Safety First Workshop Brochure by ISEES

ISEES WORKSHOP

Safety First -- Active Governance of Genetic Engineering for Environment and Human Health Worldwide

INTRODUCTION
SCHEDULE
COORDINATORS
SPONSORS
LOCATION
TRAVEL AND ACCOMODATIONS
STEERING COMMITTEE

Safety First: Active Governance of Genetic Engineering for Environment and Human Health Worldwide
2-3 March, 2001
University of Minnesota Minneapolis
Hubert Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
Conference Center

INTRODUCTION

What is the potential to manage genetic engineering for enhanced safety on a global scale?

The public and investors have been impressed by the potential of genetically modified organisms (or GMOs for short) to produce their own pesticides, manufacture pharmaceutical drugs and industrial chemicals, and develop food faster and less expensively than is currently possible. In the last decade, however, scientific studies have documented ecological and human health hazards in the process of producing and marketing GMOs.

Two approaches have been promoted to fend off the hazards of GMOs. The first approach has been to rely primarily on voluntary private sector efforts, the second to create a new generation of government regulations. Each of these approaches is proving unworkable or infeasible, as evidenced by the contamination of food entering the global market by Aventis Co.'s StarLink corn in 2000. A third approach provides a credible alternative: an industry-led governance approach that makes safety the first priority and incorporates government and consumers in establishing a credible process for overseeing the GMO industry.

Despite claims of precision and expertise matching that of other engineering industries, genetic engineers have yet to adopt the lessons learned and proven techniques applied by safety engineering professionals over the previous century. Today, public trust in engineering industries is dependent on credible internal industry initiatives to test products and processes for safety from design through production and to monitor them in operation. Histories of safety work recognize that labor organizations, and consumer and environmental groups provided the motive force for safer engineering practices and more responsible, responsive governance of industrial activity. In different countries, there have been varying capacities to evaluate engineering products and processes. What lessons from history are useful in the design of safety programs that achieve safer genetic engineering worldwide?

At the heart of safety work is learning to think differently about the process of developing new technologies. In safety work, the management and evaluation of human social practices, values and behaviors, as well as the socio-political structures in which the engineered component functions are as important to designing for safety as any material component. Safety work is only done when deliberative processes are administered at multiple levels in the building, maintenance, and use of technology. How can the capacity of industry to design and implement credible, effective safety management programs for genetic engineering be facilitated - and will these provide universal safety at an equitable cost in the global market?

In this two-day workshop, we will move beyond the pitched battles over whether the GMO industry will continue (it will) and overstated reassurances about the risks of these developments. In this forum, we seek to explore how the real tradeoffs in the genetics revolution can be openly examined and democratically managed for safety by independent scientists, industry, and concerned citizens. Workshop participants will collaborate to draft principles for the roles of industry, public interest groups, and government in producing scientifically and socially robust safety governance of genetic engineering.

Our invitation to you
We are inviting a diverse group of participants to join us in crafting the principles of a safety first approach for genetic engineering. Policy advisors, leaders in government and industry, leaders of public interest groups, and scholars who would like to shape innovative safety management approaches for the governance of GMOs are encouraged to attend. Because this workshop is a truly deliberative endeavor, we request that participants attend both days of the workshop. On Friday, guest speakers and panelists will frame the concept of safety governance from product design to final use, with discussion encouraged during each session.

On Saturday, panelists, guest speakers, and workshop participants will meet in small breakout groups to craft a closing statement that addresses:
· The essential features of industry-wide GMO safety programs
· The roles to be played by different sectors of society to ensure that safety programs are scientifically reliable and socially robust
· Strategies for equitable shaping and implementation of safety programs in a global economy

Expected outcomes
By collectively authoring this statement, workshop participants will provide useful guidelines for next steps to achieve more durable safety programs for GMOs. We envision outcomes such as: the formation of cross-representational groups chartered to develop generic, industry-wide safety standards; the identification of the essential elements of comprehensive safety programs for different types of GMOs; and the identification of appropriate government oversight and public involvement mechanisms in order to reinforce industry responsibility and responsiveness. Following the workshop, a Steering Committee of prominent leaders will help to move these outcomes into industry and government policy making.

