescents, with a focus on Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and Arab nations. The vulnerable nature of this age group is underscored, considering the risks of unsafe abortions, unintended pregnancies, and sexually transmitted diseases. Objective: The primary objective is to offer a comprehensive understanding of premarital sexual behavior in adolescents. By synthesizing recent developments and key findings, this review aims to inform specialists and non-specialists, foster societal dialogue, and serve as a resource for scholars and practitioners interested in adolescent sexual health. Methods: Utilizing PubMed and Google Scholar, an extensive literature search spanning 2018 to 2023 focused on keywords such as “adolescent AND sex” The inclusion criteria involved articles directly aligned with the review’s scope, leading to the identification of 20 relevant articles. Results: Factors influencing adolescent sexual behavior, and the impact of cultural, religious, and societal norms were explored. The importance of sex education, particularly comprehensive sexuality education, in addressing premarital sexual behavior emerged as a critical theme. The impact on adolescent health, both physical and mental, was also highlighted. Conclusions: Premarital sexual behavior among adolescents is a complex issue influenced by various internal and external factors. Comprehensive sexuality education, incorporating cultural and religious teachings, is crucial in promoting healthy decision-making and preventing negative consequences. The review emphasizes the need for ongoing discussions, further research, and improved sexual health education globally.

Supervisory neglect: Critical questions regarding child supervision and protection system responses

Concerns about child supervision are present in a large proportion of the circumstances responded to by North American child protection systems. This paper examines different perspectives on low-supervision, from parental-deficit to critical-ecological formulations, to address two questions that are central to assessing reports: why low-supervision is deemed to be harmful, and why low-supervision events occur The implications of this knowledge for child protection system responses is explored, and the conceptualization and application of supervisory neglect as a maltreatment category is critically questioned in order to tease apart what this label may represent in practice. The paper considers how thinking could be reframed to make supervisory neglect a more discrete classification which informs subsequent action, including centering the environmental hazard in supervisory neglect formulations and giving primacy to the impact on the child rather than to parent behavior. The role of normative thinking in decision-making and the risk of perpetuating social inequalities and oppressive power is also considered. More research is required to examine responses and outcomes under current systems of practice, and how child protection workers and systems reflexively analyze reports. In addition, more societal dialogue is needed to prevent widespread risk-averse thinking about how children should be supervised, which can reinforce restrictive child protection policy.

Quiet Spaces: Public Places – visual representation of vulnerable identities

This study examines the visual representation of vulnerable individuals in documentary photography while prioritising ethical considerations and aiming to avoid exploitation. By leveraging the power of symbolic commentary, the research aims to capture social situations that address vulnerability without revealing the identities of the subjects. Focusing on Bet Sheekoom: House of Restoration for Women and Children and Maranatha Mission Station, the documentary series portrays these environments and their residents without disclosing any personal identifiers. This approach safeguards the participants from potential harm and aims to ensure their anonymity, while still engaging in a meaningful societal dialogue. Drawing on principles from documentary photography, visual studies, and ethics, this research contributes to understanding responsible representation and power dynamics within the visual representation of vulnerable identities. By navigating the delicate balance between social commentary and ethical practices, the study offers insight into alternative methods of capturing and highlighting vulnerable populations. The findings shed light on the significance of ethical considerations in documentary photography, demonstrating the importance of respecting the dignity and privacy of vulnerable individuals. This study contributes to the broader discourse on visual representation, offering valuable insight for practitioners, scholars, and those interested in the ethical dimensions of photography.

UK Net Zero policy design and deep uncertainty – The need for an alternative approach

The majority of global emissions scenarios compatible with holding global warming to less than 2 °C depend on the large-scale use of Greenhouse Gas Removal (GGR) technologies. Recent critiques have highlighted the concerns of building long-term climate policy on such speculative technological scenarios emerging from orthodox modelling approaches – including integrated assessment modelling prominently assessed by the IPCC. Through a stakeholder consultation process with the UK modelling and policy community, we critically examine the integration of GGR technologies into UK Net Zero scenarios and the decision-making philosophy underlying the use of orthodox modelling to inform UK climate policy. We identify a number of features of orthodox modelling approaches which are unable to manage the pervasive extent of deep uncertainty in possible UK climate and energy futures. We further argue that a more fundamental issue lies in the way that the models are used by UK climate policy makers: that the handling of uncertainties which pervade the integration of GGR into Net Zero policy are resulting in substantial distortions in net-zero policy design and associated decision-making. Drawing on the principles of decision-making under deep uncertainty techniques, exemplified by Robust Decision Making, we recommend an alternative approach that explicitly embraces uncertainty, multiple values and diversity among stakeholders and viewpoints, and in which modelling exists in an iterative exchange with policy development rather than separate from it. We advocate that such an approach would provide more relevant and robust information to near-term policymaking and enable an inclusive societal dialogue about the appropriate role of GGR within UK climate policy.

