Making nanotechnology developments sustainable. A role for technology assessment?

Nanotechnology is one of the most prominent emerging technologies. It is heralded as a key technology for the 21st century that will contribute to economic prosperity and sustainable development by a broad alliance of policy-makers, scientists and industry representatives. But despite these strong claims, it remains still under question, whether nanotechnology can be made sustainable and how its potential can be assessed and realised. After a brief overview of the interdependences between technology development, innovation and sustainable development, the paper outlines some developments in nanotechnology that are considered as being relevant with regard to sustainability. Drawing from experiences in technology assessment and life cycle analysis, we will discuss research tasks and methodological challenges for a ‘sustainability assessment’ of nanotechnologies and propose a reflexive approach.