Today, more and more people are talking about the ethical implications of science and technology, but where do we go for reliable advice? One of the most disturbing developments of recent years has been the rise in unreliable propoganda - whether it is private industry with vested interests, environmental organisations with agendas of their own, or Governments. We hear about most of these issues through the news media ... but repeatedly we have seen how the need for good press copy and a catchy headline has overriden society's need for balanced reporting.

So whose word can we trust when it comes to questions of the technology, the environment, safety and human concerns?

We believe the Christian churches have a unique role to play amidst the controversy. The Society, Religion and Technology Project was begun by the Church of Scotland in 1970, to address wider issues being raised by modern technology. Its concern was not only that the church should be well informed, but to stimulate balanced debate in the public at large and amongst those working within technology itself. On all the many issues it has examined, the SRT Project has sought to examine fairly and honestly, with no vested interests. Its reports and publications seek to present such a balance. Over the years our experience leads us to believe that there is no substitute for listening to all sides of the question, preferably round the same table. There are usually no easy answers, but with the insights of Christian ethics, SRT has often thrown new and relevant light on difficult and complex issues.

In May 1999 the SRT Project was Awarded the Templeton Prize for a UK institution, in recognition of its pioneering work at the interface of ethics and technology.

The vision of the SRT Project

Under a series of professional directors with a proven record in a field of science, technology or sociology, the SRT Project has developed a reputation for informed and perceptive analysis of current technology. Its vision is :

To foster an informed understanding in society of the issues which confront it as a result of current and future technologies, and to inform the churches of key developments
To provide opportunities for technologists to reflect on the ethical implications of their work,
To respond with considered judgement to Government bodies on technological issues
To contribute actively to European and international debates on these issues.

For more about the SRT Project see our paper A Unique Experiment.
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SRT's Work over 35 Years

Our booklet A Unique Experiment explains the idea behind the Project and a little of its work. SRT's biography Technology at the Crossroads, written by Ron Ferguson, traces the fascinating history of the SRT Project over 25 years, against a backcloth of the issues it has sought to address since its visionary inception. In chronological order, our main studies have included : Techxrds

North Sea oil and gas exploration - SRT's first ground-breaking study

Nuclear Energy,

Intermediate technology for the developing world, * **

Land use in Scotland, *

Ethics of defence, *

Technology and the future of work, *

Information Technology

Climate Change,

Sustainable Development,

Energy Policy

Genetic engineering in Non-human Species

Cloning

Xenotransplantation

Patenting Living Material

BSE/CJD

Genetically Modified Food

Risk Issues

And of course we have a long standing interest in issues of God and Science

* see SRT Publications List
** For more about this subject see the home page of the UK registered charity Intermediate Technology set up by E.F.Schumacher, author of "Small is Beautiful"

SRT's Expert Working Groups

One of the features of our work is to set up inter-disciplinary expert working groups on issues of current importance. These provide a unique opportunity for scientists and technologists to interact with experts in ethics, theology, sociology, and other relevant subjects, which they would not normally have chance to do. Meeting over the course of a year or more, we discuss and hammer out issues, aiming to come to a balanced and well informed judgement. We believe the very process of interaction is itself a valuable contribution to bridging the gulf between disciplines. Many scientists and technologists are aware and concerned about the ethical dimension to their work, but often feel they lack the skills in assessing them. SRT's working groups and other meetings give them the rare opportunity of thinking out issues with experts in the wider fields. Engen

The biggest such project in recent years has been our ground-breaking Working Group Study on the Ethical of Genetic Engineering in Non-human Life Forms. Begun in late 1993, this has brought together leading figures in animal and plant genetics in Scotland with specialists in ethics, theology, sociology, risk, animal welfare, and public perception. This culminated in the publication by Earthscan Publications in November 1998 of the book Engineering Genesis, which has become regarded by proponents and opponents of GM technology as one of the most balanced and informative studies in the field.

SRT has worked closely with the Church and Nation Committee of the Church of Scotland on topical issues - for example on the Impact of Economic Activity on Scotland's Environment (1994), the Internet and Pornography (1996), and the BSE/CJD Crisis (1997). For the 1998, General Assembly we examined the various environmental issues surrounding opencast coal mining in Scotland, and the Church and Nation Committee also reported on car use in congregations. In 1999, attention focused on land use and on the current crisis over future of agriculture in Scotland, looking both at an economic and political aspects and at the personal and pastoral level. In 2001-2 it has worked with it on reports on the aftermath of the Foot and Mouth Outbreak and on the disposal of nuclear submarines.