A game-theoretical approach to Islamic law disputes

Purpose This study aims to analyze notable distribution dispute cases from Islamic law history. The authors will assess these alongside resolutions proposed by historical authorities, some of which evolved into established Islamic case law. In addition, the authors intend to apply classic fair division rules to these cases, providing alternative solutions. Using a game-theoretical approach, the authors plan to compare Islamic solutions with traditional division rules through axiomatic analysis. The goal of this study is to systematically explore the unique principles underpinning Islamic distributions. Design/methodology/approach In this study, the authors collate Islamic inheritance law disputes involving conflicting claims, unresolvable by primary Islamic law sources, from historical and modern texts. The authors formally model these as claims problems, surplus-sharing problems and adapted claims problems. Concurrently, the authors gather the proposed solutions and historical backgrounds offered by the era’s authorities and jurists. These solutions are axiomatically generalized into rules, while the axioms characterizing distribution rules are checked if they are aligned with Islamic norms and values. This approach facilitates a comparison between Islamic distributions and classic division rules. Findings The 'Awl and Radd doctrines, used in Islamic inheritance law, are axiomatically equivalent to the Proportional Rule, a prevalent non-Jewish division rule. These doctrines present solutions impervious to manipulation by legal heirs through rights transfer, unlike other possible distributions. Ibn 'Abbas' solution for Awliyya cases uses sequential priorities and diverges uniquely from classic fair division rules in the literature. In addition, it is established that Abu Yusuf's (b. 729) distribution for a legal dispute is axiomatically identical to Abraham ibn Ezra's (b. 1089) division rule. Research limitations/implications There is a noticeable dearth of comprehensive studies investigating contentious disputes concerning resource claims within Islamic law. Many of these studies are lacking in-depth analyses of diverse cases, casting doubts on their reliability. As a result, a robust focus is needed on case collection prior to any analytical process. Future research should concentrate on collating instances of fair division problems throughout Islamic history, as well as separately collecting methods of Islamic sharing. This procedure may lead to the characterization of various Islamic regulations, thereby emphasizing distinct Islamic principles. In forthcoming studies, conducting an exhaustive axiomatic evaluation of the cases and proposed resolutions is imperative. Practical implications This research illuminates existing knowledge gaps, setting a course for novel research trajectories. It underlines the fair division literature’s oversight of disputes within Islamic law, despite the plentiful existence of contentious cases. The research underscores the relevance of cooperative game theory as a tool for dissecting Islamic legal disputes. By accounting for unique Islamic norms and principles, this study lays a foundation for a nuanced comprehension of the dynamics and outcomes of legal disputes. By integrating an interdisciplinary approach, this research strives to bridge the gap between game theory and Islamic law. Social implications Beyond addressing a significant research lacuna, this study carries extensive societal implications. By shedding light on enduring debates within Islamic law, it encourages a rejuvenated understanding of the evolution and interpretation of legal disputes. The axiomatic disparities between rulers’ and jurists’ methods provide invaluable insights within the Islamic context, bolstering the understanding of sociocultural dynamics that influence legal decision-making. This research has the potential to shape legal discourse, guide policymaking and spur scholarly, juristic and societal dialogue. Consequently, it may foster a more comprehensive and enlightened approach toward the resolution of legal disputes in Islamic law. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine Islamic law’s historical legal disputes from a game-theoretical standpoint. Existing studies rarely collect distribution disputes systematically, and none scrutinize the axiomatic rationales underlying authorities’ and jurists’ distributions, opting instead to focus on historical backgrounds. While the fair division literature extensively examines disputes, it often overlooks those originating from Islamic law, which presents a rich source of disputes that can be modeled as fair division problems. This research makes a distinct contribution by incorporating disputes from Islamic law into the existing body of cooperative game theory literature.

