Governance settings for Institutional embedded Responsible Research and Innovation and Open Science
Luciano d'Andrea - K&I, Andrea Riccio - Università degli Studi di Roma Sapienza, Pedro Príncipe and Antónia Correia - University of Minho
Abstract:
Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and Open Science (OS) have been increasingly proposed to scientists and research organisations as the new framework for science. Although partially different, they share the same basic aim of modifying the consolidated social model of science – often expressed with the image of the “Ivory Tower” – which sees it as separated and autonomous from society and not involved with the actual implications and use of its outputs, be they new theories, discoveries, or technologies.
RRI and OS propose to go on the opposite direction, i.e., towards a science fully embedded in society, intimately involved in and responsible for its impacts, being they positive or negative, on economy and society at large, open to the external actors and sensitive towards expectations, needs, worries and problems of society.
However, this process is not free of problems, uncertainties, and risks. This is due to at least three different reasons: Firstly, just because of the move towards post-modern society, research organisations are already exposed to strong change processes, from both inside and outside, which are modifying their culture, procedures, decision processes and organisational structures; B. Secondly, RRI and OS are not univocally interpreted; C. Thirdly, implementing RRI and OS necessarily creates tensions and conflicts. In such a framework, for research managers and for scientists, implementing RRI/OS principles in their own organization and research practices reveal to be a complex, uncertain and with unpredictable results.
In this poster we will present a set of recommendations for successfully embedding RRI and OS in any institution, one of the main products of the project FIT4RRI: Fostering Improved Training Tools for Responsible Research and Innovation (https://fit4rri.eu/).