Our partners at the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University (CNS-ASU) held a final event gala in Tempe, Arizona on May 3-5, 2016, focused on "Advancing the Legacy of Anticipatory Governance." I was happy to be among the 110 participants at this final event in the work of CNS to represent the NISE Net.
CNS Director Dave Guston describes anticipatory governance as:
A broad-based capacity extended through society that can act on a variety of inputs to manage emerging knowledge-based technologies while such management is still possible.
[Read a blog post from CNS-ASU about their final commemorating event]
One of the key components of anticipatory governance is "engagement" and that's where we in the science and children's museum communities come in. By engaging the public in the content and questions related to emerging technologies we help to extend the capacity throughout society. Ira Bennett and Jamey Wetmore of CNS produced and hosted a display of NISE Net materials developed in collaboration with CNS (image below).
The collaboration between NISE Net and CNS was transformative for both organizations. And just as NISE Net is reinventing itself at the National Informal STEM Education Network, the folks in the Center for Nanotechnology in Society are excited about the launch of ASU's new Institute for the Future of Innovation in Society. The Institute comes with a new School for the Future of Innovation in Society and several research centers including the Center for Engagement and Training in Science and Society in which NISE Net's own Rae Ostman is now an Associate Research Professor. We are sure to hear more from our ASU partners in the future as several projects with them beyond Nano are already underway. The NISE Net display pictured above was just one of five displays of materials developed or being developed in past and current projects including two that involve NISE Net partners – Sustainability in Museums and the Frankenstein Bicentennial Project.
View NISE Net's summary flyer describing new opportunities for NISE Network partners.