Abstract
The need to develop experimental tools for a responsible research and innovation (RRI) framework is relevant for managing research agendas and policy making that seriously take into account the complex conditions of innovation development (linked to multidisciplinarity and interaction processes) between the researchers and their fieldwork activities. The adoption of an RRI framework is even more important for multidisciplinary and complex issues, such as the agri-food system. In this context, the SASS (Sustainable Agri-food Systems for Sustainable Development (SASS) project represents a good example for verifying the application of the RRI strategy in a varied research group committed to the development of sustainable agri-food systems in Sub-Saharan Africa. The project, which involves more than 50 researchers from different fields of knowledge and theoretical backgrounds, showed the importance of the processes of reflection, re-driving, and convergence in the definition of research objectives and strategies. This process started by experimenting with new dedicated RRI tools in order to allow interactions between the researchers, including exchanging their experience in data collection and theoretical reflection development. With respect to this analysis, it was interesting to analyze how the RRI tools and strategies have been activated between researchers and different stakeholders, generating reflections capable of re-adapting the results towards shared and accessible innovation for the extended society. Following the discussion based on the description of the SASS-RRI agenda tools and following an internal verification given from an RRI-based web survey, this contribution provides new insights, in terms of tools and strategies, to promote and refine RRI approaches. This work underlines how RRI methods have promoted internal and external interactions to connect the research objectives towards a model of open innovation.
Highlights
Mainstream innovation theory suggests that economic growth and technological change are strongly intertwined, where economic progress elicits new technological trajectories contributing to the creation of new market opportunities and wealth [1]
The need to develop experimental tools for a responsible research and innovation (RRI) framework is relevant for managing research agendas and policy making that seriously take into account the complex conditions of innovation development between the researchers and their fieldwork activities
In this contribution we focus on the relationship between research policy and innovation and on the role of the responsible innovation (RI) concept [6] that has been adopted by several public agendas, including all of the European research agendas [7,8]
Summary
Mainstream innovation theory suggests that economic growth and technological change are strongly intertwined, where economic progress elicits new technological trajectories contributing to the creation of new market opportunities and wealth [1]. Economic wealth is not necessarily distributed in the population and increasing inequalities occur both within different regions and nations and among different social categories and contexts [2,3] These inequalities bring social and environmental costs with them, driving strong implications in health and mortality, as well as in education and crime [4,5], reducing the ability for entire sections of the population to participate with their jobs, competencies, and skills in the creation of wealth [2]. The RRI approach includes four interconnected key points [34]: (1) The processes of mutual exchange in setting and re-driving research and innovation direction (Diversity & Inclusiveness); (2) socially desirable science and innovation (Anticipation); (3) participatory and accessible methodologies experimented in the research agenda and the dissemination of its outcomes (Openness and Transparency); (4) flexible, reflexive, and socially responsible governance of the process (Responsiveness and Adaptation to Change)
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