Send message to Authors

Paper short abstract:

We discuss the requirements for societal engagement under the RRI paradigm. Based on empirical analysis of public participation in neuro-enhancement and synthetic biology we ask how these requirements are met and how co-responsibility and responsiveness is strived for in emerging technology areas.

Paper long abstract:

Societal engagement is a key dimension of the Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) approach, aiming towards making science, technology and innovation more transparent, interactive and responsive. While societal engagement in science and technology is not new, the notion of co-responsibility suggests new demands and challenges for the dialogue between science, society and politics.

Based on a systematic review of scholarly literature and policy documents we discuss different ways in which societal engagement is conceptualized in the context of RRI. By comparison to existing approaches of public participation in S&T we specify whether and to what extent RRI introduces novel perspectives of and requirements for societal engagement in research and innovation. From an STS perspective we are particularly interested in how the notion of co-responsibility is co-produced along with changing representations of research and innovation and shifting boundaries between science and society.

We then empirically analyse current practices of societal engagement in the areas neuro-enhancement and synthetic biology. In two EU-projects, NERRI and Synenergene, so-called Mutual Learning Exercises (MLEs) were developed and tested as instruments to foster the early dialogue between science and society. We ask in how far the MLEs meet the new requirements of RRI and serve as sites for the coordination and negotiation of responsibility and responsiveness in technology areas with highly visionary character. We conclude that while single MLEs are often still driven by traditional conceptions of science-society relations, the MLEs' potential for RRI may unfold as parts of emerging deliberative systems on science and innovation.