Project description
Engaging citizens in security technologies R&I
Security technologies should promote public safety and increase societal resilience. However, they can have enormous societal, legal, ethical, economic and political impacts on human rights, and lead to power imbalances and social injustice. Research and development of security technologies rarely engage civil society and possibly do not fully consider societal concerns. The EU-funded TRANSCEND project will improve citizen and societal engagement in security R&I to allow individuals and their organisations to participate in iterative design and deployment processes actively and creatively. The project will develop a toolbox of methods to enhance the involvement of civil society in security R&I and test and assess it in close collaboration with on-the-ground organisations, researchers, government and industry.
Objective
Current European research and innovation (R&I) and security policies aim to address challenges that threaten European societies by deploying security technologies. Security technologies are typically intended to promote public safety, security and increase societal resilience. At the same time, security technologies spur controversies and can have enormous societal, legal, ethical, economic and political impact. Such technologies often infringe human rights, reproduce and reinforce power imbalances and social injustice. Civil society is rarely or restrictively involved during research and development of security technologies, and thus societal concerns might not be well addressed in this process. Security technologies and R&I should not create societal mistrust or missed opportunities to jointly build societal resilience.
TRANSCEND aims to improve practices of citizen and societal engagement in security R&I: to enable individuals, and organisations that speak on their behalf, to participate actively and creatively in iterative processes of design and deployment. TRANSCEND will develop a Toolbox of methods to enhance the involvement of civil society in security R&I. The Toolbox will be tested and evaluated in four pilots, in close collaboration with diverse ‘on the ground’ organisations by bringing together transdisciplinary actors from academia, government, industry and society (Quadruple Helix). The TRANSCEND Framework will present guidelines on how to design and structure meaningful civil society and public engagement for societal impact assessment for security research technologies and present domain-specific instructions for the use of the TRANSCEND toolbox.
TRANSCEND will contribute to the uptake of effective methods for citizen and societal engagement throughout the EU, so that civil society are given a louder voice, a place at the right tables and security practitioners are motivated and equipped to enhance such participation.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
Dundalk Louth
Ireland
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.