title: Empowering citizens in international governance of nanotechnologies.
abstract: The international dialogue on responsible governance of nanotechnologies engages a wide range of actors with conflicting as well as common interests. It is also characterised by a lack of evidence-based data on uncertain risks of in particular engineered nanomaterials. The present paper aims at deepening understanding of the collective decision making context at international level using the grounded theory approach as proposed by Glaser and Strauss in "The Discovery of Grounded Theory" (1967). This starts by discussing relevant concepts from different fields including sociological and political studies of international relations as well as political philosophy and ethics. This analysis of current trends in international law making is taken as starting point for exploring the role that a software decision support tool could play in multi-stakeholder global governance of nanotechnologies. These theoretical ideas are then compared with the current design of the SUN Decision Support System (SUNDS) under development in the European project on Sustainable Nanotechnologies (SUN, www.sun-fp7.eu). Through constant comparison, the ideas are also compared with requirements of different stakeholders as expressed during a user workshop. This allows for highlighting discussion points for further consideration.
authors.affiliation: Malsch TechnoValuation, Vondellaan 90, 3521 GH Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ineke
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Malsch
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca'Foscari University of Venice, Dorsoduro 3246, 30123 Venice, Italy.
authors.forename: Vrishali
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Subramanian
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca'Foscari University of Venice, Dorsoduro 3246, 30123 Venice, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Semenzin
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca'Foscari University of Venice, Dorsoduro 3246, 30123 Venice, Italy.
authors.forename: Danail
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hristozov
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca'Foscari University of Venice, Dorsoduro 3246, 30123 Venice, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marcomini
authors.affiliation: Department of Accounting and Finance, Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mullins
authors.affiliation: Department of Accounting and Finance, Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
authors.forename: Karena
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hester
authors.affiliation: Department of Accounting and Finance, Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
authors.forename: Eamonn
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: McAlea
authors.affiliation: Department of Accounting and Finance, Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
authors.forename: Finbarr
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Energy, and Materials and Surface Sciences Institute (MSSI), University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
authors.forename: Syed A M
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Tofail
keywords: International governance; Nanotechnology; Responsible research and innovation; Sustainability