Social Lab 8 – Workshop 1

Date: 30-31 May 2018

Place: Tromsø, Norway

Participants

The group consisted of 14 participants from 10 different countries representing several fields of work.

Description

This workshop mobilized a range of people associated with FOOD from across Europe, including national research managers, professors, labour and industry representatives, and policy officials. Participants shared a common mission to learn about and enhance responsible research and innovation in FOOD R&I.

It was noticed that RRI perceptions vary from participant to participant. There was general agreement that involved reflecting on how ones actions impact others and their well-being, and as part of this trying to think from other people’s perspectives.

There was also a sense that responsibility is in part understood through comparison with other behaviors. There was rich discussion about how responsibility is in part following rules and regulations, but also about something more than following rules—perhaps involving an ethical / moral dimension.

Participants agreed that responsibility in R&I in particular requires flexibility, because goals sometimes change; but also not over-promising, because that creates pressures that may not support responsible behavior.