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Education about socioscientific issues (SSIs) can be challenging as underlying tensions can surface. When discussing the topic of genetic engineering, these tensions can be related to (1) the molecular biology of genetics and genetic engineering, (2) the evolutionary aspects of genetic engineering, (3) the nature of science and (4) the ethical understanding of this SSI. Such tensions may lead to confrontation, either between students or between students and teachers. The practice of ‘philosophical inquiry’ provides a pedagogical approach to help explore these tensions and engage in dialogues. Philosophical inquiry entails a dialogic approach in which a facilitator helps a group of students uncover hidden presuppositions and elicit an argumentative conversation. Stimuli such as pictures, cases or quotes provide a context to help students engage in dialogues about philosophical questions. Thus, students can reflect upon the relationship between science and evolution, the nature of science and the tensions between genetic engineering and society. In this chapter, we first explore different sensitivities related to genetic engineering. Then, we showcase learning material for secondary school students to cope with these issues. We focus on an approach to using big questions and stimulating dialogue to explore sensitivities. Ultimately, we provide tips to consider when addressing SSIs through philosophical dialogue.

This chapter presents the challenges and risks of digital transformation classified into three axes of analysis, two disciplinary axes and one transversal. The transversal category is a proposal that arises from the Aalborg University (AAU) under the Techno-Anthropology program. The program's approach responds to the need for an interdisciplinary vision of the interaction between humans and technology. Techno-anthropologists are by nature facilitators, mediators, and translators of processes as complex as digital transformation. This chapter serves as a conceptual guide in which it is illustrated with a concrete example of the application of the ethical evaluation model of technology developed by AAU. The model is applied to a hypothetical case of digitization of professional judgment. The model has been found to have a wide range of possible applications in different technological domains.

The transition between BSc and MSc study programs can be challenging – especially if a student changes from one discipline to another, for example, when an engineering bachelor changes to the master’s program in Techno-Anthropology (T-A) at Aalborg University, which is a technical master’s program with anthropological and ethical content. To facilitate such transitions, Aalborg University allocated funding to develop and offer the e-course “Introduction to Techno-Anthropology”. The e-course is a set of seven modules introducing the central concepts and methods of T-A to applicants without a bachelor degree in T-A. This paper sketches the design and provides a technology assessment of this e-course to determine how it could be improved and applied to ease the transition between different study-programmes that face similar challenges.

To dissiminate knowledge of Technology Assessment (TA) to the engineering ethics education research community this paper provides an overview of existing TAmodels: consequentialist TA, interdisciplinary TA, ethical TA, hermeneutical TA, participatory TA, and constructivist TA. The central result of the presented work is ananalysis of how the different TA models compare to the science – society interface, including how the models relate to ethics, roles of experts, participation of stakeholders and the public, and output formats. It briefly mentions how the models are introduced in classes and used by students at Aalborg University in the 2ndsemester of the bachelor program in Techno-Anthropology. Feedback from students indicate that they request concrete instructions on how to apply the models in their project work. All this to provide an argument for initiating research in how TA can be taught in Technical Study Programs as a means to foster ethical reflections on the societal effects of technologies and engineering solutions.

In this concept paper, we present insights from an ongoing online interdisciplinary project with a “Technology and Migration” theme. The project is initiated by course coordinators from Medialogy and Techno-Anthropology at Aalborg University, issupported by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and is carried out by Bachelor and Master students from the two programs. We present the design of an open innovation problem-based educational activity, where different stakeholders facilitate student engagement in real-world issues regarding technology and migration. We present observations and results from a student survey, reporting on their motivations, expectations, and reactions to the format. We conclude with theexpected outcomes and some preliminary results of the initiative.

Social media have increased the need for a critical approach to the information at hand. Since scientific literacy is important when fake is to be separated from fact, it is our responsibility as researchers to assist in fostering this ability among the citizens. Due to the schism between the scientific world and the lifeworld of the citizens, this is a daunting task. Through the concept of responsible research and innovation, and in particular the governance-pillar, an approach that benefits both the public at large and science can be established.

Denne teknoantropologiske artikel analyserer med kritisk teknologiteori ledige a-kassemedlemmers interaktion med dagpengesystemets digitale værktøjer. På baggrund af observationer på jobcentre og a-kasser samt interviews med ledige og jobkonsulenter kortlægger artiklen, hvordan ledige opfatter dagpengesystemets digitale platforme som ukoordinerede, svære at navigere i, unyttige, meningsløse, adfærdsstyrende og kontrollerende. Analysen bidrager til at belyse, hvordan digitale værktøjer påvirker lediges adfærd samt praksis, og den stiller således skarpt på, hvordan digitalisering og adfærd er viklet ind i hinanden. Et felt, hvor det personlige møde forsvinder i effektiviseringen, fordi det digitale erstatter eller overtager det personlige møde. Truslen om økonomiske sanktioner bliver medieret gennem digitale styringsværktøjer, som får ledige til at frygte, at de ikke gør det godt nok, eller at de kommer til at lave fejl. Dette får ledige til at udvikle handlestrategier, der tilfredsstiller systemets krav, men ikke er rettet mod at få et job. Artiklens anden del præsenterer lediges egne forslag til forbedring af de digitale værktøjer. Konkret foreslås de digitale ressourcer redesignet væk fra den kontrolfunktion, de i dag understøtter, til at mediere individuel digital identitet, herunder digital støtte til den enkelte i jobsøgningen. Søgeord: ledige, dagpengesystemet i Danmark, Jobnet.dk, teknoantropologi, kritisk teknologiteori, individuel digital mediering

