RRI2SCALE has designed a solid methodological approach to assist regional R&I territorial ecosystems to sufficiently and sustainably address their regional dilemmas. Our concept is clear and strong: navigate authorities and stakeholders of pilot regions to permanently integrate RRI principles in their governance structures.
In particular, the project has been designed upon three distinct pillars:
1) Comprehension, Exploration, Anticipation
First and foremost, the project seeks to understand the regional specificities of the four pilot territories, while it identifies best practices that can be emulated. At the same time, it gains insight of the diverse ecosystems and their stakeholders for the participating regions. To achieve this step, large-scale citizen surveys, alongside desk research and data collection are deployed. The project also maps future trajectory developments concerning the regional R&I, attempting to anticipate socio-ecological impacts of upcoming trends. State-of-the-art techniques, such as Delphi method and techno-moral scenarios, serve to fully grasp the influence of technological progress on societal norms and morality. How technological change, triggered by R&I, interacts with society? What citizens think, hope and fear about the changes that inevitably accompany technological evolution? In effect, the project embraces a proactive approach, paving the way for the effective implementation of the pilot actions.
2) Awareness, Mobilisation, Engagement
RRI2SCALE wants to formulate new institutional arrangements, fostering participatory and horizontal forms of governance and decision-making. Civil society and stakeholders are not mere beneficiaries of the project, but the very protagonists. Citizens must not only passively accept top-down technological progress. They should rather express their view, co-shape the policy agendas and deliberate on technological priorities, according to the needs in their home territories. Therefore, the project enables locally engaged communities and stakeholders to become co-shapers of lasting institutional frameworks that incorporate RRI as an organic element. To that end, cross-regional dialogues and exchange of information are scheduled. By increasing local awareness and promoting stakeholder engagement, RRI2SCALE pursues citizen empowerment and mobilisation. Moreover, the project provides training to local stakeholders, whereas regional authorities co-design the instrumental tools for the efficient monitoring of the pilot steps and their results.
3) Assessment, Communication, Preservation
Given that transparency and honesty stand as key values, RRI2SCALE foresees the design of tools and methodological frameworks that set into motion the continuous assessment and evaluation of the project’s progress. The results of the pilot actions are communicated and publicised through continuous, rigorous and constant reporting. In this way, stakeholders and citizens remain up-to-date and can provide their feedback under a context of bottom-up interaction. Nonetheless, experts in the field play also a distinctive role, since their experience and insight are valuable assets for the overall assessment. Finally, the project aims to sustain the positive impacts and nurture them even after the end of pilot actions. Therefore, RRI2SCALE strives for replication and adoption of its results across, and even beyond, Europe by adopting a pan-European perspective on Responsible Research and Innovation.