In November, I once more joined members of the FP7 research project “SATORI“, a 4 year EU project (Stakeholders Acting Together on the Ethical Impact Assessment of Research and Innovation*) for a workshop that shared their project progress. Last time I participated in one of their workshops, they were in Copenhagen for a discussion of standards. This “mutual learning” workshop in London focused on providing feedback to the group on more of their work, and focused on the institutional landscape for ethics assessment, challenges for research ethics committees in ethics assessment, the group’s  proposals for ethics assessment procedures; and the practicalities of ethical impact assessment. The discussions were wide ranging, and would have been extremely interesting for the researchers I worked with across Asia, who have also been striving toward a common framework for ethical review in the region.

*In Japanese (Zen) Buddhism, ‘satori’ refers to enlightenment, and is often translated as awakening, comprehension or or the first step on the path to Buddhahood. An optimistic title for a complex project!