Difference between revisions of "Human Practices"

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         Using synthetic biology to address real-world problems requires thoughtful engagement with the world. In iGEM, we call this engagement <b>Human Practices</b>. We ask every team to think deeply and creatively about whether their project is <b>responsible</b> and <b>good for the world</b>.
 
         Using synthetic biology to address real-world problems requires thoughtful engagement with the world. In iGEM, we call this engagement <b>Human Practices</b>. We ask every team to think deeply and creatively about whether their project is <b>responsible</b> and <b>good for the world</b>.
 
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        <p> "Human Practices is the study of how your work affects the world, and how the world affects your work."
 
            — Peter Carr, Director of Judging</p>
 
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         Human Practices is not any specific activity or set of activities. While the most successful iGEM teams will engage with Human Practices issues throughout their project lifecycle, this engagement can take many shapes, reflecting the diverse contexts and intentions of iGEM projects.
 
         Human Practices is not any specific activity or set of activities. While the most successful iGEM teams will engage with Human Practices issues throughout their project lifecycle, this engagement can take many shapes, reflecting the diverse contexts and intentions of iGEM projects.
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<p class="center_content"><strong>Video:</strong> Introduction to Human Practices</p>
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            — Peter Carr, Director of Judging</p>
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    <p>Human Practices is about how your work affects the world and how the world affects your work.</p>
 
 
    <p>Hi, I'm Megan Palmer. I'm the chair of iGEM's Human Practices committee. This video is to get you oriented to what human practices means at iGEM. It covers the why, what and how of human practices. Why is Human Practices an important part of iGEM? What do we expect from teams? And how can you get started? This video itself is just to get you started.</p>
 
 
    <p>You can find much more information on the iGEM Human Practices Hub and if you have questions or ideas about Human Practices, feel free to email me and the rest of the committee at executivehp@igem.org </p>
 
 
    <p>So let's get started.</p>
 
 
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    <p>First, why is Human Practices an important part of iGEM?</p>
 
 
    <p>Human Practices is about how your work affects the world and how the world affects your work.</p>
 
 
    <p>What I love about iGEM is that teams don't just do great technical work in the lab.</p>
 
 
    <p>Through their human practices efforts iGEM teams engage with the world their projects exist within; exploring aspects of their project that involve issues such as ethics, sustainability, social justice, safety security and more.<br>
 
 
    <p>These issues are complex and often don’t have simple answers.<br>
 
 
    <p>This means teams engage with the communities who might be impacted by their work; to invite them to help shape the course of research. We at iGEM believe that these societal considerations should be upfront and integrated with the design and execution of synthetic biology projects, which is part of being a good engineer and designing a thoughtful biological engineering project.</p>
 
 
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    <p>This leads us to our next question. What do we expect from teams?</p>
 
 
    <p>As in other parts of iGEM, we expect excellent and inspiring work on topics in Human Practices, we also expect and challenge you to come up with new and creative approaches that we may not have thought of before.</p>
 
 
    <p>To get an idea of what we might like to see, you should review the medal criteria and the award descriptions on the iGEM website. To qualify for a silver medal, you must convince us that you have thought creatively and carefully about whether your project is safe, responsible and good for the world.</p>
 
 
    <p>One way to qualify for a Gold Medal is to expand on this work and show us how you have taken lessons from engaging with Human Practices issues and reflected them in the design and execution of your project. We award a special prize for Best Integrated Human Practices to recognize excellence in this Gold Medal work. We also award a special prize for the Best Education and Public Engagement efforts for outstanding work that goes above and beyond making changes in the project design and execution.</p>
 
 
    <p>You can read more about these awards and criteria on the Human Practices Hub.</p>
 
 
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    <p>So last, how can you get started?</p>
 
