PROSO

Mutual learning and agreed practices in research and innovation: This is one of the core ideas of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) - the European Union's approach for Good Governance in Research and Innovation. RRI seeks to better align the processes and outcomes of research and innovation with the values, needs and expectations of European societies. This requires engagement of all societal actors.

PROSO's aim is to foster the engagement of Third sector actors (civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations, churches, unions etc.) and of citizens in research and innovation (R&I). The project will provide guidance on promising policy and governance measures for advancing the use of inclusive participatory approaches. This guidance is based on the analysis of engagement in three R&I fields, namely nanotechnology, health & food, and bio-economy.

The project comprises three central tasks.

• Clarifying the requirements of societal engagement in the RRI framework (through a systematic analysis of previous research on RRI).
• Investigating hurdles and incentives of societal engagement and to learn how these may be related to different research and innovation domains.
• Developing innovative policy and governance approaches to promote societal engagement in RRI in Europe.

These are the main research instruments that will be used.

• Qualitative interviews with representatives of civil society organizations and research policy-related actors.
• National citizen panels in five European countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Portugal and the UK.
• A European multi-actor deliberation conference and a couple of expert/stakeholder workshops.