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Royal Commendation for SRT Project's Work

In her speech opening the 2002 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in May, the Queen gave special mention of the work of the Society Religion and Technology Project. Her Majesty said :
The Church recognises that it cannot stand still and continues to make valuable contributions to the fastest-changing spheres of national life. In debates on the implications of science and technology it has developed a particular expertise, most recently making high profile contributions on ethical issues such as genetic engineering.

SRT Publications

See the SRT Publications List for an extensive range of books, reports, short articles and videos available from our office. If your browser does not support frames, click here for a Non-frames version

SRT Bulletin

The SRT Bulletin is a free quarterly newsletter, giving comment on current issues, news items, forthcoming events and summaries of SRT recent work. It usually comes out three times a year usually in January, May, and October, and sometimes a fourth also. For an on-line copy of the latest edition, click on Latest SRT Newsletter.

SRT On-line Information Sheets SRT produces A4 Information Sheets on a wide range of issues, aimed at presenting some of the key aspects of current ethical and social issues in technology in simple terms for the non-expert. Subjects include BSE, Car Use and the Environment, Church Energy Conservation Scheme, Land Use in Scotland, SRT Environmental Work, Genetic Engineering in Animals, Genetically Modified Food, Environmental Risks of GM Crops, Patenting, What is Genetic Engineering, Cloning for Therapeutic Purposes, Human Cloning, Aminal Cloning.

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The SRT Team
Alan Whitson (admin), Donald Bruce (Director), Eleanor Todd (Assistant Director)

SRT's Director

The Director of the SRT Project since 1992 is Dr Donald Bruce. He has a BSc and PhD in chemistry from Leicester University, a diploma in theology from Oxford University (1992) and a PhD in theology from Edinburgh University (2003). He worked for 15 years in nuclear energy research and safety and risk assessment, variously at BNFL Sellafield, UKAEA Harwell and HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, the latter on the safety case of the Sizewell B PWR and on severe accident risk analysis. He also worked on energy policy for the Chief Scientist's Group of the then UK Department of Energy.

He has been a member of the bioethics working group of the Conference of European Churches since 1993. He is a member of the Scottish Science Advisory Committee, and the Advisory Group on Public Issues of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. He is an official observer to the International Bioethics Committee of UNESCO and the Global Summit of National Bioethics Committees. He is also a member of the International Association of Bioethics, the European Society for Agriculture and Food Ethics, the Society for Risk Analysis, the Society for Philosophy and Technology, Christians in Science and the Science Religion Forum. He is also a member of the Church of Scotland's Apologetics Commitee, the Church and Nation Committee, and the Human Genetics Group of its Board of Social Responsibility.

He and SRT's Assistant Director represent the Church of Scotland on the Environmental Issues Network of the UK churches. He is a director of the John Ray Initiative for promoting environmental education and awareness in churches. He is a member of the UK steering committee of the Eco-Congregation Programme, and is co-chair of the steering committee of Eco-Congregation Scotland.

He and his wife Ann live in the centre of Edinburgh, and they are joint editors of SRT's book Engineering Genesis on the ethics of genetic engineering in non-human species. When time allows, he enjoys mountaineering, cross-country skiing, photography, music and drama.

Assistant SRT Director

On 13 June 2002 SRT appointed its first Assistant Director. This exciting development in SRT's 32 year history reflected the enormous increase in the opportunities which have opened up for the Project in the past few years. The technology issues which SRT was set up to address in 1970 have emerged as mainstream questions for society. Our decision to focus on GM issues led to the publication of 'Engineering Genesis' in 1998 and this, together with SRT's strategic work on cloning, propelled the Project into the forefront of national and international debate on biotechnology. This has led to unparalleled activity in the life of SRT and to opportunities, often at the very highest levels, that for the past 2 years have exceeded the limits of SRT's human resources. The Board of National Mission agreed to create a new 3 year post of Assistant Director, focusing especially on sustainable development and environmental issues. We were delighted at the affirmation of the strategic importance of SRT's mission for the Church of Scotland which this post represents. The post is now extended until 31 March 2006, with a combination of funding from the Church of Scotland the SRT Trust and the Scottish Executive. We will be actively seeking funding from these and other sources to continue this vital work into the future.

