Together with 12 other science centres throughout Europe, the Copernicus Science Centre is involved in the Deliberative Citizens' Debates (DeCiDe) Project.

The objective of the project is to raise awareness of certain modern capabilities of human-related science, their potential impact on individuals and societies, and to discuss ethical the problems they raise. A "game" of structured debate is meant to encourage ordinary citizens to take part in the decision-making process, in developing legal rules to regulate how issues of this sort should be resolved.

The specific topics addressed in the game are:

• stem cell research
• genetic testing of human embryos ("children on demand")
• xeno-transplantation (organ transplants from animals)  
• nanotechnology
• brain research
• legal and ethical issues related to AIDS
  

Players jointly develop a recommendation for how they feel the given field of research should be regulated. The results of such meetings give us a chance to assess the similarities and differences in how ethical problems posed by the advancement of science are perceived across different European societies. Together with 12 other European centres, the Copernicus Science Centre was invited to hold six debates on the above topics from October 2005 to March 2006. Aside from Poland, debates were also held in Austria, Belgium, Estonia, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Slovenia, the United Kingdom and Italy.

The game can also be organized by other institutions and private individuals from other countries – all necessary materials are available at no cost on the project's website: www.playdecide.org.

The DeCiDe project is funded by the European Union, and is led by a consortium including the European Network of Science Centres and Museums (ESCITE) plus the @Bristol (UK), La Cité des Science et de l’Industrie (France), Città della Scienza (Italy) and Heureka (Finland) science centres.