Why Enrol Citizens in the Governance of Nanotechnology

According to the literature produced either by STS scholars or by many public agencies, nanotechnology1 offers a unique opportunity for developing socially robust technological innovations within a sustainable future. In this context, learning from the GMOs controversy and moving toward an “upstream engagement” becomes one of the master narratives of public policies. This narrative is linked to the critique addressed to the approach of the Public Understanding of Science (PUS) taken by The Royal Society in the UK (The Royal Society 1985). PUS was an exemplary response from the scientific institutions to what was interpreted as a growing “gap” between science and society that started to be documented by surveys and reports as from the 80s.