Ethics and safety charter

• The festival is about culture and science. Nothing there is presented as a treatment; health questions belong to professionals.
• The programme rests on science and history. Magical thinking, astrology, New Age and preaching stay outside, for everyone alike.
• Every scientific claim states its source and its level of evidence.

• The public observes: whatever is made stays on the demonstration tables, without being sold or given to the public.
• Any research involving the human body would first go through an official ethics committee, under the country’s law and the Declaration of Helsinki.
• The titles of health professionals are checked in the official register of their country, then displayed.
• A safety plan is written with the venue: first aid on site, nearest hospital, civil liability insurance.
• An enclosed site, with a controlled entrance.
• Professional security guards, licensed under the country’s law and budgeted for each edition: for example 2 guards, day and night, for the 35-person Test gathering.
• A designated security lead for each edition.
• Contact established with local authorities and emergency services before opening.
• If an edition grows, a reinforced set-up, declared to the authorities under the country’s rules.

• Biosafety level 1 only (BSL-1): organisms with no known danger to healthy people.
• No genetically modified organisms and no pathogenic micro-organisms.
• No samples taken from the public.
• Organoids and organs-on-chips: only brought by a certified laboratory, under its responsibility.
• Compliant equipment, and food-hygiene rules followed at the food stands.

So that the programme depends on no funder, no brand and no institution, the festival sets itself these rules:

• No partner, public or private, controls the programme.
• Amateurs and institutions share the same stage, with the same speaking time.
• The methods and sources of everything shown to the public are open.
• These rules are set out in the festival charter and apply to every edition.
• Every speaker declares their interests: who pays them, what they sell, their ties to a brand, a laboratory, a religion or a party.
• An independent ethics council will be formed: 3 to 5 people with no financial tie to the project, chosen on public criteria, for a limited term. Its veto covers ethics and safety: claims, protocols, conflicts of interest. Artistic direction and the programme belong to the project director, under the founder’s responsibility.

The festival applies the host country’s laws on gatherings, food, cosmetics and health products.

Before launch, a lawyer in the country reviews the project: health claims, sale of ingredients, public events and insurance. This review is in the budget.