Valgen

VALGEN aims to identify new models for governance of breakthrough agricultural technologies and bioproducts, and to ensure that publicly supported research is used efficiently to benefit Canadians. For Canadians to get their money’s worth from investment in science R&D, new products need to be evaluated and accepted or rejected as quickly and efficiently as possible.

VALGEN will map the current governance system and identify critical control points in regulation and governance of the ABC projects. They will also look at how the future for ABC crops and bioproducts and services is constrained by our current regulatory and governance system and identify options to resolve issues and realize opportunities.

Research questions will include:
• From an international perspective, what are the governance and regulatory issues and opportunities related to ABC?
• How have complicated and complex government/regulatory systems been modeled and analyzed.
• Can existing methodologies used to regulate other complex systems (ie. RACCP, EIA, IPA) be adapted for regulation of transformative technologies?
• What are the current best foresight practices and capacity related to regulation and governance?

Publications

Boland, W., PWB Phillips and C. Ryan. 2010. Centerless Governance and the Management of Global R&D: Public-Private Partnerships and Plant-Genetic Resource Management. Peer Reviewed Paper at Triple Helix VIII, Madrid, Spain. October 20-22.

Castle, D. 2009. The role of evidence in the regulation and governance of agrifood biotechnology. Royal Society of Canada Symposium: Genetically Modified Organisms. September 22.

Castle, D. 2010. “ A Model of Regulatory Burden for the Diffusion of New Technology” Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy Public Lecture. June 10, 2010.

de Beer, J. 2010. Panel Discussion “Biofuels: Legal and Policy Dimensions” hosted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, with support from the Law Foundation of Ontario, June 17-18, 2010, Toronto.

de Beer, J. 2010. The biofuels regulatory web.  Presentations to The Canada-EU trade Environment Technology Exchange (TETE), Saskatoon, SK. September 30.

de Beer, J. 2010. Panel discussion – Hard constraints from ‘soft issues’ in the implementation of a bio-based economy. Biotechnology Industry Organization Pacific Rim Summit, Hawaii, USA, December 11-14.

Hue, C. and KC Culver. 2010. Lessons from Eco-Innovation Cluster-Building in France, Green Knowledge Triangle Conference, European Parliament, Brussels, October 27.

Ludlow, K. and S. J. Smyth. 2010. Pure Economic Loss and Agricultural Biotechnology: Comparing Australia, Canada and the United States. Presentation at the14th ICABR Conference, Ravello, Italy, June 16-18.

Phillips, P. and C. Ryan. 2010. “Governance of international networks” Political Studies Association,
Edinburgh, April 29.

Phillips, PWB and D. Castle. (forthcoming in 2011). Science and technology in Canada: innovation gaps and productivity traps.  How Ottawa Spends.  McGill Queen’s University Press.

Phillips, P. and D. Castle. 2010. Science and technology spending: still no viable federal innovation
agenda. Chapter 9 in B. Doern et al., How Ottawa Spends 2009, McGill Queen’s University Press.

Phillips, P. 2010. “Challenges and issues for risk regulators” International Conference on Risk for Regulators, Ottawa, June 2-3.

Phillips, P. 2010. Canadian policy experience with biotechnology. Intellectual Bridges to the Future? Policy Advice and Policy Development: Canadian and German Experiences”, Berlin, June 21-2.

Phillips, P.W.B., D. Castle, S.J. Smyth, H. Venema, M. McCandless and C. Christensen. 2010. A Response to the Nuffield Council on Bioethics Consultation Paper “New Approaches to Biofuels”. http://valgen.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/A-Response-to-the-Nuffield-Council-on-Bioethics-Consultation-Paper-final.pdf.

Phillips, P. 2010.  Challenges and issues for risk regulators. Summary of comments made in a panel session at the International Conference on Risk for Regulators.  Ottawa, Canada, June 3.  (VALGEN Working Paper 2010-02).

Phillips, P. 2010. Personal privacy and the public good: Security of the person in the information age. Paper prepared for Conference on Statistics, Science and Public Policy: Ethics, Security and Society, Queen’s University International Study Centre, Herstmonceux Castle,  Hailsham, England, April 22. (VALGEN Working Paper 2010-01).

Phillips, P. 2010. Interviewed for: “Commitment to innovation requires action”. The Star Phoenix, March 4.

Phillips, P. 2010. Interviewed for: “Canada needs new strategy for innovation”. The Star Phoenix, March 5.

Phillips, P. (presented by Smyth, S. J.) 2009. Coexistence as a problem of market-making. 4th International Conference on Coexistence between Genetically Modified and non-GM based Agricultural Supply Chains. Melbourne, Australia, November 10-12.

Phillips, P. W. B. 2009. Democracy, governance and public engagement: A critical assessment. Genome Alberta and Genome British Columbia Workshop, Publics and Emerging Technologies: Cultures,
Contexts, and Challenges. October 31.

Phillips, P. 2009. Innovation strategies: Lessons from theory and practice. Presentation to SaskInc Conference, Sept. 14.

Phillips, P. 2009. Innovation Analysis Panel. Panel Member, CAIRN meeting, Banff, December 6.

Phillips, P. 2009. Regulatory Analysis Panel. Panel Member, CAIRN meeting, Banff, December 6.

Phillips, P. 2009. Coordination and Commercialization Panel. Panel Member, CAIRN meeting, Banff, December 7.

Phillips, P. 2009. Interviewed for: “Saskatoon: from food to pharma” Financial Post. December 9.

Phillips, P. 2009. Agri-Food Innovation and Biotechnology. Presentation to Provincial DMs Council, Regina, December 10.

Ritchie, R.J. and K.C. Culver. (Forthcoming in 2011).  Open Innovation in France: a case study of an emerging eco-innovation cluster, In H. Rahman & I. Ramos (eds.) Cases on SMEs and Open Innovation: Applications and Investigations, PA, USA IGI-Global. 2011.

Smyth, SJ. 2010. The Economic and Environmental Impacts of GM Canola. Presentation to the Food and Agriculture Organization. Rome, Italy. September 13.

Smyth SJ. 2010. Economic and Regulatory Barriers to Biofuel Development in Canada: Results of the first round of an expert Delphi survey. Presentation to The Canada-EU trade Environment Technology Exchange (TETE). Saskatoon, SK. September 30.

Smyth, SJ. 2010. The Economic and Environmental Impacts of GM Canola. Presentation at the GrowCanada Conference. Ottawa, ON. December 1-2.

Smyth, S., A. B. Endres, T. Redick and D. Kershen. 2010. Innovation and Liability in Biotechnology: Transnational and Comparative Perspectives. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.

Smyth, S. J., P. W. B. Phillips and W. A. Kerr. 2010. The Incompatibility of Science and Trade at the International Level. Presentation at the 14th ICABR Conference, Ravello, Italy, June 16-18.

Smyth, Stuart, Peter W.B. Phillips & William A. Kerr. ‘Global Governance Quandaries Regarding Transformative Technologies for Bioproducts, Crops, and Foods’. Journal of World Trade 43, no. 6 (2009): 1299-1323.