Search Results (50)

Open Responsible Research and Innovation (ORRI) promotes ethical, inclusive, and transparent research aligned with sustainability goals and societal values. This systematic review examines the implementation of ORRI principles in marine research across the Black Sea region—a geopolitically fragmented and under-resourced context—and explores their implications for the broader Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) discourse. Using PRISMA methodology and bibliometric mapping, we analyzed the peer-reviewed literature and project deliverables from 2014 to 2024, focusing on six ORRI pillars: public engagement, science education, open access, gender equality, ethics, and governance. The findings indicate consistent progress in public engagement and science education, particularly through citizen science and stakeholder training. However, ethics, gender equity, and governance remain weakly institutionalized, with most ORRI practices driven by short-term, externally funded projects. To contextualize these results, we introduce a comparative framework contrasting the Black Sea’s scaffolded model of ORRI with structurally embedded models in Northern and Western Europe. This framework highlights disparities in capacity, funding, and institutional maturity that shape regional implementation. Conceptually, the study contributes to RRI theory by proposing a flexible, context-sensitive model for under-resourced regions. It supports SDGs 4, 5, 14, 16, and 17 and emphasizes the need for durable, inclusive approaches to responsible research and sustainability education. Full article

This study, conducted at Complutense Intermedia-Lab, employs a dual approach to explore university students’ use of Generative AI (GenAI), combining a survey with foresight methodologies (Sci-fi prototyping). The initial survey gathers baseline data on students’ experiences, attitudes, and concerns regarding GenAI, providing a comprehensive understanding of current practices among university students in Spain. This empirical foundation informs subsequent Sci-fi prototyping sessions, where students creatively envision future scenarios, fostering futurist thinking and deeper engagement. By integrating principles of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), this approach facilitates a nuanced exploration of GenAI’s potential impacts on education. The incorporation of both quantitative data collection and qualitative foresight methods in this study serves to navigate challenges and level opportunities of promoting the ethical and inclusive incorporation of GenAI in Higher Education, ensuring that future innovations align with societal values and needs. Full article

The world demands suitable design solutions to transition toward a sustainable production system. The concept of sustainability evolves with technology’s ability to understand and replicate nature’s logic. There is a growing need to move beyond punctual solutions towards more intricate and multi-stakeholder considerations, including preemptive assessments of impacts. This article discusses the outcomes of cross-disciplinary material experimentation at Saperi&Co Center, Sapienza University of Rome. This research focuses on enhancing ceramic surfaces through circular economy practices, making them receptive to microorganism colonization—known as bioreceptivity. Through an iterative and repetitive approach, inspired by Research Through Design and material experimentation, several experiments were carried out to study how the innovative use of organic waste in clay-based mixtures can promote bioreceptivity and the design of green surfaces for urban regeneration. The results advance our knowledge on the multiple parameters the designer must consider to transform inert surfaces such as ceramics into “ecological augmentation” devices. The article also aims to raise awareness of bioreceptivity as a practice to educate communities about a symbiotic relationship with nature, promote local economic development and circular production, and prompt reflection on cultural aspects arising from contemporary scientific and technological advancements in line with Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) principles. Full article

Specific groups of Catalan citizens, in spite of them being socially and professionally integrated, suffer the risk of exclusion or segregation on grounds of identity, one example being those who identify with Islam. This study arises from a prospective research project centred on a case study with the Catalan Muslim Women’s Association. The main objective was to formulate public policy proposals on education, religion, and gender to be included in the Citizenship and Immigration Plan, through a process based on the women’s participation and testimony. The study was divided into two phases: the participatory research followed by evaluation of the applicability of the resulting proposals. It was conducted through semi-structured interviews (n = 37), a discussion group (n = 21), and a round table (n = 31). Oral and textual qualitative data were gathered and analysed using the Ivàlua logical framework. Results for education policy urge the creation of a new professional specialist mediating between all actors. Those for religion call for public spaces for religious practice. In relation to gender, participants continued to demand policies that do not discriminate against Muslim women. In summary, religion is a resource that supports identities, beliefs, and practices, with both empowering and disempowering effects. Full article

This Special Issue brings together three fields of problem-oriented research, all addressing the current challenges of our society from different perspectives and respective research traditions, namely: technology assessment (TA), responsible research and innovation (RRI), and sustainability research. In this introductory paper, we point out that these approaches, nevertheless, face similar challenges observing and shaping the current transitions of our society. Conceptual and methodological commonalities and differences in the three approaches comprise issues of normativity in research activities, the interference with democratic decision-making processes, methods and approaches to cope with the expectations of society as well as dealing with the uncertainty and complexity of knowledge. The article closes with a reflection on considerations and decisions of relevance as an overarching challenge for all three concepts. Full article

