Getrennt durch die Zukunft? Österreichische Stakeholder(innen) beurteilen „Neue Pflanzenzüchtungsverfahren“

This article presents the results of an ethical Delphi among 19 Austrian
stakeholders on the topic of “New Plant Breeding Techniques”. Among
the topic’s opponents, a broad consensus was shown on core goals
(e. g., the yield security of Austrian agriculture in view of the climate
crisis through the use of regionally adapted plant varieties, and a more
environmentally friendly agriculture deserving of the description “rural”).
Dissent was also evident, especially concerning these questions: to what
extent can the new methods contribute to the achievement of these
objec tives? Is an entirely different form of agriculture needed? The study
developed desirable future scenarios from both the opponents’ and
propo nents’ points of view and discussed them with regard to potential
“compensatory measures”: if these techniques are (not) promoted,
which points of criticism in particular should be addressed to increase
the respective opponents’ acceptance of such a decision?