Social Debates and Technology Development in Denmark

management of environmental conflicts with the emphasised role of public participation (Hronszky, 2002c).

Methods of participatory-based constructive technology assessment should be applied to increase the role of the public in the decision-making process. The domestic possibilities of these techniques framed by political and social approaches and the regulatory background should be considered to be widened in order to establish systematical applicability. The following analysis of Danish mode of CTA with participative methods being used on many levels of Danish the society, create a democratic basis for decision-making on technology development, showing a possible, recommended procedure of techniques, being a great part of culture and attitude, to the countries like Hungary, aiming to further develop their practice in this matter .

possibility for participants to influence the decision-making processes at an early stage has a real effect on the development decisions.

The social debates of the stakeholders and the involvement of the public in the specification of the aims of developing technologies have a long, experienced practise in Denmark, following a democratic approach in the development and innovation processes.

Active, public-close risk communication and public participation are widely applied in order to reach a widely based consensus to harmonize the different systems of values in the society. The basically technological origin changes that have been entrenched in society implicated a number of conflicts and generated debates on the different aspects represented by different groups of society. Besides the result of creating consciousness about technology developments through a dialogue between the different parts of society, the enterprises and public institutions can be motivated to emphasize their efforts on those technological development activities that are suited to the needs of the society and appropriate to the forces of the market.

Considering society, the social debates following participation based on constructive technology assessment approach have the potential to democratise decision-making processes on technology development through the involvement of stakeholders and the affected groups of society representing wide range of values, aiming at the avoidance of expertocracy and decisionism. Considering the leading practice of CTA, Danish technology assessment activities have strong participatory and constructive elements (Hansen and Clausen, 2000) with the involvement of wide ranges of groups of society as politicians, scientists, technology developers and lay people. The Danish TA activities are mainly characterised by proactive and interactive, dialogue and participation oriented TA approaches.

The increasing costs of research processes and the effects of the market also require a more complex assessment of technology in an earlier stage than previously and the increased involvement of the stakeholders with the application of participative methods on many areas of the society.

The Danish approach to environmental policy and technological innovation aims to provide solution for environmental challenges and is based on the participatory democratic tradition of bringing various stakeholders or interest groups together in order to reach consensus, as in many other areas of Danish social and political life, and advise the responsible authorities. Stakeholders’ participation in the decision-making process is essentially used. The successful application and gained results of participative approaches

and methods are highly established in the highly democratic Danish traditions and the Danish educational system providing outstanding background to the discussions on social and cultural issues and enhancing social awareness of technology development. Citizens attach high priority to environmental protection, and the industry seems to act in a sensitive way to the environmental requirements (Baark, 1997, 45-69). The broader Danish discussion of technology was influenced with its emphasis on including and informing the public, mainly by general education and public debates that are important elements in Danish society’s democratic tradition, as well as the practice of public information and debate through grass-root movements. Political debates led to technology assessments characterised by a comprehensive approach and with the emphasised consideration of environmental, working condition, health and socio-economic consequences with emphasis on grass-root-based development of technologies.

The Danish as well as the international initiatives with regard to setting technology assessment on the agenda was the concerned reaction to a number of technological, environmental and energy developments in the 1970s. The basically technological originated changes have been entrenched in society implicated number of conflicts and generated debates of the different aspects represented by different groups of society. Many controversies appeared in connection with technology’s benefits and with its controllability. The criticism was raised amongst by the trade unions, environmental organisations and by students and researchers at universities with regard to the consequences of technological development. The technology-critical public debate and the wish for control of technological development were united under the joint concept of technology assessment. Inspiration from other countries influenced the idea that government and business should ensure themselves against the undesirable consequences of the new technology. This created early response to technology assessment activities of OECD and institutional developments of USA with major differences as the Danish activities focus on a large extent to proactivity, dialogue and participation. On the other hand ‘early warning’ was also part of TA activities with the aim at identification of unintended and unwanted consequences for regulation. Furthermore driving forces and barriers of innovations have been main targets of TA (Clausen and Hansen, 2002). Later debates led to discussions on more formalized TA activities. The application of participative methods in the Danish model applied on many levels of the society create a democratic basis for decision-making on technology development, showing a recommended procedure of techniques, being a great part of culture and attitude, to

countries intending to establish their ways or improving their TA methodology and practice.

In the recent years TA followed the way of appearing in more specified ways, but also in broader area of topics through activities mostly without being labelled TA⁴². Explicitly designated TA activities mostly represented by the Danish Board of Technology and health technology assessment activities (Clausen and Hansen, 2002).