SUMMARY ✎
The thinking tool offers practical guidance for researchers who wish to mature the societal readiness of their work. The primary goal is to help researchers align their project activities with societal needs and expectations.
The thinking tool asks reflective questions to stimulate thinking about how to integrate ideas about responsible research and innovation into research practice, at different stages in the project life.
The tool has been designed so that it is useful for researchers engaged in new as well as ongoing projects. Some of the reflective questions used in the tool are adapted from other RRI projects. References for these projects and a detailed account of the tool’s underlying methodology is available here.
If your project involves several researchers, it is recommended that the full team is involved in using the Societal Readiness Thinking Tool together, and that you reserve sufficient time for discussions along the way. Ideally, the team would use the tool from the from the earliest phases of the project and return at later stages thougout the project life.
You can learn more about the tool’s RRI terminology here.
HOW TO USE THE TOOL:
- To use the tool, start by registering your project. Registering allows you to save your work and continue at a later point in time. The tool can also be used without registration.
- Next, select your project’s current research phase.
- Then select if you want to use the tool based on a specified entry point (i.e. your specific motivation for using the tool), or tick off the RRI-related keys or conditions that you wish to focus on.
- When you are done using the tool, you can download a summary of your work in a PDF file.
The thinking tool includes:
- ‘tool-tips’ to help you navigate the tool.
- a selection of methods and resources that might inspire your own work.
See the three-minute introductory video for further instructions on how to use the tool.
For more info about the tool
- see this article
Bernstein, M.J., Nielsen, M.W., Alnor, E. et al. The Societal Readiness Thinking Tool: A Practical Resource for Maturing the Societal Readiness of Research Projects. Sci Eng Ethics 28, 6 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-021-00360-3
- read this post [Simplifying Responsible Research and Innovation – A tool building in societal readiness into research] published by Stefan de Jong, Michael J. Bernstein & Ingeborg Meijer at The LSE Impact Blog in May, 2022
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