As a governance framework for emerging technologies, the responsible research and innovation (RRI) approach faces some fundamental conflicts, particularly between “inclusivity” and “agility”. When we try to apply RRI principles to the development of AI, we also encounter similar difficulties. Therefore, it may be helpful to change the approach by not only seeing AI as the object of ethical governance but also as an effective tool for it. This involves mainly three levels: first, using AI directly to solve general ethical problems; second, using AI to solve the ethical problems brought about by AI; and third, using AI to upgrade the RRI framework. By doing something at these three levels, we can promote the fusion of AI and technology ethics and move towards ethical engineering, thus pushing ethical governance to new heights. In traditional ethical governance approaches, ethics is external, brought in by external actors, and the focus is on actors. However, in this new approach, ethics must be internalized in technology, with the focus not only on actors, but also on technology itself. Its essence lies in the invention and creation of technologically ethical governance tools. Full article

Background: There has been a strong focus on environmental sustainability in the aquaculture industry, but we do not know how firms in this industry emphasize the issue compared to firms in other industries. Methods: Responding to this research gap, we compared survey data of Norwegian firms in the (1) aquaculture industry with those in the (2) manufacturing industry, (3) the consulting, finance and insurance industry, and (4) the hospitality, tourism and culture industry. Results: We found that firms in the aquaculture industry emphasize environmental sustainability more than those in the other industries do. Likewise, firms in the aquaculture industry emphasize social sustainability more than those in the other industries do, but the difference is less marked. Across industries, knowledge-intensive firms emphasize environmental sustainability and social sustainability to a lesser extent. Additionally, firms with local or regional major ownership emphasize social sustainability more than those with international major ownership do. Conclusion: Firms in the aquaculture industry have a relatively strong emphasis on environmental and social sustainability, which may be due to the industry’s environmental challenges. Similarly, aquaculture firms have a relatively strong emphasis on social sustainability, which may be due to the industry’s geographic and sociocultural proximity to numerous small local communities. Full article

There is an increasing call for science to contribute more to real-world solutions for a sustainability transformation. At the same time, the scientific landscape encompasses different concepts, which are characterized as practice-oriented, addressing social challenges and wicked problems, which thus offer potential to contribute to a transformation, notably: technology assessment (TA), responsible research and innovation (RRI), and real-world labs (RwLs). This article deals with the question of how these different concepts can be better integrated to contribute to a transformation. With this goal in mind, we analyze the three concepts, show their core characteristics, and identify their common key similarities. TA and RRI have rarely been connected to transformative sustainability research in general or RwLs in particular. Based on the key similarities and respective strengths of the three concepts, we suggest four ways to integrate the approaches, including the novel endeavor of a Reflexive Sustainable Technology Lab as the highest level of the concepts’ synthesis. Full article

The ‘ambiguity’ of Research and Innovation (R&I) within the present contemporary society triggers increasing manifestations of public concerns concerning science. Apart from some implications it has, this mistrust also functions as a stimuli towards integrating the public view and public (social) needs into the development and implementation of R&I policies. With reference to European communities, the European Commission (EC) has provided funding to various projects aiming to capitalise on the concept of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and the RRI ‘key’ of Public Engagement (PE) in order to engage the public in R&I, enhance a human-centric and inclusive R&I approach, and ultimately foster a mutually responsible relation between science and society. This study aims to examine how PE practices are implemented within the context of EC-funded projects addressing RRI-driven public engagement. Seventeen PE practices that have been implemented during the lifespan of five EC projects were qualitatively and thematically analysed. The identified themes indicate the implementation patterns of PE and contribute to reaching a set of conclusions towards realising a participatory, human-centric and inclusive R&I, fostering in its own turn future socio-scientific collaborations. Policy-makers, researchers, practitioners and stakeholders interested in public engagement in R&I can capitalise on the study’s conclusions and contribute to manifestations of responsible innovation. Full article

The growing number of papers on Responsible Innovation (RI) and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) have shaped the popularity and usefulness of RI and RRI as a technology governance concept. This study reviews and assesses the development of RRI research through a bibliometric analysis of 702 RRI-focused papers and 26,471 secondary references published in the Web of Science Core Collection database between 2006 and 2020. Firstly, the paper provides a broad outline of the field based on annual growth trends, journal distribution, and disciplinary distribution for RRI publications. Secondly, this study reveals the current state of RRI research by identifying influential literature, journals, authors, countries, and institutions. Thirdly, a phased keyword analysis is conducted to determine the stage characteristics of the RRI field. Finally, based on the bibliometric analyses, this study summarises the evolutionary trajectory of RRI and makes recommendations for future research directions. As a complement to the previous qualitative literature review, the paper provides a systematic and dynamic understanding of RRI research. Full article