This paper investigates the relationship between ethics and different forms of science activities. Academic science, industrial science, professional consultancy, and science-based advice are all different problem-solving strategies. What counts as good scientific problem-solving and hence scientific misconduct is specific to the type of scientific practice being undertaken. In academic science, misconduct is defined as severe violations of Robert Merton’s ethos of academic science (CUDOS). However, CUDOS does not account for science’s responsibilities for decision-making in the political sphere, and only focus on good scientific practice in a narrower sense. This is not the case when we enter the political decision-making regarding technological risk, where scientific activities are entangled with society, its institutions and stakeholders.

This master´s thesis explores from a Techno-Anthropological perspective a particular situation presented by a Danish NGO which promotes around the world the implementation of Mercury Free Method for Small-Scale Gold Miners: Few months after the application of the technique; miners go back to use mercury without any “logical and reasonable” explanation. Aiming to identify the reasons and the barriers for the transference of technology in marginalised and oppressed groups as the Artisanal Small-Scale Gold miners from Uganda; I found an excellent opportunity to link this exercise with my home country Colombia. Small-Scale Gold miners from my country are also dealing with formalisation issues and the harmful use of mercury in their activities. The main research question formulated was: How can an NGO develop a sustainable model for engaging and empowering small-scale gold miners´ communities in the adoption of a Mercury-Free Method? The three fieldwork, one in Colombia, and two in Uganda revealed an issue that grounded my expectations: unintentionally, developing aid projects instead of facilitates and “help” the communities, generate more oppression to them. The idea to intervene in Colombia drove me to think in which sustainable way should be conducted the intervention this time. One of the central conclusions of this research is that it is necessary to rethink and demystify the paternalistic stance of aid projects in developing countries. Projects need to change from a FOR vocation to a WITH perspective. In other words, the idea is not to work for the oppressed, but to work with them. They are the only ones who locally must find the conditions for their liberation. Creating technological solutions through collective and democratic dialogue and facilitated by NGOs.

In the evening of December 2nd, 1984, a series of unfortunate events led to 43 tons of methyl isocyanate being vaporized and spread over the city of Bhopal in central India. The accident, which continued throughout the early hours of December 3 rd, resulted in the deaths of several thousand people and left hundreds of thousands more with permanent injuries. The Bhopal toxic leakage is widely regarded as the largest chemical industrial disaster in the world. It is also one of the most publicly scrutinized disasters, leading to vivid evidence about the threat to public health posed by the chemical production industry. This paper argues that Union Carbide Corporation, through its local subsidiary Union Carbide India Limited, as well as the governments of India and Madhya Pradesh, are those who were most accountable for the leakage. Furthermore, the paper shows that several ethical rules such as: the Golden Rule, the human rights to safety, the precautionary principle, and the principles for a sustainable society were violated. In the final sections, the paper discusses the measures that should be taken to prevent future exposure to toxic chemical substances which may occur due to accidents at chemical production facilities.

Som kritisk projekt må aktionsforskningen videreudvikles for at kunne udfordre samfundets magtstrukturer og den dominerende diskurs og politik. Bogen er et bidrag til det, som Brydon-Miller, Greenwood and Maguire (2003) har defineretsom et af aktionsforskningens kernekarakteristika: “A shared commitmentto democratic social change”. Med titlen Den ufærdige fremtid – aktionsforskningens potentialer og udfordringer ønsker vi på én og samme tid at understrege aktionsforskningens grundforståelse af, at fremtiden er ufærdig, og at aktionsforskning rummer potentialer som bidrag til demokratisk og bæredygtig udvikling af samfundet. Der er udfordringer forbundet med at gennemføre aktionsforskning – et enkelt aktionsforskningsprojekt “løser” ikke nødvendigvis et problem eller sikrer bedre vilkår, men kan i bedste fald bidrage til demokratiske forandring og empowerment. Det er nogle af de problematikker,som behandles i antologien. Bogen skal ses som et bidrag til diskussionog vidensformidling om aktionsforskningens teorihistoriske grundlag, metoder,tilgange, erfaringer, udfordringer og resultater. Med denne diskussion og vidensformidling henvender vi os både til aktionsforskere og til forskere inden for andre forskningstraditioner.