SCHEDULE

*******	FRIDAY, MARCH 2

8:00-12:00	Registration Table Open [Humphrey Center Atrium]
8:00-10:00	Continental Breakfast [Humphrey Center Atrium]
8:30-9:30	Welcome, Workshop Goals and Approach [Cowles Auditorium]
	Anne R. Kapuscinski Director, ISEES Professor of Fisheries and Wildlife and Conservation Biology University of Minnesota

	SECTION I: Exploring Safety in Engineering [Cowles Auditorium]
	FACILITATOR:
	Brian Stenquist Meeting Challenges, Inc.
9:35-10:00	SPEAKER: History of Safety First Movements
	Mark Aldrich Professor of Economics Smith College Author of safety history "Safety First: Technology, Labor, and Business"
10:00-11:30	PANEL: Learning from the history of Safety First Movements
	Panelists will respond to a specific set of questions
	Rebecca Goldburg Senior Scientist Environmental Defense	Dr. Jeff Wolt Global Exposure and Risk Assessment Dow AgroSciences
	Foundation Representative	David Andow Professor of Entomology University of Minnesota
11:30-1:00	Lunch [Humphrey Center Atrium]
	SECTION II: Safety Second [Cowles Auditorium]
1:10-1:30	Introduction to Safety Second
	Larry Jacobs Associate Professor of Political Science University of Minnesota Associate Director, ISEES
1:30-3:00	PANEL: Pitfalls and Successes From Other Industries
	Panelists will respond to a specific set of questions
	David Rosner Professor of History and Public Policy Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University	Gerald Markowitz Professor of History John Jay College of Criminal Justice
	David Lochbaum Nuclear Safety Engineer Union of Concerned Scientists	Stu Hann Aerospace System Safety Engineer FAA System Safety Designated Engineering Representative
	Frank Busta Professor of Food Science and Nutrition (retired) University of Minnesota
3:00-3:30	Refreshment Break [Humphrey Center Atrium]

3:30-5:30	PANEL: Problems in the management of genetic engineering processes and products for safety
	Panelists will respond to a specific set of questions
	Karen Oberhauser Assistant Professor Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior University of Minnesota	Dr. Robert M. Goodman Professor of Plant Pathology University of Wisconsin-Madison Chair, The McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crop Research Program
	Beth Burrows Executive Director The Edmonds Institute	Bill Brock Toxicologist Unilever Research
	Peter H. Schuck Simeon E. Baldwin Professor of Law Yale Law School

5:30-6:00	Reflections on Safety Systems Stu Hann
6:00-6:30	Wine and Cheese Reception, Humphrey Center Atrium Local restaurant lists with travel directions will be provided
*******	SATURDAY, MARCH 3
	SECTION III: Principles of Safety [Cowles Auditorium]
8:30-9:30	Continental Breakfast served in Humphrey Center Atrium
9:30-9:45	Introductory Statements on Governing Biotechnology by Larry Jacobs

9:45-10:15	SPEAKERS: Deliberative Approaches for Safety Decision-making
	Anne R. Kapuscinski Director, ISEES Professor of Fisheries and Wildlife and Conservation Biology University of Minnesota	Brian Stenquist Meeting Challenges, Inc.
10:30-12:15	WORKSHOP: Solutions for Active Governance
	· Group 1: Defining the role for citizens, foundations, public and environmental health advocates and consumer groups to promote and effect safer genetic engineering practices by industry and government. · Group 2: Defining the role of genetic engineering industries in self-policing for safety in the practice and deployment of genetically engineered organisms · Group 3: Defining the role of government in industry self-policing and adequate public participation in oversight of genetic engineering practices and products for safety. Each group will include participants from all sectors.
12:30-2:15	Lunch [Humphrey Center Atrium]
2:30-4:00	Reconvene Workshop Groups [Cowles Auditorium]
6:00-9:00	Dinner: Walleye Fish Bake [Humphrey Center Atrium]

COORDINATORS

Institute for Social, Economic and Ecological Sustainability of the MacArthur Program, University of Minnesota
Anne R. Kapuscinski, Director
Lawrence Jacobs, Associate Director
Emily Pullins, Biotechnology Project Manager

