Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI): The Problematic Quest for “Right” Impacts

Workshops

When

2016/03/10 - 2016/03/11

Place

Donostia - San Sebastián

Organizers

Patricio Carezzana, Andoni Eizagirre, Erik Fisher, Javier García Fronti, Margoth González , Andoni Ibarra and Hannot Rodríguez

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Miguel Sánchez-Mazas Chair at University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU and Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes (CSPO) at Arizona State University are delighted to announce the Conference on RRI: The Problematic Quest for “Right” Impacts.

The Conference will be in Donostia-San Sebastián (Basque Country), in March 10-11, 2016.

Programme

A pdf file with the Conference´s program may be downloaded here.

Call for papers

We invite the submission of contributed papers from researchers working in any topic related to the aims of the conference (see abstract below). Abstracts of no more than 500 words should be emailed to crri2016@gmail.com by January 10th, 2016. Abstracts must be prepared for blind review. Author details are to be included on a separate cover sheet. The intended allocated time for presentations is 20 minutes (plus 10 minutes discussion time).

We encourage especially submissions from women researchers and junior scholars.

Deadline for submissions: January 10th, 2016
Notification of acceptance: January 25th, 2016

Abstract

The European Commission claims that research and engineering activities under the next R&D Framework Programme, “Horizon 2020” (2014-2020), will be conducted according to a “Responsible Research and Innovation” (RRI) framework, meaning that “societal actors work together during the whole research and innovation process in order to better align both the process and its outcomes, with the values, needs and expectations of European society” (EC, 2012, p. ii). RRI can be understood thus as an effort to justify innovation not on grounds of uncritical, or taken for granted macro-economic assumptions, but on the basis of societally-beneficial objectives, or challenges, as openly defined and debated by a plurality of societal actors. As such, RRI-based EU policy aims to introduce “broader foresight and impact assessments for new technologies, beyond their anticipated market-benefits and risks” (von Schomberg 2013, p. 51).

Explicitly characterized as a “challenge-based approach”, Horizon 2020 claims therefore to be prepared and oriented to address “major concerns shared by citizens in Europe and elsewhere”, including human and environmental health, sustainability, energy efficiency, climate action, inclusiveness, security, and freedom. However, are these generic challenges self-evident? How are they constituted and by whom? Can those challenges be challenged? How are they operationalized? On what normative bases? These and other similar questions express a legitimate concern for the main dynamics, assumptions and priorities by which normative frameworks are constituted and institutionalized in RRI-based EU research policy. This conference aims to interrogate the heterogeneous and contingent socio-technical processes that guide, enable and also constrain RRI`s quest for “right” impacts.

References

EC, European Commission. 2012. Responsible Research and Innovation – Europe`s ability to respond to societal challenges.

von Schomberg, R. 2013. “A Vision of Responsible Research and Innovation”, in R. Owen, J. Bessant and M. Heintz, Eds., Responsible Innovation: Managing the Responsible Emergence of Science and Innovation in Society, Chichester, UK: Wiley, pp. 51-74.

Confirmed Speakers

Marian Deblonde (Flemish Institute for Technological Research)
Andoni Eizagirre (Mondragon University)
Erik Fisher (CSPO – Arizona State University)
Ellen-Marie Forsberg (Oslo and Akershus University College)
David Guston (CSPO – Arizona State University)
Andoni Ibarra (UPV/EHU)
Hannot Rodríguez (UPV/EHU)
Jack Spaapen (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences)
René von Schomberg (European Commission, Brussels)
Brian Wynne (Lancaster University)
Clare Shelley-Egan (Oslo and Akershus University)
Phil Macnaghten (Wageningen University)
Sujatha Raman (University of Nottingham)
Sophie Pellé (University of Paris 1)
Arie Rip (University of Twente)
Stevienna de Saille (University of Sheffield)
Fabien Medvecky (University of Otago)
Andrea Saltelli(University of Bergen, and Autonomous University of Barcelona)
Mario Giampietro (Autonomous University of Barcelona, and Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies) 

Scientific Committee

Ellen-Marie Forsberg (Oslo and Akershus University College)
Armin Grunwald (Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)
Andoni Ibarra (UPV/EHU)
Carl Mitcham (Colorado School of Mines)
Daniel Sarewitz (CSPO – Arizona State University)
Roger Strand (University of Bergen)

Organizing Committee

Patricio Carezzana (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México)
Andoni Eizagirre (Mondragon University)
Erik Fisher (CSPO – Arizona State University)
Javier García Fronti (Universidad de Buenos Aires)
Margoth González (UPV/EHU)
Andoni Ibarra (UPV/EHU)
Hannot Rodríguez (UPV/EHU)

Important dates

Deadline for submission of abstracts: January 10th, 2016
Notification of accepted abstracts: January 25th, 2016
Registration deadline: March 8th, 2016
Conference: March 10-11, 2016

Further information

There is no registration fee to participate in the conference but registration is required. To register, please send your name/surname, contact details and affiliation by email to CRRI2016@gmail.com no later than March 8th, 2016.

For further details or queries please contact the conference organisers Andoni Eizagirre (aeizagirre@mondragon.edu) or Hannot Rodríguez (hannot.rodriguez@ehu.eus).