Responsible Research and Innovation

Responsible Research and Innovation is a key cross-cutting instrument to reach these goals, an investment for our future. In practice, it is implemented as a package that includes multi-actor and public engagement in research and innovation, thanks to open access to scientific results, formal and informal science education and the take up of gender and ethics in the research and innovation content and process.

Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is a transparent, interactive process by which societal actors and innovators become mutually responsive to each other with a view on the (ethical) acceptability, sustainability and societal desirability of the innovation process and its marketable products .

The European Commission distinguishes 6 key dimensions of RRI: Public Engagement, Science Education, Open Access, Gender Equality, Governance and Ethics.

• Public and multistakeholder engagement is a societal commitment to provide encouragement, opportunities and competencies that will empower citizens and civil society organisations to participate in research and innovation. It is also about bringing together a diversity of actors from research community, policy-making, business and industry, who would not normally interact with each other, on matters of science and technology.

• Science Education aims at increasing society’s appetite for innovation and interest in science, in particular among young people with a special emphasis on girls. It encourages innovative pedagogies to teach science, the involvement of institutions that organize such activities, promotes RRI in higher education curricula and eases access to scientific careers.

• Open access and open science intend to make research findings, data, scientific publications and information available free of charge for anyone.

• Gender Equality aims at removing barriers that generate discrimination against women in scientific careers and decision-making. It fosters gender balance in research teams and integrates a gender dimension in research and innovation content in order to improve the scientific quality and societal relevance of the produced knowledge, technology and innovation.

• Ethics is given the highest priority in the European Union funded research and innovation. It implies the application of fundamental ethical principles and legislation to scientific research and innovation in all possible domains and includes the avoidance of any breach of research integrity and ethics dumping.

• Governance is the umbrella for all other dimensions. It addresses the responsibility of policy makers to prevent harmful or unethical developments in research and innovation and developing harmonious models for Responsible Research and Innovation that integrate Public and multistakeholder Engagement, Science Education, Open Access, Gender Equality and Ethics.