The Societal Readiness Thinking Tool: A practical resource for maturing the societal readiness of research projects

Michael J. Bernstein*, Mathias Wullum Nielsen, Emil Alnor, Andre Brasil, Astrid Lykke Birkving, Tung Tung Chan, Erich Griessler, Stefan de Jong, Wouter van de Klippe, Ingeborg Meijer, Emad Yaghmaei, Peter Busch Nicolaisen, Mika Nieminen, Peter Novitzky, Niels Mejlgaard

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

In this paper, we introduce the Societal Readiness (SR) Thinking Tool to aid researchers and innovators in developing research projects with greater responsiveness to societal values, needs, and expectations. The need for societally-focused approaches to research and innovation-complementary to Technology Readiness (TR) frameworks-is presented. Insights from responsible research and innovation (RRI) concepts and practice, organized across critical stages of project-life cycles are discussed with reference to the development of the SR Thinking Tool. The tool is designed to complement not only shortfalls in TR approaches, but also improve upon other efforts to integrate RRI, sustainability, and design thinking in research and innovation cycles. Operationalization and early-stage user tests of the Tool are reported, along with discussion of potential future iterations and applications.

Original languageEnglish
Article number6
Number of pages32
JournalScience and Engineering Ethics
Volume28
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Keywords

  • Innovation
  • TRL
  • Technology Readiness Levels
  • RRI
  • Responsible research and innovation
  • Research management
  • Societal Readiness
  • Thinking Tool
  • RESPONSIBLE RESEARCH
  • INNOVATION
  • FRAMEWORK
  • SUSTAINABILITY
  • OUTCOMES
  • SYSTEMS
  • SCIENCE
  • POWER

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