The SIS-RRI Conference (Science, Innovation and Society - achieving Responsible Research and Innovation), was held in Rome from November 19th to 21st. Three days of conferences, workshops and networking between European stakeholders helped the reflection about the stakes and the future of research and innovation on a European scale to move forward. The Conference, supported by the European Commission on the occasion of the Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, aimed at debating on the ways that responsible research and innovation (RRI) can increase interest and engage citizens in research and innovation activities throughout the 6 following key areas: public engagement, gender equality, science education, ethics, open science and governance.
These three days led to the publication of the Rome Declaration on Responsible Research and Innovation in Europe, with the aim of highlighting the main principles on which the European Union is founded: the respect of human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and the respect of human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. The Declaration is the result of major conclusions, drawn from more than a decade of research and pilot activities on the interplay between science and society. Research and innovation aim to improve society: therefore, they cannot be done without including notions of ethics and societal responsibility, and without engaging citizens by facilitating access to knowledge and research results, building citizens' trust regarding innovation and technology. Diversity in research and innovation, as well as gender equality, improve scientific quality, and RRI requires that all the stakeholders, including civil society, work together to respect the 6 key points mentioned above.
The Rome Declaration leads to a call for action, for European institutions, Member States, Regional Authorities and Research and Innovation Funding Organisations: systematically integrate RRI criteria in the implementation of research and innovation programmes, promote and provide guidelines for the implementation of RRI criteria in research and innovation, review one's own procedures and practices in order to identify good practices in RRI and thinking about the future of RRI...
The Rome Declaration can be found on the SIS-RRI Conference website.