Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A Horizon 2020 project includes a public-engagement work package and a named gender-equality action, addressing two of RRI's six formal dimensions.
- Is an instance
A research team runs an anticipatory workshop early in project design to surface potential misuse or unintended societal effects of a new technology, applying the 'anticipation' dimension of the Owen-Stilgoe framework before committing to a technical approach.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A project that adds an ethics statement only at the publication stage, with no engagement or reflexivity built into the research design itself, does not meet the RRI standard of anticipatory, ongoing responsibility.
Editorial commentary
Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) emerged in European Commission policy discourse in the early 2010s, drawing on earlier anticipatory-governance and ELSI (Ethical, Legal and Social Implications) traditions from genomics and biotechnology policy. It asks researchers and innovators to consider and respond to the wider societal implications of their work as it happens, rather than treating ethics as a one-off approval step or an afterthought once results are in.
Two influential formulations
The EU’s Horizon 2020 programme formalised RRI operationally under six dimensions, often abbreviated as covering: public engagement, gender equality, science education, ethics, open access, and governance. Separately, and highly influentially in the academic literature, Owen, Stilgoe and colleagues articulated a four-dimensional conceptual framework known by the acronym AIRR: anticipation, reflexivity, inclusion, and responsiveness. The two are compatible but pitched differently — Horizon 2020’s six dimensions were operational funding-programme categories, while AIRR is a process framework for how research is conducted, applicable regardless of funder.
Where it sits now, and its overlap with mission-oriented research
RRI has since been folded into Horizon Europe under the broader headings of open science, gender, and ethics, rather than surviving as a distinct standalone programme category, though it continues to influence individual funder requirements and institutional research-ethics practice. It overlaps substantially with mission-oriented research and with SDG-aligned research framing — all three ask researchers to orient work toward societal benefit — but RRI is distinguished by its emphasis on process (how research is conducted and governed) rather than on a specific thematic goal or target.
References
- Stilgoe J, Owen R, Macnaghten P. ‘Developing a framework for responsible innovation.’ Research Policy, 2013. European Commission, ‘Responsible Research and Innovation,’ Horizon 2020 documentation.
Also known as
RRI
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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