•  ROUND TABLES
   held on 19 and 20 March 2007
•  Stakeholder reports
•  CONTRIBUTIONS
•  Reports and expert findings
•  The steering committee

The round tables were held on 19 and 20 March 2007 at the Cité des sciences et de l'industrie

Photo credit: Meeting of Minds : Fondation Le roi Baudouin / Bruxelles/ Janvier 2006

Why round table discussions? The emergence of nanotechnologies has already given rise to numerous formal and informal debates in France, attracting contributions from a variety of stakeholders. At the request of the French Ministry for Higher Education and Research and the Ministry for Industry, the Cité des sciences organised a stocktaking exercise on 19 and 20 March 2007, to provide an overview of the issues raised, and to ask the major groups of stakeholders (scientists, manufacturers, politicians) to define their positions in terms of their expectations, concerns, but above all their suggestions, recommendations and opinions arising from these various debates and projects.

The organisation of round table discussions An independent steering committee selected, in advance, the debates and group projects devoted to nanotechnologies which have given rise to "reasonable opinions" and asked each of the "opinion holders" to compile a stakeholder report summarising these projects. During the round table discussions held on 19 and 20 March, these stakeholder reports were submitted respectively to scientists, manufacturers, and politicians who defined their positions on this overview. The Minister for Industry, François Loos, concluded these discussions by offering the government's position on these points.