Fostering the Building of New Capacities in Responsible Research and Innovation through Co- Creation

Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) aims to involve stakeholders and society actively in innovation processes, making them more responsible and collaboratively while tackling pressing societal challenges. Facing difficulties in translating this concept from theory into practice, co-creation has been identified as a potential approach to operationalize RRI involving organizations into concrete initiatives. As a non-linear process, it involves multiple stakeholders in an iterative, collaborative development procedure of products, services, policies, or systems intended to obtain a satisfying solution for all involved actors. This contribution investigates co-creation applied and assessed in a learning-by-doing process to explore the dynamics and results of knowledge exchange and capacity building. Knowledge is gained from the H2020 project SISCODE, which examines the operationalization of RRI through co-creation in concrete contexts with real- life experimentations. With the setup of an experiential learning process, ten pilot experimentations using co-creation to tackle various societal challenges across Europe were conducted. To monitor and assess the direct results, mid-term outcomes, and the potential of long- term impact, an assessment framework was developed as part of the project. It consists of monitoring practices and tools that focus on collaborative data collection to foster self- reflection and track changes over time. The dimensions investigated aimed at obtaining a perspective of capacities built and learning processes triggered as indirect results of the process to sustain co-creation and Responsible Innovation in the long term beyond the single initiative. The capacities developed as a result range from soft skills (like empathy) to the capability of systemic thinking and the application of co-design tools. Activating a broader reflection, it is finally discussed the roles of prototypes as boundary objects for learning processes, the need to create a safe and encouraging space as a learning environment and long-term strategies for in-depth change.