A group of people that have met through the ExtroBritannia events (http://extrobritannia.blogspot.com/) have come together to relaunch the British Transhumanist Association. Due to legal restrictions on the use of the word "British" in registering a not-for-profit company, the relaunched organisation will be known as the UK Transhumanist Association. UKTA was registered on the 26th of June 2004 and its members are presently busy organising resources to begin a programme of activities.
Our aim is to inject a healthy dose of transhumanist* memes into all levels of British society through a mix of lobbying, outreach/education, and networking.
*we have adopted the Transhumanist Declaration as our definition of "transhumanism": http://www.transhuma...TA/declaration/
Lobbying
Decisions in areas such as stem cells research, biotechnology and nanotechnology are too important to a be left to the (unaided)
politicians. There is no shortage of pressure groups that have both a technophobic agenda and the ear of politicians sitting on crucial
parliamentary committees. We aim to provide an alternative and positive approach with targeted position statements delivered where they are likely to have the most impact, i.e. the government and civil society institutions where those matters are discussed and decisions are taken.
Outreach / education
Increasingly, the prospect of a "posthuman future" is debated in the media. However, there is an abundance of misconceptions regarding the use of technology for the enhancement of the human condition, as seen in the confusion generated by the ongoing cloning debate. We aim to provide expert-speakers to interested parties, professional organisations, etc, able to clarify the issues, highlight the potential benefits and dangers, and generally outline a roadmap to the future. Furthermore, we aim to organise events that provide the general public with an opportunity to find out more about cutting-edge technologies and their impact on individuals and society.
Networking
We aim to create networking opportunities for UK-based professionals in the relevant enabling technologies with the aim of fostering
employment opportunities and cross-fertilisation of ideas.
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While not directly linked to any other transhumanist organisation, we have friendly and cooperative relations with the World Transhumanist Association and the Extropy Institute and we are working towards building further constructive relationships with other, similar, groups.
Join us!
If you have the enthusiasm for helping with lobbying or arranging educational or networking activities, or if you have a project in mind which you think would benefit from taking place under the banner of the UK Transhumanist Association, then please do one or more of the following:
Join the UKTA mailing list. This is an open list for the discussion and planning of campaign activities
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UKTA/
Join UKTA's free e-membership scheme which allows you to keep in touch with our activities. You will receive a monthly newsletter and any special announcements.
http://groups.yahoo....group/UKTAnews/
Join UKTA. We rely on membership fees to cover our expenses, such as those associated with sending regular press releases, targeted mailshots (for example to MPs) and arranging meeting venues. If you would like to support this work, then please consider joining. Membership costs £30 per year and will enable you to vote for the Board of Directors or stand for election yourself. Donations are also welcomed.
