During Camp Pixelache 2014 in June, one of the thematics explored in a 2-day scenario thinking workshop/discussion was Bio-Commons, hosted by Finnish Society of Bioart, as part of the Synenergene EU programme.
Coordinating collaborator Rüdiger Trojok has since compiled and published a white paper which summarizes the ambition of the days to identify the requirements and conditions of Open Source and Citizen Science concepts to realize Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in the Life Sciences.
As Trojok prefaces, "In this whitepaper the results of the scenario thinking workshop and brainstorm discussions on the topic of the Bio Commons are presented. As a way to realize these concepts, a hypothetical licensing model termed Bio Commons (in analogy to the Creative Commons) was discussed. The ideas were worked out by participants with a professional background ranging from life sciences, engineering and arts to philosophy and law. Some of them associate themselves with the European DIYbio scene. Although the participants were mostly professionals in one or the other subject, no single person was an expert on all aspects of the Bio Commons topic due to its transdisciplinary character. Therefore, participants are further simply referred to as ‘citizens’. Citizens taking part in the discussion came from a broad range of countries from across Europe and south east Asia. The report does not reflect any personal opinion unless otherwise stated, but serves as a summary of various ideas and concepts that were discussed."
The project & the white-paper development can followed on GitHub.