Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) refers to an approach rolled out in the EU Framework programmes 7 (FP7) and 8 (Horizon 2020) emphasising the on-going process of aligning research and innovation to societal values, needs and expectations. Funders in countries like the UK, Norway and the Netherlands have similar definitions.

RRI guides researchers and research conducting and funding organisations in anticipating the implications of their work, including relevant stakeholders upstream, and reflecting and responding to those stakeholders’ concerns and expectations. In this way, co-design and co-responsibility for the outcomes research and innovation can be facilitated, increasing societal uptake and acceptability of research and innovation.

Experiences from the concluded and ongoing RRI projects can inform the operationalisation of RRI in Horizon Europe as well as in other funding programmes that support inclusive research and innovation processes aligned with societal needs and values. The last decade of the RRI agenda also provides important resources for operationalizing the Open Science agenda in its broad sense, beyond Open Access and Open Data, and the co-creation and citizen science agendas.

The initiative “RRI in Horizon Europe” [#RRIinHE]

While the future of RRI in Horizon Europe is still rather uncertain, it is not as bleak as it appeared in 2019. Several advocates in the ERA have called for higher visibility of RRI in Horizon Europe. Moreover, the Orientations towards the first Strategic Plan for Horizon Europe keeps the door open for RRI and even indicates a ’home’ for RRI in Horizon Europe (in Reforming and Enhancing the European R&I system). However, there is still a need to continue to reinforce the importance of RRI and to help show how it can be implemented widely in Horizon Europe.

This is why a group of RRI scholars and practitioners have joined forces to launch the initiative "RRI in Horizon Europe" [#RRIinHE] with the aim of supporting the visibility and operationalisation of RRI in Horizon Europe. The core group consists of ...

Post by Ulrich Schoisswohl from FFG - originally published at the NewHoRRIzon´s project news section

A big thank you to everyone who came forward and supported SwafS and RRI in the public consultations on Horizon Europe launched by the European Commission!

We are relieved that our requests for a stronger consideration of SwafS and RRI have made it into the report on the web-based consultations. Considering the fact that there was no mentioning of SwafS and RRI before the public consultations this is indeed a big win!

The RRI Tools final conference took place on November 21st and 22nd 2016 in Brussels. An agora designed to friendly share and analyse how research and innovation can be further built upon more open and responsible foundations, this event gathered over 250 participants. Nearly 80 speakers shared their views with the public on the future of openness of research and innovation and the social impact of science. On Monday 21st, the sessions reviewed the main goals and outcomes of the RRI Tools project, taking stock of what we have achieved so far. On Tuesday 22nd, the sessions aimed at opening the perspectives on Responsible Research and Innovation in the other parts of the world, and in the future, beyond the 2020 horizon. You can browse here through the full programme of the conference.

Relive some of the highlights of the final conference with this Storify feed. Watch also the photo album of the final conference and download the much-praised RRI Tools booklet for a practical tour of Responsible Research and Innovation.

Fab lab in the Cité des sciences, Paris - © Benoît Prieur / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-4.0

1. Introduction

Supervision of research conducted in research and development entities is an essential issue in practice. New proposals, which are aimed at supplementing the existing supervision system, are: to use theoretical knowledge and research methods in information policy of these institutions in order...