Responsible research and innovation for the twin transition: the effect of digitalisation support in regions

The twin transition of the economy cannot be imposed top-down but requires an active involvement of all relevant stakeholders. The European Commission has promoted Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) as a policy framework to ensure that research and innovation activities lead to socially desirable, ethically acceptable, environmentally sustainable and economically feasible outcomes. Postulating that RRI can effectively support the twin transition if implemented well at the regional level, concrete measures must be strongly backed and sustained by all relevant stakeholder groups: civil society, industry, government, as well as science and research. This paper aims to analyse the effect of RRI-oriented, stakeholder-driven roadmapping on advancing the twin transition in three pilot European regions. A survey of pilot project participants reveals positive effects of the described approach, providing a promising model on how to organize discussions and deliberation processes to proceed effectively with the twin transition of regions.