Responsible Research and Innovation Tools

Responsible Research and Innovation is:

– A concept which has been adopted as a cross-cutting issue at Horizon 2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation 2014-2020;
– 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 its outcomes with the values of society;
– A wide umbrella that brings together different aspects of the relationship between science and innovation and society: public engagement, open access, gender equality, science education, ethics and governance…

RRI Tools: building a better relationship between science and society

Europe wants to promote not only excellent but also socially desirable science and technology: it is vital to align the objectives of research and innovation processes with the needs and values of the societies that support them. There is clear evidence that today we need to involve the whole of society in the decisions about the development of science and technology so we can all contribute to the smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth of our societies. This is the core of the ambitious initiative of the European Commission on Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) as a cross-cutting issue in Horizon 2020, the current Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.

In this context, RRI Tools has been set up in order to empower all actors to contribute their share to the Responsible Research and Innovation initiative. Funded under the Framework Programme FP7 (2007-2013), the final outcome of RRI Tools is to develop a set of digital resources to advocate, train, disseminate and implement RRI under Horizon 2020.

RRI Tools will be carried out by a multidisciplinary consortium consisting of 26 institutions led by `la Caixa` Foundation (Spain). This consortium brings together considerable experience in the key components of RRI across Europe. In addition, the project aims to be collaborative and inclusive in itself in order to increase creativity and shared ownership of the process. Researchers, civil society, educators, industry, and policy makers will join forces in RRI Tools to work together on the design of a better relationship between research and innovation on the one hand and society on the other.

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