Fostering Improved Training Tools For Responsible Research and Innovation

Project Information

FIT4RRI

Grant agreement ID: 741477

DOI

10.3030/741477

Project closed

EC signature date 19 April 2017

Start date 1 May 2017

End date 31 October 2020

Funded under

• Develop the governance for the advancement of responsible research and innovation by all stakeholders, which is sensitive to society needs and demands and promote an ethics framework for research and innovation

Total cost

€ 3 248 233,75

EU contribution

€ 3 248 233,50

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA LA SAPIENZA
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - FIT4RRI (Fostering Improved Training Tools For Responsible Research and Innovation)

Reporting period: 2018-08-01 to 2020-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

FIT4RRI moves from the basic assumption that there is a serious gap between the potential role Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and Open Science (OS) could play in helping Research Funding and Performing Organisations (RFPOs) to manage the rapid transformation processes affecting science (especially the science-in-society aspects) and the actual impact RRI and OS are currently having on RFPOs, research sectors and national research systems.
FIT4RRI has been working to contribute to bridging this gap, promoting viable strategies to render institutional changes in RFPOs. The project, in particular, will act on two key factors necessary for RFPOs to activate institutional changes towards RRI and OS:
− Enhancing competences and skills related to RRI and OS, especially for those researchers working on so called “hard sciences” , through an improvement of the RRI and OS training offer (in terms of training tools, actions and strategies) currently available, also through the identification, mutual coordination and deployment of the most innovative RRI approaches and tools recently developed under local, national and EC-funded projects.
− Institutionally embed RRI and OS practices and approaches by promoting the diffusion of more advanced governance settings (including cross-cutting organisational practices, tools, arrangements and culture) capable to create an environment enabling RRI and OS.
More in detail, to pursue this goal the project’s work plan has been designed according three main strands aimed at understanding what is happening (analytical strand), testing possible solutions (testing strand) and promoting changes (proactive strand).

Figure 1 represents the workflow and the relationship among the strands.

FIT4RRI relies upon 9 specific objectives:
− O1 - Mapping the drivers for and barriers to the diffusion and embedment of RRI and OS practices and approaches in RFPOs (WP1)
− O2 - Benchmarking RRI and OS experiences, which succeeded in mainstreaming RRI practices in individual RFPOs, groups of them or specific research fields (WP1)
− O3 - Making a diagnosis of RRI and OS in different research and disciplinary sectors and national contexts, in order to understand, for each of them, specific factors (e.g. level of interest, acceptance and expectations related to RRI and OS), meanings and role attributed to RRI and OS favouring or hindering the diffusion and institutional embedment of RRI and OS practices and approach, and the impact of RRI and OS-related training tools and awareness raising initiatives (WP2)
− O4 - Analysing the current RRI-related training offer, including training tools (handbooks, guidelines, toolkits, resources tools, etc.), training actions and formal courses dealing with RRI as a whole or its specific keys (WP4)
− O5 - Testing in different RFPOs advanced governance settings favouring the adoption and the embedment of RRI and OS practices and tools (WP3)
− O6 - Testing in different RFPOs advanced training tools and actions favouring the enhancement of skills and competence of RRI and OS -related issues (WP3)
− O7 - Testing in different RFPOs procedures favouring the activation of institutional change processes making the introduction of new governance settings and new training approaches really possible (WP3)
− O8 - Designing and developing training tools and actions as well as strategies aimed at improving the overall quality and impact of the existing training offer on RRI and OS (WP4)
− O9 - Designing and developing evidence-based guidelines for supporting the diffusion amongst RFPOs of governance settings functioning as enablers for RRI and OS (WP5).

Table 1 shows the objectives status.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

FIT4RRI has successfully carried out the work related to its 3 strands: analytical, testing and proactive, thus allowing a great awareness of the relevance of RRI and OS for institutional change. In addition the project clearly highlights that training, co-creation and hands on processes are important triggers for RRI and OS.
In RP2 10 deliverables and 3 milestones have been submitted (details in tables 2 and 3), for a total of 24 deliverables and 6 milestones in the project lifetime.
The major results achieved by each WP are detailed in the part B of technical description. Similarly, the call's impacts and their indicators and actions are well described in the same document.
FIT4RRI dissemination and communication have been intense and capable to address different targets and channels, Annexe 1 offers a quick overview of the work performed to spread the world of FIT4RRI in RP2

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The importance of bridging the gap between the present and the potential future role of RRI and OS becomes fully comprehensible considering the depth and width of changes affecting science and technology.
The presence of this gap may have different effects, including a decrease in the quality of research, a further decrease in the people’s trust in science, the increase in conflicts and controversies pertaining to science-related issues, a lower capacity of research institutions and industry to interact, lower investments in science and innovation, and increasing difficulty in making European institutions attractive for talents in the perspective of completing the process of construction of the European Research Area.

All in all, FIT4RRI can be described as activating institutional change processes within the European RFPOs with the aim of bringing them to permanently embed RRI and OS in their current organisational practices, tools, arrangements and culture by 1) enhancing competences and skills related to RRI and OS and 2) adopting more advanced governance settings.
To this regard, the project goes beyond the state of the art by working thoroughly on STEM and STEM scientists awareness and information about RRI and OS, linking them to Horizon2020 societal and industrial challenges, aiming through co-creation processes and training to implement real institutional change in RFPOs.

The expected impacts of the project are:
1) enrich and improve the quality of existing training materials on RRI and OS;
2) increase general knowledge on RRI and OS practices by sharing experience across different disciplines;
3) contribute to changes in Research Funding and Performing Organisations (RFPOs) governance settings (including institutional changes and stakeholder behaviours) that are consistent with open science and RRI.
These impacts have been reached interactively through the implementation of the whole project.

For what concerns the final socio-economic impact to be pursued, the main achievement is to consider Responsibility (RRI) and openness as governance dimensions, to be combined with the more traditional ones (efficacy, efficiency and cost-effectiveness), to foster institutional change processes that, both in their design and assessment phases, should be driven by social responsibility too. This implies that a socially responsible approach to governance needs to be integrated with the economic/managerial one, to obtain a valuable and integrated (whole) governance model, according to a relationship of mutual dependence.

Milestones RP2

Dissemination & Communication materials

Dissemination & Communication materials

FIT4RRI workflow

FIT4RRI Objectives

Dissemination & Communication materials

Deliverables RP2