Recent calls for increased public involvement in the formulation of science and technology policy have resulted in a number of consultation initiatives. One such initiative is the concensus conference, which involves lay people in the assessment of socially sensitive topics. This book draws together the pioneering experiences of the Danish, Dutch and British organizers of concensus conferences. The contributors place these conferences in their historical and cultural perspective, and explore their roles in technology assessment. The book also presents a scheme, developed at a multinational two-day workshop in London in 1995, for producing comparable data for the evaluation of concensus conferences. The perspectives contained in this volume should smooth the way for future consultations of this type.