Last week, the Council tested preliminary findings from its project exploring ideas about naturalness in bioethics debates at meetings with experts and with members of the public.

The project’s findings draw on a review of how the terms 'natural, 'unnatural' and 'nature' are used in public and political debate, and how this compares with academic thinking on the topic. The aim of the two meetings was to gain feedback on the findings and seek guidance on whether the Council should develop any recommendations for specific audiences.

• The meeting with experts (30 Sept) brought together 25 people with professional experience of public debates about science, including journalists, parliamentarians, Government officials, scientists, representatives of civil society groups and social science researchers.

[caption id="attachment_11426" align="alignright" width="300"]Participants at the public meeting were asked to bring an object they considered 'natural' Participants at the public meeting were asked to bring an object they considered 'natural'[/caption]

• The meeting with members of the public (3 Oct) was organised by Dialogue by Design and involved a diverse group of 13 members of the public who had no professional experience of the topic.

Final report & launch


The final report will be published on Monday 30th November. The public event - an evening of poetry and debate - will showcase poet Kayo Chingonyi's commissioned work and winner of our competition and provide an opportunity to discuss the project with members of our Steering Group. The event is free to attend - find out more

Find out more about the project at www.nuffieldbioethics.org/naturalness
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