GCA receives Australian Research Council Linkage Grant

We are thrilled to announce that the Global Citizens’ Assembly on Genome editing has received an Australian Research Council Linkage grant.

The Australian Research Council Linkage Program promotes national and international research partnerships between researchers and business, industry and community organisations. The grant of $439,000 (AUD) will go towards funding the world’s first truly global citizens’ deliberation on genome editing, and also analyse the impact of the ‘deliberative documentary’ film on public understanding of complex, fast-evolving science and technology.

Led by the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra, working in collaboration with the Centre for Law and Genetics at the University of Tasmania, Genepool Productions and Missions Publiques along with an international network of research partners this large-scale project brings the fast-evolving field of gene-editing and genetic technology together with the practices of deliberative democracy and documentary filmmaking.

“The ARC grant provides the impetus we need to make this happen, and I hope it will unlock more resources and commitments to the project."

Professor John Dryzek

A Citizens' Assembly of up to 100 or more participants from around the globe will come together to hear from experts and advocates about gene editing technologies, and will deliberate on how public policy should regulate them. Their recommendations will be fed into decision making bodies at the national level for all the participating countries, as well as relevant global organisations. This will be done in parallel with the work of a large group of ethical, legal and scientific experts, who will work through the implications of the findings by the global citizens for decisions about regulating genomic technologies.

“This process needs to be global to prevent what is sometimes called ‘ethics dumping’, where people wanting to develop or test technologies look for the least regulated place. And just as human rights are a matter of global concern, so should a technology capable of affecting what it means to be human.”

Dr Simon Niemeyer

This unprecedented project brings together a team of experts in deliberative democracy, law and the ethics of science and technology, with leading science film producers Genepool Productions, taking the worldwide movement in deliberative democratic innovation to a new level. Genepool Productions plan to produce a three-part science documentary series that will film the process and explore how citizens of the world might weigh in on one of the most consequential and complicated issues of scientific ethics.

"This innovative blend of documentary and deliberative democracy - at a global scale  - has never been done before. It’s incredibly exciting to see it gathering such momentum!"

Sonya Pemberton, Creative Director Genepool Productions.