RRI

Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) aims to align both the process and outcomes of R&D&I with the values, needs and expectations of society.

Thus, the main characteristics of RRI are:

Clear focus on achieving a social or environmental benefit.
Constant and consistent involvement of society, from the beginning to the end of the process.
Assess and prioritise social, ethical and environmental impacts, risks and opportunities, along with technical and commercial aspects.
Oversight mechanisms capable of anticipating and managing problems and opportunities, which can also adapt and respond quickly to changes in knowledge and circumstances.
Accessibility and transparency as integral components of the research and innovation process.

From the perspective of RRI, there are six dimensions or policy agendas that must be incorporated into research and innovation practices in order for their results to be sustainable, ethically acceptable and socially desirable, as described in the European RRI-Tools project.

At the CICA we are committed to the principles of RRI and have launched several actions in this regard.

Science and Society: science education and citizen participation

Science literacy and scientific education focuses on:

– Improving the current educational process to better equip citizens with the necessary skills and knowledge to enable them to participate in debates on research and innovation.

– Increasing the number of researchers (promoting scientific vocations).

It also includes activities aimed at raising awareness of science-related issues, promoting a positive image/attitude towards research or disseminating research results to the widest possible public. These activities may take direct forms, for example through open days, science fairs or science journalism.

Science outreach activities and projects we carry out at CICA

At CICA we participate in several science fairs (Science Day in the Street, Open Science in Cambre), our staff participate in events in educational centres, we give talks in different spaces for the general public and we participate in science outreach projects.

In addition, we train our staff in communication skills to bring their research closer to society.

Since 2017 we have been carrying out the Incrúst@te science outreach project funded by the FECYT and the Xunta de Galicia (depending on the edition) (See section on the project on this website).

In July 2020 we have been granted funding for the CIRCLE LAB project, from the Erasmus + call of the European Union. It is led by the Swedish university Mälardalens Högskola and is made up of universities, NGOs, educational and research centres from Sweden, Italy, Macedonia, Lithuania and Spain and has been funded with more than 400,000 euros.

CICA is leading one of the main phases of the project: the creation of an online toolkit to be used by educators and students to learn about the circular economy.

The development and implementation of the programme is scheduled to start in September 2020 and will last 3 years.

Public Engagement encourages research and innovation processes that are collaborative and multi-stakeholder: all actors in society work together throughout the process in order to align their results with the values, needs and expectations of society.

Citizen participation refers to co-creation and debate. That is, society is actively involved in some phase of the research process, distinguishing the following types of engagement:

• Participation of different social actors in the actual conception of the projects, defining the research questions/problems together. E.g. patient committees evaluating project ideas before applying for funding.

• Involvement of citizens in the collection, monitoring and processing of samples and data. In this case, these initiatives will be referred to as “Citizen Science” projects (taking the more specific definition of the term as valid rather than the broader one).

• Joint deliberation and interpretation of results. E.g. Citizen Debates where the aim is that the conclusions of these dialogues can be incorporated into the policies of the institution, as well as serve ongoing research. The aim is to create public consultation and a two-way conversation.

CICA’s next steps include strengthening participation in research projects carried out jointly with non-academic social actors and the inclusion of citizen participation in research projects.

RRI

Science and Society: science education and citizen participation

Information on RRI

Relevant Reports

Citizen Science

EC Guides and reports for projects

Others

Open Access