RRI Tools

NewHoRRIzon is a project that aims at further integrating Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in the research and innovation systems on national and international levels. The concept of RRI is an approach which intends to bridge gaps between science, research and innovation communities and society at large by fostering more inclusive, anticipatory, open and responsive research and innovation systems. In this frame, multiple stakeholders (from research, business, policy making, education and civil society) are involved in research and innovation on the project and system level to better align its processes and outcomes with the values, needs and expectations of society. A first big step was the operationalisation of RRI into the following six key elements: ethics, gender equality, governance, public engagement, science education and open access.

Objectives

• foster the integration of RRI into European, national and local Research and Innovation practice and funding
• organise 19 Social Labs and co-create pilot actions and activities and develop narratives and storylines based on the experience from these pilots
• develop and disseminate a concept of Societal Readiness of Technology (= Societal Readiness Levels)
• raise awareness on Responsible Research and Innovation and mainstream RRI best practices and NewHoRRIzon results
• provide results on how to better integrate RRI into the next European Framework Programme
• create a RRI Network including the national funding agencies and develop a RRI community starting with a RRI Ambassadors programme

Social Labs

The Social Labs are at the core of the project. Their goal is to provide a socially based, experimental and systematic approach for addressing complex social challenges related to RRI. Each Social Lab is dedicated to a different section of Horizon 2020 (H2020), the current European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (see the image below). For every section of H2020 different stakeholders will gather in a Social Lab to define the social challenges at stake and develop social experiments (= pilot actions and activities) to overcome them. This process will eventually produce storylines and narratives which will be shared as widely as possible to mainstream RRI. 

Policy Briefs

• Policy Brief #1 – RRI in H2020: Current status and steps forward
• Policy Brief #2 – Lacking Integration of Societal Needs and Ethical Concers into European Research and Innovation Policy Severly Limits the Ability to Tackle ‘Grand Challenges’

The Social Readiness Thinking Tool

The SR Thinking Tool provides a generic methodology allowing researchers to reflect on the societal impact of their work at critical stages in the project life cycle. The primary goal is to help researchers align their project activities with societal needs and expectations. The SR Thinking Tool asks reflective questions to stimulate thinking about how to integrate ideas about RRI into research practice.