PROSO aims to foster the engagement of third sector organizations (like NGOs) and citizens as part of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). The project will provide guidance on policy and governance measures for advancing the use of inclusive participatory approaches in research and innovation processes in Europe.
PROSO will:
- Explore the expectations towards societal engagement in research and innovation from an RRI perspective
- Generate an overview of barriers and incentives for engaging with third sector organizations and citizens in different research and innovation contexts
- Identify best case examples of societal engagement for RRI
- Develop policy and governance options for encouraging societal engagement for RRI.
The work of PROSO is organized in 8 workpackages (WP):
WP1 Project integration and infrastructure
Main tasks are to develop a shared understanding in the PROSO team of the dependencies between tasks and partners (for this purpose a project integration pilot will be produced), establish the project’s infrastructure including intra-net, e-mailing lists, computer-based conference facilities, and implement the Advisory Panel.
WP2 RRI and societal engagement
Main task is to explore expectations RRI concepts address towards societal engagement in research and innovation and to take stock of existing experiences with implementing societal engagement under the terms of RRI. A systematic analysis of the current state of research and conceptual proposals will be carried out, and as part of it an expert workshop on “Contemporary experiences with societal engagement under RRI” will be conducted.
WP3 Mapping barriers and incentives
Main task is to map barriers and incentives across three research and innovation (R&I) domains (nanotechnology, food & health, bio-economy) and from the point of view of third sector organizations and other (organized) stakeholders/actors relevant for RRI (including science/technology policy makers, research funders, academics, industry). For each R&I field 12-15 qualitative semi-structured interviews will be carried out.
WP4 Citizens‘ views of engagement in research and innovation
Main task is to investigate (non-organized) citizens’ perspectives on barriers and incentives of engaging in research and innovation (R&I) in the three R&I domains and possible policy and governance options to encourage engagement. For this purpose national citizen panels (of about 20 citizens who meet twice) in five European countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Portugal, United Kingdom) and an expert workshop will be conducted.
WP5 Multi-actor deliberation
Main task is to identify policy and governance implications of the insights gained into engagement barriers and incentives for third sector actors and citizens and subject them to a European multi-actor conference for feedback and deliberation.
WP6 Policy and practice guide
Main task is to condense the results achieved in workpackages 2-5 into a policy and practice guide for developing policy and governance for the advancement of societal engagement under the terms of RRI. The key target audiences of the policy guide are science-policy makers, research funders, and third sector actors.
WP7 Communication and Dissemination
Main task is to communicate and disseminate PROSO’s objectives and results throughout the project’s lifetime. Channels and activities include a project website, information and communication material including an explainer video, newsletters and policy briefs, press contact on key project events, open access scientific publications, presentations at relevant conferences and workshops and the PROSO Final Dissemination Conference.
WP8 Management
Main tasks are to coordinate PROSO’s research, communication and dissemination activities, to communicate with the European Commission, to manage and report on administrative and financial issues, to manage quality control, to resolve conflicts (should they appear), and to manage progress reporting.