The Tunisian experience of participatory health governance: the Societal Dialogue for Health (a qualitative study)

BackgroundTunisia has been engaged in the Societal Dialogue (SD) for Health process since 2012, a participatory health governance process aimed at bringing in people’s voice into health policy-making. Its first success was the recently released National Health Policy 2030. This paper aims to document the SD process and to bring out the lessons learned to inspire other countries.MethodsThis study was based essentially on a qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with citizen jury members and health experts that took place from May to September 2018. The qualitative analysis adopted an inductive-deductive approach according to a cross-matrix between the themes of the interview of the two groups of interviewees.ResultsThe qualitative analysis of the data highlighted that the Societal Dialogue created a health democracy dynamic with inclusive dialogue spaces for the population, communities, and civil society to participate in health system design. It constituted a multi-actor and multidisciplinary coordination platform to increase consensus building among actors. Initial government support and high levels of volunteer commitment allowed the process to achieve a certain level of sustainability. However, this process faced and still faces many challenges such as overreliance on volunteers; a crisis of trust; political instability and the lack of an effective communication strategy. These challenges negatively influence the policy uptake of recommendations made by the Societal Dialogue for Health.ConclusionThe Tunisian societal dialogue experience highlights both the successes and challenges of a structured participatory platform, as well as the effort and perseverance it takes to keep such a process functional and relevant. A key lesson from this study is that this model of participatory health governance eventually reaches a stage where population, community, and civil society participation needs to be more institutionalized within the government routine so that it can credibly feed into health policy review processes and inform decision-makers on a regular basis.

From lab to society: Fostering clinical translation of molecular systems engineering.

Over the last decade, bioengineering has seen a sustained growth in scientific publications, patents, and clinical trials. As the field attempts to bridge the gap between discovery and clinical application, a broader societal dialogue is needed to build public trust and address potential ethical, societal, and regulatory challenges. In this essay, we discuss societal aspects linked to the clinical use of biomedical engineering approaches and technologies, with a specific focus on molecular systems engineering. Drawing on data from interviews with 24 scientists, we identified four key aspects for fostering societal support for translational efforts in this domain: (1) effective science communication and internal awareness; (2) open societal dialogue; (3) fair and equitable access to new technologies; and (4) adequate science and technology policies. We conclude that molecular systems engineering would benefit from anticipating future challenges with the view of building a robust bond of trust with lay publics, regulators, and society at large.

Participatory repertoires for aligning policy and society: An analysis of Dutch stakeholder views on deep geothermal energy

In a transition to a sustainable energy system, governmental actors initiate participatory processes to gain better insights in questions and concerns of stakeholders, or to create support for decisions. Those participatory activities are embedded in institutionalized and formal decision making procedures. Participatory approaches promise to function as alignment mechanisms between those policies and society. The aim of this paper is to contribute to more successful alignment mechanisms. Based on a thematic analysis of 18 interviews and approximately one hundred policy documents, we relate stakeholders' uncertainties about ultra-deep geothermal energy to their preferred modes of participation. These stakeholders were (in)directly involved in the Dutch Green Deal program, in this case the Green Deal Geothermal Energy in the province North Brabant. Based on the analysis, we identify four participatory storylines and develop a more systemic view on different participatory activities: ‘participatory repertoires’. We conclude that unproductive power-politics between different political-administrative levels, and emerging local and wider publics that hamper alignments, may be prevented. This can be done by prioritizing societal dialogue on normative uncertainties in a range of combinations with local dialogue on normative, conceptual uncertainties, and with national or local joint fact finding on informational uncertainties.

Towards True Climate Neutrality for Global Aviation: A Negative Emissions Fund for Airlines

What would it take for aviation to become climate-neutral by 2050? We develop and model a trajectory for aviation to reduce its CO2 emissions by 90% by 2050, down to a level where all residual emissions can be removed from the atmosphere without crowding out other sectors that also need negative emissions. To make emitters pay for the carbon removal, we propose and model a negative emissions fund for airlines (NEFA). We show that it can pay for the removal of all CO2 emitted by aviation from 2030 onwards, for a contribution to the fund of USD 200–250 per ton CO2 emitted. In our baseline simulation, USD 3.3 trillion is invested by the fund over 40 years in high-quality carbon removal projects designed for biodiversity and societal co-benefits. While we do propose a number of governance principles and concrete solutions, our main goal is to start a societal dialogue to ensure aviation becomes both responsible and broadly beneficial.