Victoria Beale was the first Assistant Director and made great strides forward with the Eco-Congregation programme for practical action in the Scottish churches, in collaboration with Margaret Warnock who works with our partner organisations Keep Scotland Beautiful. On 12 January 2005 Eleanor Todd eleanor1.jpg - 51278 Bytes took over as Assistant Director. Eleanor has an MA and an MPhil in history from the University of Cambridge, was research and development officer for the Church of Scotland's Assembly Council and brings an active background in church environmental work.

The Assistant Director has also enabled the SRT Project to renew its work on sustainable development, climate change and energy policy. Eleanor represents the Church of Scotland on the Scottish Sustainable Development Forum, Future Scotland, and Environmental Issues Network of the UK churches and is a member of the enabling team of the European Christian Environmental Network, in her capacity as webmaster. Both Victoria and Eleanor have done much to help in the wider dissemination of SRT's work in the churches, developing its ecumenical role and taking froward the SRT Associates Programme.

SRT Administrator

The SRT staff team is completed by our part-time Administrator, the Revd. Alan Whitson, who is also a non-stipendiary minister in the Methodist Church in Edinburgh, after a previous career in computing - which at times is a very useful asset!

SRT Committee

After being for its whole existence part of the Church of Scotland's Board of National Mission or its predecessor the Home Board, since 1 June 2005 SRT now comes under the new Church and Society Council, through whom it is responsible to the General Assembly. The Director is supported by an Advisory Committee of specialists in technology, environment, theology, social sciences and other relevant disciplines.

Telling the World

SRT and Government

It also has made many submissions to Parliamentary and Government committees, on the future of science and technology, the regulation of biotechnology, genetically modifed food, the coal industry, nuclear power, the UK Sustainable Development Strategy, animal breeding technologies, human cloning to the Human Genetics Advisory Commission and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, on animal cloning to the Farm Animal Welfare Council , Human Genetics and Xenotransplantation. For copies of these submissions, see the SRT Publications List. We have been in discussion with the UK Science Minister over how to raise the level of informed public debate on the ethics of biotechnology.

SRT Director Dr Donald Bruce was a member of the first Scottish Science Advisory Committee from 2002-04. He brought to the committee concern to see that ethical and social issues are to the fore as forward strategies for science and technology in Scotland are planned and reviewed. He was a member of the Science and Society working group which will be examining attitudes to science and the role of civil society in science policy.

He was also a member of the advisory committee on public issues of the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). He was invited to present a paper at Biovision 2001 in Lyon entitled Can we Find a Shared Vision for Biotechnology?, proposing the concept of biotechnology as a social contract, suggesting ways to bridge the gap between biotechnology and the public and examining the likely societal criteria for the acceptance or rejection of new biotechnology applications. SRT has subsequently presented this concept to the BBSRC, Agriculture and Environmental Biotechnology Commission, the European Society for Agriculture and Food Ethics and the European Federation on Biotechnology.

Dr Bruce is a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Nanotechnology and the Ethical Board of the Nano2Life European Network of Excellence on NanoBiotechnology under the EC 6Th Framework Programme for research, and is a member of the EC NanoBioRaise programme, due to begin in authumn 2005.

SRT and the Science and Society Debate

Since 1993 SRT has run annual public events on a wide range of technology issues at the Edinburgh International Science Festival. SRT was one of the first to draw attention to the gulf between biotechnology and the public, in its Engineering Genesis study, and is much concerned to promote greater dialogue and participation.

SRT is also working with the New Economics Foundation in developing new tools for to help democratic participation in bioethical issues, DEMOCS (Deliberative Meetings Organised by Citizens), in the form of a card game for ordinary people, whose results can be fed into national consultations. SRT was invited to produce a version of this game on GM food and crops issues as part of the GM Nation public debate in the summer of 2003, The DEMOCS Project - Playing Games to Improve Democracy. It was also asked to provide the independent scientific and ethical input for a series of focus groups for low income families and students on GM food issues, run by Scottish Civic Forum for the Food Standards Agency.

SRT and Europe

The European dimension of SRT's work is very important. It has participated in working groups on bioethics and environmental issues of the Church and Society Commission of the Conference of European Churches (CEC), (formerly the European Ecumenical Commission for Church and Society). The environment group made important submissions to the European Commission on Sustainable Development Issues, in which SRT played a leading role on energy policy issues.

