Participatory technology assessment (PTA) is a means whereby people, especially those who have traditionally been excluded from decisions, are able to influence the development and application of technologies.

PTA distinguishes between mature technologies, the development of which has involved participatory and ecological impact assessments over a period of years or even centuries, and the imposition by industries, with the collaboration or indifference of authorities of quick technical ‘fixes’ (often called techno-fixes) – an attempt to provide a “solution” to a perceived problem by the means of technical solutions alone, without a broad-based assessment of what additional problems they might cause.