Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is a bridge between science and society that aims to increase the public value of science. The concept has begun to move beyond the academic literature to become an integrated requirement of Centres for Doctoral Training and Synthetic Biology Centres funded by EPSRC and BBSRC. As RRI has become exposed to a broader range of actors, so the potential for different interpretations of the concept increases.
This seminar investigates how RRI is being interpreted within one research-intensive Russell Group university, and the opportunities and challenges for governance. Using documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews, we identify six key narratives that express actors’ perceptions of RRI’s purpose and value. We present a conceptual framework based upon these narratives, and argue that future moves to broaden or narrow RRI’s definition will likely result in material effects on actors’ support for the agenda within the university.
Institutions in the innovation system
Responsible Research and Innovation is defined and operationalized in various ways. Owen, Macnaghten and Stilgoe (2013) define it as 'collective commitment of care for the future through responsive stewardship of science and innovation in the present', more specifically that innovation should be: a) Anticipatory; b) Reflective; c) Deliberative; and d) Responsive. Others add that science and innovation need to realise 'right impacts' or contribute to solving societal goals (von Schomberg 2013).
Responsibility is an agent-centred term and in this presentation Dr Forsberg will address the issue of who has responsibility for ensuring that research and innovation is indeed responsible. Researchers and research funders have so far been the most targeted agents for RRI, but other agents may also have a large influence on how research and innovation impacts on society and the natural world. This includes regulators, advisory bodies, industry organisations and market-shaping actors. How can their responsibilities be articulated in an RRI perspective?