SRT has drafted reports and discussion papers for the CEC bioethics group on gene patenting, cloning, embryonic stem cells, stem cell patents, and genetically modified food. This working group has observer status at the Committee on Bioethics of the Council of Europe and has presented views from the churches on many apsects of the Council of Europe's Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine. It has made submissions to the European Commission on cloning and stem cells, and stem cell and gene patents, and to the European Parliament working group on human genetics. It had an extensive engagement with the European Parliament and Commission on the controversial question of the Patenting of Living Organisms during the debate on the EU directive on biotechnology patenting in the mid-1990's. It was invited to present the churches' views to MEP's Patenting Biological Material - A Case of Injustice?.

SRT and the Media

SRT is in constant demand for comment and informations by the news media, and this website has evidently become a valuable source of information for journalists and TV and radio researchers. The worldwide attention on cloning plunged SRT into the international media circus, because of the Project was already engaged in ethical discussions with Ian Wilmut and staff at the Roslin Institute. Since then, this has led to appearances on BBC TV's Newsnight and Heart of the Matter, ITV's Jonathan Dimbelby Programme, Scottish TV's Inquisition, Channel 4 News, as well as German, Dutch, Canadian and US TV programmes, and radio debates such as Radio 4's Moral Maze and Radio Scotland's Eye to Eye, and numerous national radio and TV news interviews and newspaper articles, local radio pieces, and contributions to BBC's On-line website and Talking Point. Dr Bruce has debated human cloning at the Oxford Union, genetic engineering at the Cambridge Union, and stem cells at the Durham University Union. At the British Association for the Advancement of Science he has spoken on patenting, the place of science in society, the role of the church in science, and whether to enhance humans.

SRT and the Wider World

As well as speaking extensively in Scotland and the UK, SRT frequently takes part in international discussion of these issues. The Director has been an invited speaker on cloning in many national and international settings, including the Oxford Union, Dubai, the 1998 World Congress on Bioethics, EXPO 2000, the 2001 European Commission Stem Cell conference, and the United Nations, and has spoken on bioethics issues at conferences in Canada, Denmark, Dubai, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden and the USA. He was an invited speaker at an 2000 OECD symposium on social science and public policy in Bruges and on bioethics at the 2001 Bio-Vision Congress in Lyon. He was one of three UK representatives at a Global Summit of National Bioethics Committees in Japan in 1998 and was an observer to the London summit in 2000, and has been an official observer to the UNESCO International Bioethics Committee since 1999, and was an observer to the Committee on Bioethics of the Council of Europe in 2002 and 2005. He has spoken on the ethics of nanotechnology to the Royal Institution in London, in at international conferences in Germany, France and Edinburgh.

The Project has links with a number of North American instiutions including the Hastings Center for Bioethics and has engaged with various parts of the US Administration on GM crops issues. Dr Bruce was the European representative in a series of ethical discussions on genetic modification with the US biotechnology industry at the University of Pennsylvania, and at the US National Academy of Sciences, and a member of the Board of Advisors for Time Magazine on genetics issues (2002). In Canada, he was invited to address the Canadian Human Genome Project in 2004 on the role of religion as a voice on genetics issues and is currently part of a multi-faith project on the responses of the world's religions to GM foods at the University of Victoria, British Columbia. SRT was invited by the First Minister of the Scottish Parliament, Jack McConnell, to represent the churches and development agencies at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesberg in August 2002, as part of a delegation from sectors of Scottish civil society.

Scifest

SRT at the Edinburgh International Science Festival

Each April, SRT plays a signficant role in the world's largest science festival, putting on events focusing on ethical issues in science. SRT 's Science Festival Events have included debates on environment, gene patenting, internet use and abuse, Chernobyl 10 years after, genetic engineering in animals and food, risk and precaution, cloning and stem cells, nature and human intervention, technology and time, climate change, sustainable agriculture and food production, the uses of the human genome, and the search for human perfection. In April 2004 Noranne Ellis from Scottish Natural Heritage examined the impact of climate change on Scotland's unique biodiversity. In 2003 we featured Nobel Prize winner Sir John Sulston, on the use and ownership of the human genome, and a debate on genetics and human perfection.

A special feature has been our SRT lectures on Science and Faith, with top speakers addressing this perennial area of debate, in which SRT promotes on behalf of the Church of Scotland, including such topics as Life on Mars, How we know what we know, and God and evolution.

