Scientific Risk and Public Engagement, organised together with Huanzhong University of Technology and The Research Centre for Bioethics of HUST, included interdisciplinary lectures and workshops that advocated for the need of public engagement (PE) in science, with a particular focus of GM food. Over 60 scientists, academics, public engagement professionals and innovators attended the workshop over the course of two days on 25 and 26 March.
The event called for more risk governance in the field of GM food through incorporating professional PE. The first day saw sessions on the meaning of PE, showcased both Chinese and British examples of what PE can look like, and explored the perception, uncertainties as well as experience of PE among the participants. Practical comparisons between the British and the Chinese PE experiences were drawn. The second day started with a session on GM food scientist’s engagement experience, and continued to look into building and sustaining public trust and catalysing change.
The workshop ended with a formation of an interdisciplinary international consortium. The consortium will further promote knowledge of professional public engagement in science, and create a communication bridge between China and the UK to share and compare scientific engagement experience.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all speakers and participants of the event, without whom the event would not have been possible. The presentations of the Wuhan Scientific Risk and Public Engagement workshop are uploaded in the Outputs and resources section.