Responsibility versus sustainability, ethics, and societal engagement

Miltos Ladikas,Leonhard Hennen,Julia Hahn,Constanze Scherz

doi:10.14512/tatup.29.3.64

Abstract

We examine the concept of responsible research and innovation (RRI) in Germany in the context of national science, technology and innovation (STI) as well as its legal and normative framework in relation to ethics and societal engagement and compare the results to similar international research. Our analysis shows that responsibility plays a central role in research practice guided by research ethics standards and societal grand challenges. Consequently, there is a significant increase in demands for inclusion and engagement of a wider stakeholder spectrum in STI. Compared to other countries, the concept of RRI in Germany is increasingly superseded by that of sustainability. We argue that responsibility and sustainability are conceptually close and highly interchangeable in the German national debate. We conclude with basic recommendations for greater clarity in research on responsibility and sustainability and the aims of ethics and societal engagement.

Highlights

In the last decade, the European debates on social responsibility and accountability in science, technology and innovation (STI) have been dominated by the concept of responsible research and innovation (RRI)
The original and most influential conceptualisation of RRI focuses on the process of establishing responsibility, by highlighting core dimensions such as anticipation (i. e. impact of research), reflexivity
As part of the European Commission funded project Responsible Research and Innovation in Practice (RRI-PRACTICE), research into aspects of responsibility in STI was undertaken in a total of 12 countries

Summary

Introduction

The European debates on social responsibility and accountability in science, technology and innovation (STI) have been dominated by the concept of responsible research and innovation (RRI). In the RRI practice project the information and insights available from these reports have been studied in a comparative perspective in order to identify the overall state and understanding of responsibility in research and innovation. The results of these comparative ambitions are reports dealing with comparisons for the 5 RRI keys. These are complemented by a report on the integration of the dimensions The notion of Sustainability is internationally accepted as national priority in our samples, it is only Germany that has a direct relationship to responsibility (Ladikas et al.)

Ethics and societal engagement in the national context

Discussion