Public engagement with research: Citizens' views on motivations, barriers and support

Responsible research and innovation (RRI) approaches that have emerged in the past ten years point to the importance of engaging the public in dialogues about research. The different variants of RRI share the notion that societal actors, including citizens, need to work together - that is, engage in two-way communication during the research and innovation process - in order to better align both the process and its outcomes with the values, needs and expectations of society. Yet, sponsors and organizers of dialogues about research often face difficulties in recruiting sufficient numbers of participants or ensuring a sufficient level of diversity of participants. This paper asks what motivates or hinders individual citizens as members of the broader public to participate in such dialogues. It presents empirical findings of the European Union-funded project Promoting Societal Engagement Under the Terms of RRI (PROSO), which aimed to foster public engagement with research for RRI. PROSO used a quasi-experimental, qualitative approach directly involving citizens to address this question. The core of the innovative methodology were focus group discussions with European citizens about hypothetical opportunities to take part in dialogues about research. Three hypothetical scenarios of different dialogue formats (varied by whether they seek to inform the participants, consult or enable deeper collaboration on a scientific issue) were used as stimuli to explore the participants’ willingness (motivations and perceived barriers) to engage with scientific research. Our findings show a preference towards dialogue formats that give citizens a more active role and a greater say in research policy or research funding. They further suggest that those who seek to broaden citizen participation in dialogues about research should consider the role of relevance, impact, trust, legitimacy, knowledge, and time and resources as factors that can motivate or discourage citizens to take part. Based on our findings, we discuss possibilities to promote citizen participation in dialogues about research as part of putting RRI into practice

Strategic Outline of Public Engagement in the Development of Sustainability Research Policies and Programmes : Findings of the CASI Project

CASI’s major objective is to develop a methodological framework for assessing sustainable innovation and managing multidisciplinary solutions through public engagement in the research, technological development and innovation (RTDI) system. This paper provides insights and input for the last cycle of strategic programming of Horizon 2020 (2018 – 2020) and demonstrates the added value of public participation when looking for solutions to societal challenges and sustainability concerns. To that end, it presents some of the major results and insights gained from the implementation of two particular engagement approaches within CASI, namely citizen panels in 12 EU countries and an online survey with relevant experts and stakeholders

Report on Current Praxis of Policies and Activities Supporting Societal Engagement in Research and Innovation

The aim of the “Engage2020 Project” 1 is to promote the use of engagement methods and policies that support societal engagement in research and innovation by mapping what is practiced and spreading awareness of the opportunities amongst researchers, policy makers, and other interested parties. The project is tasked with scanning existing policies and activities, structures, methods, approaches, tools and instruments, as well as highlighting promising new or adapted approaches for the future. This report includes results of the scanning process on current praxis of policies and activities that support societal engagement in research and innovation in Europe and beyond. Desktop research and interviews, done by all partners of the Engage2020 consortium, were the main methods used to collect data. Overall, information and data on around 200 policies and activities that support societal engagement in research and innovation activities was collected and documented in the form of factsheets. After further analysis and verification, 124 factsheets that form the basis for analysis in this report were selected. The report focuses on policies and activities that support the engagement of societal actors in research and innovation. Specifically, the following actors were considered: Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), citizens, affected populations, consumers, employees, users, and others. These can be engaged at one or more of the different levels of research and innovation process: policy formation, programme development, project definition and research and innovation activity. Furthermore, this engagement could take place in relation to one or more of the seven Grand Challenges identified by the European Commission: health and demographic change, food security and sustainable agriculture, clean and efficient energy, green transport, climate change and resource efficiency, inclusive and innovative societies, and security. Results show that there is developing support for societal engagement in research and innovation activities at all four levels of the research and innovation process. Moreover, we found that there is growing interest at the European Union level to engage citizens in research and innovation activities. A total of 46 cases at this level were reviewed. At the national level, our results show that societal engagement was more prevalent in the Western European countries than in the Central and Eastern European countries. At the international level, we found strong policy support for societal engagement in North America and Canada. Only a few such cases were found in Africa and Asia. We cannot claim to have exhausted all the available policies and activities that support the engagement of societal actors in research and innovation activities in Europe and beyond. However, the results showed that there are many good examples of policies and activities that support societal engagement. These could be used as building blocks to further support societal engagement throughout Europe. The results also showed that there are several gaps and barriers that need to be filled and addressed for societal engagement to achieve its intended outcomes. Several barriers to societal engagement such as lack of time and resources, training and skills, poor infrastructure, as well as lack of evaluation and an underdeveloped culture of engagement are also highlighted. These and other gaps in the research and innovation process have the potentials to interfere with the quality and quantity of engagement processes. Overall, we found that most of the examples given in this report could be used as a source of inspiration for those interested in developing or using supportive policies for societal engagement in research and innovation. Many policies and activities could support engagement at one or more levels of the research and innovation process and most could be used in stimulating engagement for any Grand Challenge related research or innovative activity. 1 http://engage2020.e