Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) – Practice

The RRI-Practice project brings together a unique group of international experts in RRI to understand the barriers and drivers to the successful implementation of RRI both in European and global contexts, to promote reflection on organisational structures and cultures of research conducting and research funding organisations, and to identify and support best practices to facilitate the uptake of RRI in organisations and research programmes.

The project aimed to review RRI related work in 22 research conducting and research funding organisations and to develop RRI Outlooks outlining RRI objectives, targets and indicators for each organisation. It involved comparative analysis of the five EC keys of RRI locating these within broader, evolving discourses on RRI. Within each identified RRI dimension the project analysed how the topic has developed in particular social and institutional contexts, how the RRI concept and configuration meshes, overlaps and challenges existing organisational practices and cultures, leading to an analysis of the barriers and drivers associated with operationalising and implementing RRI.

12 national case studies allowed for in depth studies of, and dialogue with, the included organisations, and formed the basis for systematic analysis and comparison of drivers, barriers and best practices on each dimension of RRI. The project design also allowed analysis of such drivers, barriers and best practices related to national and organisational characteristics, safeguarding the need to take into account diversity and pluralism in regional RRI programs. These analyses ultimately ended up in recommendations to the EC about effective, efficient and targeted strategies for increasing RRI uptake in different kinds of organisations and national cultures, in Europe and in selected major S&T intensive economies worldwide. The project also produced user-friendly guidance aimed directly at research and funding organisations themselves.

The project was a response to the European Commission Horizon 2020, Science with and for Society call: Supporting structural change in research organisations to promote Responsible Research and Innovation (ISSI-5-2015)