This report describes and compares current practices of Parliamentary Technology Assessment (PTA) in Europe. In particular Austria, Catalonia (Spain), Denmark, Flanders (Belgium), Germany, the Netherlands,Norway and Switzerland are looked at.
This report describes and compares current practices of Parliamentary Technology Assessment (PTA) in Europe.
In particular Austria, Catalonia (Spain), Denmark, Flanders (Belgium), Germany, the Netherlands,Norway and Switzerland are looked at. For each country or region, one actual project is included as a case study, which further illustrates the ‘nuts and bolts’ of daily practice. Overall, reporting is based on interviews, institutional archives, websites, earlier descriptions and expert judgement. In the concluding chapter, the comparative analysis is extended to organisations in Finland, France, Greece, the European Union, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The study is carried out as part of the PACITA research and action plan, under the umbrella of the European FP7. PACITA stands for Parliaments and Civil Society in Technology Assessment
PACITA (‘Parliaments and Civil Society in Technology Assessment’) is a four-year EU financed project under FP7 aimed at increasing the capacity and enhancing the institutional foundation for knowledge-based policy-making on issues involving science, technology and innovation, mainly based upon the diversity of practices in Parliamentary Technology Assessment (PTA). The key practices in focus are interactive in the sense that they engage science, civil society organizations, stakeholders, citizens, parliaments and/or governments directly in the activities in order to activate different kinds of knowledge, engage the actors, create common ownership to the results and enhance the communication between the societal actors.
PACITA has 15 European partners from national/regional parliamentary offices for science and technology, science academies, research institutions, universities and civil society organizations coordinated by a PTA institution, the Danish Board of Technology.
