The Conference location was the prestigious Auditorium Parco della Musica, a multifunctional structure dedicated to music, cultural, and scientific events. The plenary sessions of the Conference were held in the Sala Petrassi of the Auditorium, which is a hall with 700 seats on an area of 173 square metres. The 6 parallel sessions of Day 2 took place in 5 smaller halls (Risonanze Area, Conference Hall, Studio 1, Studio 2, Guest Hall).
The participants to the Conference numbered 621 (badges distributed). They came from many nations and had diverse affiliations: universities, research managers, policy makers, European Commission officers and delegates.
The participating countries were: Austria, Belgium, Byelorussia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Norway, Northern Mariana Islands, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland. The event organization agency, Idea Congress, managed the registration of participants with 10 desks divided into three categories: speakers, registered participants in alphabetical order, press.
The scientific programme of the Conference included an event dedicated to the presentation of the results of the projects financed by the European Commission under the Science in Society FP6 and FP7 calls. To this aim, a Market Place area was set up in the Auditorium Arte area, which was outfitted with 30 panels for the presentation of posters and 10 plasma screens and tablets for digital broadcasting.
The main result of the event was the great success it had in fostering the discussion among the SaS and SiS communities and the involvement of a large number of stakeholders from research, civil society as well as European, international and Italian institutions. The Conference raised consensus concerning the implementation of RRI principles in H2020. By offering inspiring presentations and workshops that bring into play the participants experiences and ideas, the Conference generated the Rome Declaration as an input to be used in the future framing of a European model for RRI and recommendations for future ‘Science with and for Society’ activities in the Work Programme 2016-2017. During the event, the European RTD Commissioner Carlos Moedas held his first public speech, together with the Italian Ministry of Research and other public representatives. Moreover, the involvement of the audience in the debate through the parallel sessions, was a good achievement, allowing a wider participation in the drafting of the final documents produced during the Conference, first and foremost the issue of the Rome Declaration on Responsible Research and Innovation in Europe. Finally, a tangible outcome of the Conference was the publication of a stock-taking study dedicated to the six RRI keys and to their global dimension. The Rome Declaration on Responsible Research and Innovation in Europe kicks off the study.