The Organizers
The Institute for Social, Economic & Ecological Sustainability (ISEES) was initiated in July 1996 to analyze and recommend realistic options for building sustainable relationships between humans and the environment. We have focused on natural resources, food and the environment. Our vision is based on the fundamental idea that sustainable relationships between the social, economic and ecological spheres of the world are possible and desirable. ISEES uses a unique process of deliberation to bring scholars and practitioners of different perspectives together to analyze sustainability issues. Our goal is to develop concrete and practical options for solving complex environmental and social problems. The Coordinators Anne R. Kapuscinski, ISEES Director Lawrence Jacobs, ISEES Associate Director Emily Pullins, ISEES Biotechnology Project Manager University of Minnesota Sponsors Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change College of Natural Resources College of Liberal Arts, Scholarly Events Program Minnesota Sea Grant College Program Center for Continuing Education Facilitation Services Brian Stenquist, Meeting Challenges Inc.

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA SPONSORS

Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change
College of Natural Resources
Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Science
College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences
College of Liberal Arts, Scholarly Events Program
Department of Political Science
Graduate School
Minnesota Sea Grant College Program
Center for Continuing Education
College of Biological Sciences

LOCATION OF EVENT

HUBERT HUMPHREY INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONFERENCE CENTER
University of Minnesota 301
19th Avenue S Minneapolis, MN

TRAVEL AND ACCOMODATIONS

Registrants are responsible for their own travel and hotel arrangements. Rooms have been set aside at the Holiday Inn Metrodome, Minneapolis, MN. The Holiday Inn Metrodome is centrally located on the East Bank of the University of Minnesota campus, two blocks from the Hubert Humphrey Workshop Center. Special convention rates are available for participants who register prior to February 1, 2001, so we encourage you to make reservations at the earliest possible time.

To qualify for the reduced rate, reserve rooms under the title "Safety First Workshop".

Holiday Inn Metrodome
1500 Washington Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Phone: 612-333-4646 / 800-448-3663
Fax: 612-333-7910
reservations@metrodome.com

Event Location
All activities are occurring in the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs Conference Center on the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis West Bank Campus.

Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs Conference Center
301 19th Avenue South
University of Minnesota-Minneapolis
West Bank Campus
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Phone: 612-625-1806

Transportation
The Minneapolis-St. Paul airport is approximately 20 minutes from the Holiday Inn Metrodome. Public and hotel shuttle services are available. Contact your hotel, or visit our website for more information about shuttle services.

Safety First Initiative Steering Committee

Jean Halloran
Director
Consumer Policy Institute / Consumers Union

Charles S. Johnson
Executive Vice President (Ret.) of DuPont
Member, USDA Advisory Committee on Agricultural Biotechnology

Calestous Juma
Director, Science Technology & Development, Center for International Development, Harvard University
Member, National Research Council Standing Committee on Biotechnology

Ronald L. Krall , M.D.
Senior Vice President U.S. Drug Development
AstraZeneca LP

Margaret Mellon
Program Director
Food and Environment Program, Union of Concerned Scientists
Member, USDA Advisory Committee on Agricultural Biotechnology

Vernon W. Ruttan
Regents Professor of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota
Member, National Research Council Standing Committee on Biotechnology

Tony La Viña
Director
Program in Biological Resources, World Resources Institute

Jean D. Kinsey
Director
The Retail Food Industry Center
Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota

Additional workshop information
If you have questions regarding the workshop schedule, contact:
Emily E. Pullins, Workshop Coordinator, Biotechnology Project Manager
Phone: 612-624-7723
Fax: 612-625-8153
Email: isees@umn.edu.

To request disability accommodations and/or to receive this material in alternative formats, please contact the Workshop Coordinator at ISEES, 612-624-7723, or e-mail isees@umn.edu.

The University of Minnesota is committed to the policy that all persons shall have access to its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, or sexual orientation. Any and all liability of the Safety First Workshop, ISEES, University of Minnesota, and workshop committee chairpersons and members with respect to registration, reservations, cancellations and refunds is limited to a sum no greater than the fee paid. Submission of registration and payment constitute acceptance of conditions hereon.