Subsidy Reform and the Transformation of Social Contracts: The Cases of Egypt, Iran and Morocco

After independence, subsidies have been a cornerstone of the social contracts in the Middle East and North Africa. Governments spent heavily to reduce poverty and strengthen their legitimacy. Yet, subsidies became financially unsustainable and donors pressed for reforms. This article assesses reform processes in Morocco, Egypt and Iran between 2010 and 2017, thus before sanctions against Iran were further tightened and before the COVID-19 pandemic. We show that even though the three countries had similar approaches to subsidisation, they have used distinct strategies to reduce subsidies and minimise social unrest—with the effect that their respective social contracts developed differently. Morocco tried to preserve its social contract as much as possible; it removed most subsidies, explained the need for reform, engaged in societal dialogue and implemented some compensatory measures, preserving most of its prevailing social contract. Egypt, in contrast, dismantled subsidy schemes more radically, without systematic information and consultation campaigns and offered limited compensation. By using repression and a narrative of collective security, the government transformed the social contract from a provision to a protection pact. Iran replaced subsidies with a more cost-efficient and egalitarian quasi-universal cash transfer scheme, paving the way to a more inclusive social contract. We conclude that the approach that governments used to reform subsidies transformed social contracts in fundamentally different ways and we hypothesize on the degree of intentionality of these differences.

“Art is Seeing Things”: Ekphrastic Education in Ali Smith’s Seasonal Quartet

ABSTRACT By staging ekphrastic encounters with self-reflexive art Ali Smith’s Seasonal Quartet both models and advocates for a mode of engagement with the socio-political present that requires a critical look at dominant narratives. The ekphrastic encounters the novels stage serve as meta-fictional commentary that suggests that art can facilitate engagement with other perspectives and teach a benign mode of looking that could provide a way into more compassionate and open societal dialogue. However, the Quartet articulates scepticism as to whether its ekphrastic lessons will be heeded, particularly under the current attention economy and institutionalised dismissal of the arts. Specifically, by centring questions of composition Smith’s ekphrastic encounters with collage address the politics of representation whereas the sculptural encounters bring out themes of endurance and passive resistance as political stategy. It is thus not only the state of the nation Smith sheds light on but also the state of the novel.

2 Academic Activism Reconsidered – between Societal Impact and Emancipation

Abstract: In this essay, I argue that the meaning of academic activism focusing narrowly on direct, immediate, political, and visible forms of action and agency needs to be supplemented by a more nuanced understanding including dimensions of academic re-action, co-action, and inter-action. In universities today, we are witnessing an entrepreneurial turn of research environments with an ever-increasing focus on the roles of professionalization and employability in researcher education and careers. As a counter-view, the essay aims to open up the conceptual understanding of the interconnectedness between research and its societal contexts. I shall argue that these relationships cannot exhaustively be described through current discourses about societal impact but need a broader and more inclusive vocabulary including terms like societal engagement, societal responsibility, societal value, and societal dialogue and commitment. I shall work from a philosophical foundation in the critical realism of Roy Bhaskar coupled with recent discussions within the literature of academic activism.

Nutrition policies in Germany: a systematic assessment with the Food Environment Policy Index.

To systematically assess Germany's nutrition policies, to benchmark them against international best practices and to identify priority policy actions to improve population-level nutrition in Germany. We applied the Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI), a methodological framework developed by the International Network for Food and Obesity/non-communicable Diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMAS) network. Qualitative content analysis of laws, directives and other documents formed the basis of a multistaged, structured consultation process. Germany. The expert consultation process included fifty-five experts from academia, public administration and civil society. Germany lags behind international best practices in several key policy areas. For eighteen policy indicators, the degree of implementation compared with international best practices was rated as very low, for twenty-one as low, for eight as intermediate and for none as high. In particular, indicators on food taxation, regulation of food marketing as well as retail and food service sector policies were rated as very low to low. Identified priority actions included the binding implementation of nutrition standards for schools and kindergartens, a reform of the value added tax on foods and beverages, a sugar-sweetened beverage tax and stricter regulation of food marketing directed at children. The results show that Germany makes insufficient use of the potential of evidence-informed health-promoting nutrition policies. Adopting international best practices in key policy areas could help to reduce the burden of nutrition-related chronic disease and related inequalities in nutrition and health in Germany. Implementation of relevant policies requires political leadership, a broad societal dialogue and evidence-informed advocacy by civil society, including the scientific community.

Ethical Development of Artificial Amniotic Sac and Placenta Technology: A Roadmap.

In this paper we present an initial roadmap for the ethical development and eventual implementation of artificial amniotic sac and placenta technology in clinical practice. We consider four elements of attention: (1) framing and societal dialogue; (2) value sensitive design, (3) research ethics and (4) ethical and legal research resulting in the development of an adequate moral and legal framework. Attention to all elements is a necessary requirement for ethically responsible development of this technology. The first element concerns the importance of framing and societal dialogue. This should involve all relevant stakeholders as well as the general public. We also identify the need to consider carefully the use of terminology and how this influences the understanding of the technology. Second, we elaborate on value sensitive design: the technology should be designed based upon the principles and values that emerge in the first step: societal dialogue. Third, research ethics deserves attention: for proceeding with first-in-human research with the technology, the process of recruiting and counseling eventual study participants and assuring their informed consent deserves careful attention. Fourth, ethical and legal research should concern the status of the subject in the AAPT. An eventual robust moral and legal framework for developing and implementing the technology in a research setting should combine all previous elements. With this roadmap, we emphasize the importance of stakeholder engagement throughout the process of developing and implementing the technology; this will contribute to ethically and responsibly innovating health care.

