The Governance and Ethics Unit of the Directorate General for Research (DG Research) of the European Commission (EC) has published an overview paper on options for framing public policy on nanotechnologies. The publication is part of the EC's commitment to promoting public debate on nanotechnology, and ensuring that public policies are responsive to evolving public opinion. The document consists of a series of research articles, four of which look at recently finished research projects in the field: FRAMINGNANO, which involved the development of a governance plan for nanotechnologies; NANOCAP, a capacity building exercise, through which European Trade Unions and Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations adopted resolutions and positions on the governance of nanotechnologies; DEEPEN, a project on the ethics of nanotechnologies; and, NANOPLAT, which proposed a new deliberative platform for consumers of nanotechnologically-enabled products and evaluated a number of different approaches to deliberation. The authors had a mandate "...to discuss the nature of public debate and involvement, and how it might become part and parcel of good governance of the nano- sciences and nanotechnologies." The document's purpose is to serve as background material and input into ongoing debates regarding nanotechnology, at both the national and European levels.

Remark 1: Addresses: FRAMINGNANO – www.framingnano.org ; NANOCAP – www.nanocap.eu ; DEEPEN – www.geography.dur.ac.uk/projects/deepen ; NANOPLAT – www.nanoplat.org

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