An ethos of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) has been promoted in the last decade, especially within European research. The broad objective is to ensure that research and innovation activities align with society’s needs and expectations. In parallel, citizen observatories seek to mainstream citizen science as a valid paradigm for scientific investigation but additionally as a model for increasing societal participation in local democracy and policy definition. This paper explores how precepts of RRI have permeated research in citizen observatories. The methodology adopted is that of a scoping review. Results confirm a relatively simple adoption of RRI principles. However, the adoption is uneven and shallow, perhaps reflecting the ongoing evolution of both RRI and the citizen observatory model. It is recommended that the diverse actors charged with the definition, design, validation, and deployment of citizen observatories unambiguously integrate, promote, and report on how the RRI principles are reflected in their activities. Full article

As the quest for marine-derived compounds with pharmacological and biotechnological potential upsurges, the importance of following regulations and applying Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) also increases. This article aims at: (1) presenting an overview of regulations and policies at the international and EU level, while demonstrating a variability in their implementation; (2) highlighting the importance of RRI in biodiscovery; and (3) identifying gaps and providing recommendations on how to improve the market acceptability and compliance of novel Blue Biotechnology compounds. This article is the result of the work of the Working Group 4 “Legal aspects, IPR and Ethics” of the COST Action CA18238 Ocean4Biotech, a network of more than 130 Marine Biotechnology scientists and practitioners from 37 countries. Three qualitative surveys (“Understanding of the Responsible Research and Innovation concept”, “Application of the Nagoya Protocol in Your Research”, and “Brief Survey about the experiences regarding the Nagoya Protocol”) indicate awareness and application gaps of RRI, the Nagoya Protocol, and the current status of EU policies relating to Blue Biotechnology. The article categorises the identified gaps into five main categories (awareness, understanding, education, implementation, and enforcement of the Nagoya Protocol) and provides recommendations for mitigating them at the European, national, and organisational level. Full article

This article aims to evaluate improvements in opportunities for research partnerships focused on innovation, considering the ISO 56003 guidelines, Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) concepts, and the experiences of the authors of this article, who are researchers in various areas (ex post facto). The results presented arise from structured debates and discussions. As a result of the analysis and reflections carried out, some improvement opportunities in most of the partnerships established among research groups can be visualised. Partners in a research group often debate aspects related to technical knowledge associated with the research and contractual procedures in detail; however, they do not equally emphasise other important partnership management aspects, such as the analysis of the research impacts on all stakeholders, the definition and adoption of a governance policy to better conduct the interaction among members, and other actions that can enhance the partnerships. This article can be characterised as a synthesis of lessons learned, in addition to a presentation of guidelines mentioned in the literature. This knowledge can be useful to other researchers in planning new partnerships or evaluating existing ones. For deciding whether to enter into a partnership or withdraw from it, the information presented here is of great value. Full article

The missions of Technology Assessment (TA), Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and Sustainability Research (SR) are similar in their relationship to Science, Technology and Innovation (STI). Although adopting different terminology, the three research fields show great conceptual and methodological overlaps, as all three react to societal demands and policy needs via common tools. The impact of TA, RRI and SR is linked directly, but its assessment requires new thinking in terms of common conceptual and methodological approaches. The paper provides an overview of the current discussion on societal impact assessment and identifies areas of particular interest for the three fields. It describes the current discussions on impact assessment and impact indicators in each field and undertakes a bibliometric analysis that shows clear inter-relationships in terms of thematic focus and a common emphasis on impact in all three fields. Following this analysis, the paper argues for a common impact assessment methodology for TA, RRI and SR, under the notion of resonance and based on the concepts of anticipation, reflection and inclusion. Full article

Innovation has resulted in more dairy products being produced with less inputs than ever before. It has also affected how animals are raised, the structure of the sector and the nature of products produced. Not all impacts have been positive. As disruptive technologies—such as precision farming and robotics—herald significant change, it is timely to reflect on the perspectives of different actors on innovations within the sector. Drawing on a review of academic literature, this paper considers farmers’ and consumer-citizens’ perspectives; as expected, their diverse knowledge, interests and values surface a range of perspectives. To provide focus to the study, it examines technologies across three stages of the dairy production cycle: breeding, feeding and milking. It finds that consumer-citizen and farmer perspectives have been examined by researchers in several countries, using a variety of methods, across a range of technologies. It finds both areas of agreement and tension within and between consumer-citizen and producer cohorts. While differences in knowledge account for some variation, differences in values are also significant. The extent to which efforts can and should be put into addressing differences is raised as a point for reflection. Full article