    <p>The first thing you can do is to check the tips for teams that we have listed on the Human Practices Hub. These are simple things to keep in mind, like finding mentors and thinking about how you can build on previous work and help others to adapt your approach.  The second thing you can do is check out the resources on the Human Practices Hub. These include tools that have been specifically developed to help iGEM teams think about their Human Practices work and links to people and organisations you can contact to learn more. The third thing you can do is look at what other teams have done in the past. For example, teams have conducted analyses of the environmental impact of their project, written guides on ownership and intellectual property, facilitated biosafety and biosecurity investigations, created museum exhibits and even done street theatre. Through this work teams have engaged with diverse communities to shape the practice of synthetic biology across local and global scales. They have consulted and shared their experiences with citizens and policy makers in their own cities and countries as well as international forums such as the United Nations.</p>
 
 
    <p>We’ve highlighted a few examples on the Human Practices Hub that impressed us but you can find many more inspiring examples on previous years’ teams’ iGEM wiki pages. Again, we'd love to see you try something that has never been done before.</p>
 
 
    <p>Finally, if you have any questions or ideas about Human Practices that you'd like to share, please reach out to us. My favourite part of working with iGEM is being inspired by your visions of synthetic biology as a Human Practice. We wish you the best of luck with your projects.</p>
 
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                If you have questions or suggestions please check out the <a href="https://2021.igem.org/Human_Practices/FAQ">FAQ</a> or email us at <i>humanpractices [AT] igem [DOT] org</i>
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<p>If you have questions or suggestions please check out the <a href="https://2021.igem.org/Human_Practices/FAQ">FAQ</a> or email us at <i>humanpractices [AT] igem [DOT] org</i>
 
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                 We love hearing from teams as they explore the Human Practices issues that arise during their iGEM season. Best of luck with your projects!
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                 We love hearing from teams as they explore the Human Practices issues that arise during their iGEM season. Best of luck with your projects!</div>
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Latest revision as of 14:36, 3 June 2021

Human Practices Hub

Using synthetic biology to address real-world problems requires thoughtful engagement with the world. In iGEM, we call this engagement Human Practices. We ask every team to think deeply and creatively about whether their project is responsible and good for the world.

Human Practices is not any specific activity or set of activities. While the most successful iGEM teams will engage with Human Practices issues throughout their project lifecycle, this engagement can take many shapes, reflecting the diverse contexts and intentions of iGEM projects.

Video: Introduction to Human Practices

"Human Practices is the study of how your work affects the world, and how the world affects your work." — Peter Carr, Director of Judging

Doing Human Practices During A Global Pandemic

The ongoing public health crisis caused by COVID-19 may make Human Practices more challenging this year. For example, teams will need to cautiously plan any in-person interactions with people that might be affected by their projects. This is particularly true when teams are planning to work with vulnerable populations, including those susceptible to this disease, such as people over 60 years old, immunocompromised populations, and those with underlying medical conditions (such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer).

All teams must comply with local social distancing or infectious diseases control measures when designing and performing Human Practices. The Safety and Security Committee and Human Practices Committee, along with iGEM Headquarters, have created a page with additional guidelines on your work in the context of COVID-19: https://2021.igem.org/Safety/Coronavirus. You may also wish to read the iGEM Blog post on Doing Human Practices During A Global Pandemic.

How to do Human Practices

Learn about Human Practices, why it's important for your iGEM's project success, and see tips for teams.

Frequently Asked Questions

See answers to questions like "How can my team integrate Human Practices into our Foundational Advance project?"

Resources

Getting started? These resources can help you understand methods for responsible research, public engagement, and much more.

Exemplary Projects

Explore the inspiring and impactful Human Practices work done by past iGEM teams.

Beyond the Competition

How did Human Practices become part of iGEM? What does it look like in the real world?

Committee

Questions? Suggestions? The Human Practices committee is here to help!

Questions?

If you have questions or suggestions please check out the FAQ or email us at humanpractices [AT] igem [DOT] org

We love hearing from teams as they explore the Human Practices issues that arise during their iGEM season. Best of luck with your projects!