Responsible Research and Innovation operationalization in ecosystems through co-creation

It has been recognized, both in theory and practice, that the active involvement of stakeholders and final users (here the authors refer to the notion of co-creation) can support the development of solutions like products, services or innovations and make them more effective, appropriate, and implementable (Benington & Moore, 2010; Jones, 2018; Stilgoe et al., 2020; Voorberg et al., 2015). With respect to the development of new products and services for the market, co-creation has been largely recognized as an approach to innovation that can lead to better solutions that can create new business opportunities (Prahalad, 2004; Ramaswamy et al., 2014). What is less known is evidence in favor of the fact that turning stakeholders and customers from passive to active participants in the process of innovation development can automatically bring in higher levels of responsibility, for example, intrinsically by sharing problems and co-creating solutions, the results will become more sustainable for all (Schmittinger et al., 2020). RRI entails direct interaction with and among different actors taking cultural and behavioral diversity and various points of view into account, leading to an iterative and collaborative process of solution development. Through the elements of collaboration and exchange, a peer-to-peer learning process can be enabled that build new capacities and capabilities. RRI, on the other hand, aims to open innovation processes to a broader range of societal actors, including citizens, communities, and stakeholders, starting from the early phases of research to develop innovation responding to the real needs of society