Research organisations from across Europe have launched a major new project which aims to embed Responsible Research and Innovation into the biosciences.
Over the next three years ResBios will draw on the expertise of 12 partners from 11 countries to bring sustainable institutional changes into biosciences research.
Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) provides a framework for bringing research closer to the needs and values of society, within a changing context. The biosciences sector is seen as a crossroads in the relations between science and society.
The EU-funded project is coordinated by the University of Rome Tor Vergata, and four European institutions have been selected for putting RRI into practice: Ivan Franko University of Lviv, in Ukraine; Democritus University of Thrace in Greece, Marine Sciences Institute of the National Council of Scientific Research in Spain and the University of Zagreb in Croatia. These four organizations, supported by other partners having already participated in STARBIOS2 (an EU project about RRI in biosciences), will implement a series of “Grounding Actions” based on key elements of RRI (gender, open access, science education, ethics and governance), the 4 dimensions of RRI (anticipation, reflexivity, inclusiveness, responsiveness), and guided by Sustainable Development Goals.
These Grounding Actions work with a self-reflective process that each institution will develop, to reveal the areas where science can perform in a more open and inclusive way, and bonded with current societal needs. They are structured into three strands. A “co-reflexive” strand will develop dialogues with potential stakeholders in the co-design of research. A “pro-active” strand will implement the Grounding Actions within the research organizations, in connection with local and regional stakeholders. An “institutional strand” will implement changes within an organisation and develop permanent spaces for closer integration with society, taking into account the idea of the Quadruple Helix, which represents the relations that occur in society among Academia, Industry, Government and Civil Society. “We want to turn science affairs into social affairs” as Professor Vittorio Colizzi wisely stated.
ResBios will launch its website in March 2020. Meanwhile, you can follow its work on Twitter (@resbios) and Facebook (@resbioproject).
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