Supporting regional sustainability transitions with Responsible Research and Innovation

Beschreibung

Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) has been devised as a high-level policy framework in the EU to ensure that research and innovation activities lead to socially desirable, ethically acceptable, environmentally sustainable and economically feasible outcomes. However, the governance and implementation of RRI in practice is complex and bears some challenges because it depends on the regional context and on how inclusiveness, responsiveness, reflexivity, and anticipation are put in place. We assert that RRI is able to support the sustainability transition effectively at the regional level if implemented well, i.e., if corresponding actions are concrete and strongly backed by all relevant stakeholder groups: science and research, industry, government, as well as civil society.

The EU-project DigiTeRRI developed a stakeholder-driven, RRI-oriented roadmapping process and implemented a pilot to support the twin – green and digital – transition in three European traditional industry regions (Styria in Austria, Région Grand Est in France, and Värmland in Sweden). These regions are characterised by traditional manufacturing and process industries like steel, wood, pulp and paper as well as mechanical engineering, especially automotive, rolling stock and aerospace supply, and as such, are challenged by the sustainability transition. The roadmapping approach comprised three phases, i) creating a region-specific common vision of a sustainable and digitalised future developed in multi-stakeholder workshops, ii) developing associated strategic goals and roadmaps for a set of activity domains, and iii) defining and implementing 12 concrete support actions in each of the three regions (covering the domains, knowledge & skills, technology, networks & collaboration, infrastructure, culture & values, leadership, business and markets as well as communication. In the three regions combined, more than 1,000 persons were involved in the project activities.

Our paper aims to reveal the effect of RRI-oriented, stakeholder-driven roadmapping on advancing this transition in the three pilot regions. The analysis builds on data from a semi-quantitative online survey of pilot project participants and draws on self-assessment data. The target group comprises regional policy stakeholders and important organisation representatives, managers of the implemented actions, and action participants from all three regions (101 respondents). This empirical approach was chosen to alleviate the tension between quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods, since standardized performance indicators, even those available in the RRI context, may fail to appraise the full actual value of the conducted activities (generally known as the evaluation gap).

The survey reveals positive effects of the RRI-oriented roadmapping approach, both with respect to advancements of the twin transition within organisations, and also more systemic effects like knowledge exchange networks at the regional level. Thus, this research provides evidence on effectiveness of the pilot project in advancing the twin transition in regions with inclusive deliberation and implementation processes. Moreover, our research adds to the literature demonstrating how the RRI framework can create real impact in regions.



Preselected paper tracks
1. Accelerating sustainability transitions: Unpacking challenges and causal mechanisms

Zeitraum	19 Juni 2024
Ereignistitel	15th International Sustainability Transitions Conference: Sustainability Transitions and Nature
Veranstaltungstyp	Konferenz
Ort	Oslo, NorwegenAuf Karte anzeigen
Bekanntheitsgrad	International