SRT's Location in Edinburgh

John Knox House

From 1991-2003 the SRT Project office was located in the historic John Knox House in the very heart of Edinburgh's Royal Mile. This web page originally came from a fifteenth century garret under the eaves where the church looks at the technology of the 21st.century, following in the steps of the educational innovations begun by Scotland's great reformer, John Knox (1505-72). The offices are located (see map) in part of the Netherbow Centre which is the Church of Scotland's Arts Centre and home of the Scottish Storytelling Centre and much else in the creative arts.

Owing to extensive rebuilding work at the Netherbow, the SRT Project had to relocate from October 2003 to July 2005 to temporary premises of the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) on The King's Buildings science campus of Edinburgh University. In 2005 a decision was made by the Church of Scotland Council of Assembly to move the SRT Project back in July 2005 into the central administrative offices of the church as part of a reorganisation of the church's structures.

Our address is now:
Society, Religion and Technology Project
Church of Scotland
121 George Street,
Edinburgh EH2 4YN,
Scotland.
Tel : +44 131-240 2250
Fax : +44 131-240 2239
Email : srtp@srtp.org.uk Back to Contents

SRT's Links to the Wider World

SRT has links to many secular and church organisations in its fields of work. We have a selection of useful links to sites covering ethics, environment, genetic engineering, cloning, science and faith, as well as church and Christian organisations.

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SRT and the Churches

UK Churches

SRT's primary work is one of mission, reaching out to the world of science and technology as a Christian voice on leading edge issues, and on behalf of Scotland's national church. But we also have an important role within the churches, in helping the wider Christian community come to grips with these issues. The SRT Project is based in the Church of Scotland and funded primarily by it. It works closely with the other committees of the church and has links with local congregations across Scotland.

SRT has always had a strong ecumenical emphasis, and we seek to run it on an ecumenical basis. We enjoy links and warm collaboration with many other churches and individuals, not only in Scotland, but the whole UK. We greatly appreciate these links. We are especially grateful for the support of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the United Free Church and United Reformed Church. We work closely with Action of Churches Together in Scotland.

Because the SRT Project has no counterpart elsewhere in the UK, we see it as a unique resource for the whole church, of whatever denomination. It took the lead in the UK churches on issues like cloning and genetically modified food, through its working group study, and has since shared its findings with many denominations including the Church of England, Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, Scottish Congregational, Presbyterian Church of Ireland, Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS), Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI). SRT is involved with a studies on genetic engineering issues with the Christendom Trust and the Evangelical Alliance. It also works at the level of local congregations, as time allows, in speaking on current issues, from the tiny church of Tweedsmuir deep in the Scottish Borders up to Buchan in the north-east.

SRT is part of numerous UK church networks including the Environmental Issues Network of CTBI. It operates the Eco-Congregation programme in Scotland, in conjunction with the environmental charity EnCams. promoting environmental care at a cogregational level. In the religious education sphere, we have also led a variety of schools discussions in Scotland on God and Science questions. See SRT's church environment links for these and other links.

SRT's European Church Work

SRT is especially actively involved with the Church and Society Commission of the Conference of European Churches (CEC), working with churches from across Europe on bioethics and the environment. For more, see SRT and CEC Working Groups. SRT was a founder member of the European Christian Environmental Network, and SRT's Assistant Director acts as its webmaster.

SRT's International Church Work

SRT also has many links with churches and denominations not only in the rest of Europe but further afield to the USA, Canada and Australasia. It has worked closely with the World Council of Churches since the 1970's and in recent years has participated in its working groups on climate change and on biotechnology. In August 2004, Dr Bruce acted as a consultant to the General Council of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches at its 7-yearly meeting in Accra, Ghana.

SRT and Europe

SRT Reports to Church of Scotland General Assembly

Each year the SRT Project writes a report to the Church of Scotland General Assembly, summarising its work over the past year, and occasionally bringing a major issue to the attention of the Assembly. Click here for SRT's Current Report We have on line several of SRT's Reports to Previous General Assemblies on issues including cloning, gene patenting, genetically modified food, and the environment.

SRT's Links to the Churches

We have a selection of useful links to sites for many churches, and also to related organisations in SRT's fields of work.

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How to find More about the SRT Project

Contact the SRT Project at :

Society, Religion and Technology Project
Church of Scotland
121 George Street,
Edinburgh EH2 4YN,
Scotland.
Tel : +44 131-240 2250, Fax : +44 131-240 2239 Email : srtp@srtp.org.uk

Email us at srtp@srtp.org.uk

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This page was last updated on 12 September 2006.