WSF 2013: Synthetic Life, Biofuels and Other New Technologies: Building Peoples' Technology Assessment Capacity

Side-event: World Social Forum, Tunis 2013

Description: New, high-risk technologies, ranging from the very small (synthetic biology, nanotechnology) to the very large (geoengineering), are being rapidly developed. Promoters promise solutions, but the precautionary principle and social and economic impacts are often ignored in the rush to deploy the latest technofix. Without the strict application of the precautionary principle, and a transparent and real participatory way to assess impacts, these new technologies could wreak more havoc on our already fragile planet, battered by reckless and unsustainable forms of production. To deal with the onslaught of ever more powerful technologies, civil society organizations, movements, indigenous peoples and peasant organizations need to self-organize to create Technology Observation Platforms (TOPs).

When: Friday, 29 March 2013, 13:00-15:30

Where: Room 109

Speakers: Pat Mooney, Executive Director, ETC Group, Silvia Ribeiro, Latin American Director, ETC Group, La Via Campesina among others

*French, English and Arab translation 

Date: 
Friday, March 29, 2013 - 13:00 to 15:30