O-096 The ethics of stem cell-based embryo-like structures: a focus group study on the attitudes of Dutch professionals and lay citizens

Abstract Study question What are main themes guiding the attitudes of Dutch professionals and lay citizens with regard to the creation and research use of embryo-like structures? Summary answer The attitudes of Dutch citizens indicate feelings of trust and distrust, distinct ‘embryo’ conceptualizations, competing moral values and beliefs, and criteria for adequate regulatory safeguards. What is known already Researchers are hopeful that the creation and research use of so-called embryo-like structures (ELS), i.e., stem cell-based models that can mimic (parts of) early (human) embryogenesis, may provide a morally less controversial way of studying the period during which most human etiologies rise while also reducing and replacing the use of animals and/or human embryos in research. Scholars in the humanities and social sciences underline that public engagement and support will be essential in harvesting this presumed moral advantage. Studies on the public endorsement of and attitudes towards synthetic embryology remain nevertheless significantly scarce. Study design, size, duration For this qualitative study with a cross-sectional design, data were collected through four semi-structured focus group discussions (N = 33) between August and September 2020. Participants/materials, setting, methods The focus group interviews consisted of one pilot interview (n = 5), two interviews with lay citizens (n = 21), and one interview with professionals (n = 7). The pilot participants and lay citizens were invited based on sociodemographic characteristics of the Dutch public. Professionals were selected from the networks of the authors based on their experience and affinity with ethical and legal debates on emerging biotechnologies. The transcriptions were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Main results and the role of chance From our analysis emerged four themes: (1) trust, distrust and ambivalence in synthetic embryology, mainly due to concerns about scientific compliance with societal norms, also in view of a projected future ability of using ELS for reproductive ends; (2) diversity of ELS-conceptualizations, also in terms of their (non-)distinction from ‘natural’ human embryos; (3) grounds for moral value and moral standing, in which a possible potential to grow into a human being and perceived tinkering with nature were considered key issues of moral concern; and (4) conditions for responsible embryo-like research, with an emphasis on legally binding the use of ELS to non-reproductive research purposes. Interestingly, whereas questions on the developmental potential of ELS were critical for both the attitudes of professionals and those of lay citizens, lay citizens were much more concerned that synthetic embryology could fundamentally change human existence for the worse. In particular, lay citizens worried that synthetic embryology could lead to dystopian futures, for instance, because it stimulates a ‘makeable human existence’ or because of a presumed inability to monitor and control scientific progress. These findings may imply a correlation between fear of research and degrees of (un)familiarity with the governance systems of science. Limitations, reasons for caution Qualitative research methods provide rich and in-depth data for an ethical analysis of motivations and intuitions, but do not allow generalizations of the findings to broader publics. Wider implications of the findings The results may provide a useful starting point for further discussion and analysis of adequate regulatory parameters for the creation and research use of ELS. The findings also show that societal dialogue and public consultation can play a significant role in addressing concerns about emerging (bio)technologies. Trial registration number not applicable

The DNA-Dialogue: A Broad Societal Dialogue About Human Germline Genome Editing in the Netherlands.

For years, calls for public involvement in the debate concerning the acceptability of human germline genome editing (HGGE) have been made. A multidisciplinary consortium of 11 organizations in the Netherlands organized a broad societal dialogue to inquire about the views of Dutch society toward HGGE. The project aimed to reach a wide and diverse audience and to stimulate a collective process of deliberative opinion forming and reflection. To that end, several instruments and formats were developed and employed. We present the results of 27 moderated dialogues organized between October 2019 and October 2020. Overall, participants of the dialogues were capable of assessing and discussing the subject of HGGE in a nuanced way. Analysis of these dialogues shows that in general, participants had no fundamental and absolute objections toward HGGE technology. However, they only deemed HGGE to be acceptable when it is used to prevent serious heritable diseases and under strict conditions, without affecting important (societal) values. There was a small group of participants who found HGGE fundamentally unacceptable because it would cross natural, socio-ethical, or religious boundaries.