Responsible Research & Innovation is a genius concept developed by the European Commission for the
governance of research and innovation processes with a view on the (ethical) acceptability,
sustainability and societal desirability of the innovation process and its marketable products . It aims
to shape, maintain, develop, coordinate an align existing and novel research and innovation-related
processes, actors and responsibilities with a view to ensuring desirable and acceptable research
outcomes.
In the Horizon 2020 programmes, there were and are some of projects focusing on related training needs.
But there is no substantial attempt observable to develop continuous higher education programmes
supporting the implementation of this concept and the respective reorganisation processes in
universities, research centres, research and innovation oriented enterprises and public authorities like
cities or regional governments. Our project pretends to fulfil this gap through the co-creation of
higher education modules between different research and innovation actors.
RRIL will especially focus on public engagement, gender equality and ethics (in the knowledge fields
Energy and Economy) co-creating learning modules and testing them in innovative environments based on
interactive real-problem approaches. In a later stage, the developed modules will be offered to research
and innovation actors supporting the implementation of RRI principles in the organisations capacitating
the learners to develop jointly innovative solution for societal problems.
RRIL is based on co-creation and open innovation processes giving a prominent role to the learners. The
co-creation is conceived as multidisciplinary and transversal among different kinds of actors as HEI,
research centres, NGO’s and cities pathing the way for knowledge exchange between them. It consist in
informed learning among practitioners considering learners (RRI practitioner) as a knowledgeable and
critical partner in designing and implementation of the learning means. Under this perspective the
potential learners – programme coordinators and tutors - are considered peers working collaboratively on
the project outputs.
