Responsible Research and Innovation

Responsible Research and Innovation is1:

  • Doing science and innovation with society and for society, including the involvement of society ‘very upstream' in the processes of research and innovation to align their outcomes with the values of society;

  • A wide umbrella that brings together different aspects of the relationship between science and innovation with society: ethics, gender equality, open access, public engagement, and science education;

  • A key concept at Horizon 2020, the EU's Framework Programme for Research and Innovation 2014-2020, since the main aspects of RRI have been adopted as cross-cutting issues in this programme.

RRI is important for these recommendations because it provides the policy basis for broader engagement of civil society in research. On the European level, RRI has been defined as a cross-cutting activity across all of Horizon 2020 which implies that civil society engagement is welcome in all research streams.

RRI is furthermore important in pointing out that the various activities that are employed to ensure that research is in society’s interest need to be seen in conjunction. CSO engagement in research projects is one such mechanism and in needs to work with many others from ethics review, science education and equality and diversity measures.

References

1. http://www.rri-tools.eu/about-rri, 12.11.2014