Engaging publics in imagining the future of engineered living materials

Engineered living materials (ELMs) are technologies that respond to environmental cues and are able to remodel, self-organize, and self heal. We conducted two workshops with a wide range of stakeholders and identified key themes in open discussion. Our approach enabled participants to engage with dimensions of technologies normally reserved for engineers, scientists, or policy makers and should be used in further public engagement in ELMs as well as other emerging technologies.