Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - RRI-Practice (Responsible Research and Innovation in Practice)

Teaser

Responsible research and innovation (RRI) has emerged in recent years, especially in Europe, as a science policy framework that seeks to achieve a) engaged publics and responsible actors in the science and innovation field; and b) ethically acceptable, sustainable and socially...

Summary

Responsible research and innovation (RRI) has emerged in recent years, especially in Europe, as a science policy framework that seeks to achieve a) engaged publics and responsible actors in the science and innovation field; and b) ethically acceptable, sustainable and socially desirable research and innovation outcomes that are aligned with societal needs and challenges. Public trust in and support of science and innovation is at stake and RRI is an approach to science and science policy to enable a more responsive science system.

RRI has several framings and RRI related initiatives are wide-spread in Europe and beyond. However, initiatives are still fragmented and awareness of the concept is generally low. The Horizon 2020 funded RRI-Practice project therefore has three main objectives: i) to harvest experiences on how research conducting and research funding/policy organisations work to strengthen RRI related values, ii) to support the systematic development of such work in these organisations, and iii) to generate scalable knowledge about effective practices for the wider implementation of RRI. The aim is to identify, disseminate and promote RRI implementation best practices that can be scaled up at European and global levels. A unique feature of RRI-Practice is the development of extensive national case study reports; these 12 reports offer findings on the status and implementation of RRI in countries across the globe. The reports examine the national RRI context and present findings from detailed organisational case studies of research funding and research performing organisations, along with concrete policy recommendations. These reports form the background for in-depth comparative analyses of different aspects of the RRI constructs and – combined with organisational theory – detailed analysis of effective implementation of RRI in research conducting and funding organisations.

Work performed

In the first half of the project, national mapping (including documents and interviews) was carried out in order to understand the national policies and institutions in which organisations are embedded. National workshops with key stakeholders facilitated the discussion of organisations’ understanding of responsibility in research and innovation, along with discussion of the RRI concept and barriers and drivers related to RRI.

In the first period, the organisational work also started up. In total, we collaborated with 23 major research funding and performing organisations across the globe. In these organisations we conducted a review of how they worked with RRI related aspects, and developed actions plans (Outlooks) in a co-creative process. Two parallel international workshops took place in September 2017, during which participants from partner organisations exchanged their experiences with organisational approaches to RRI.

In the second period of the project, the organisational RRI Reviews were finalised for each organisation followed by Outlooks to strengthen RRI related activities. The reviews and outlooks were delivered to the respective organisations, and material from the reviews and outlooks were reported in the national case study deliverables. Systematic comparisons were then carried out on the case studies. The aim was to draw general lessons on barriers and drivers, and on the influence of national and organisational structures and cultures on the implementation of RRI practices. This work also facilitated the identification of good practices and the development of strategies for broader implementation of RRI, feeding into the RRI Handbook for Organisations.

A workshop held in Brussels in May 2019 brought together key European policy makers and stakeholders and RRI scholars to discuss draft policy recommendations prepared by the project. The set of policy recommendations aimed to support the European Commission (EC) and national policymakers to strengthen RRI and focused on: 1) Change the incentive regime to promote an organisational culture for RRI; 2) Broaden the concept of excellence and impact; 3) Build capacity and a future for RRI through training and resourcing; and 4) Support RRI as a creative and adaptive learning process.

In June 2019, RRI-Practice, along with the Nucleus project, held a joint conference in Brussels entitled ‘Pathways to Transformation’. The conference explored practical and policy pathways to enhanced social responsiveness for institutions and was attended by 140 researchers, practitioners, policymakers and R&I stakeholders. An important event at the conference was the presentation of the cross-project Pathways Declaration and Petition which called on European institutions, Member States, and their R&I funding and performing organisations, business and civil society to continue to make RRI a key objective across all relevant policies and activities nad advanced a set of recommendations targeted at the EC regarding the embedding of RRI in the forthcoming EU funding programme, Horizon Europe.

Final results

The project:
• Provides a comprehensive overview of the status and implementation of RRI in 7 European and 5 non-European countries and across 23 research funding and performing organisations. Along with findings from detailed organisational case studies, the project also delivers a comparison of the RRI keys and dimensions.
• Facilitates the scaling up of RRI implementation best practices at European and global levels. The Handbook for Organisations Aimed at Strengthening RRI offers managers and administrators in research organisations extended good practice examples to enable them to introduce and work with RRI in their organisations.
• Seeks to strengthen RRI in Europe by outlining a set of policy recommendations to the EC and national policy makers based on project insights and findings.
• Offers general process recommendations for RRI in multi-partner, international research projects.

The project has already had impact on the included organisations. Outlooks outlining RRI objectives and actions for each organisation have been prepared with the organisations’ support, with many actions already realised a year later.

Through the project activities, most notably the national RRI workshops, RRI has been put on the agenda among key actors in the national research and innovation systems. In several countries, there have been requests for follow-up workshops and seminars.

We have reached research organisations – and the academic community in general – in Europe and beyond. We have, for instance, established close relations with partners in Japan and Russia. We have also reached a number of academic audiences through the dissemination activities of the project. Most notably, RRI-Practice collaborated with the Nucleus project on a final conference for both projects. It was well attended – with 140 researchers, practitioners, policy makers and R&I stakeholders partaking in discussion of the state-of-the-art and future perspectives for RRI in Europe.

We have also sought to proactively engage policymakers. RRI-Practice, along with the Nucleus project, led efforts on a cross-project Declaration and Petition for the Future of RRI in the upcoming European funding programme. The Declaration has been endorsed by 12 other international projects, along with 111 individual signatories. We expect that this consolidated effort will have an impact on European policy makers.

Website & more info

More info: http://rri-practice.eu/.