Regional Action Plan Southern Regional Assembly
Regional Action Plan to Support the Governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in The Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014-2020
Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
Southern Regional Assembly & South East Business & Innovation Centre (SEBIC)
Authors / Partner organisations:
Country:
Ireland
NUTS 2 region:
Southern & Eastern Region
Contact Person:
Karen Coughlan
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
Table of Contents
Glossary of Terms ………………………………………………................................................................................................ 5
MARIE: the project and theAction Plan …...................................…………………….................................................... 7
Part 1: Policy context of Action Plan ……………………………………………….................................................... 10
Part 2: Policy improvement and relevance to MARIE outputs ………………………................... 15
Part 3: Definition of actions and feasibility check ……………….................................................. 26
Description of additional policy influence over the Southern RSES ........................................................ 38
Part 4: Regional Action Plan Endorsements ………………...................................................................................... 47
Appendix1 –MonitoringCommitteeReport ………………….....................................................…......................... 48
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
Southern Regional Assembly www.southernassembly.ie Visit our website to follow us on
MARIE www.interregeurope.eu/marie Visit the project website for further details and to follow us on
Thank you to those who supplied photographs including but not limited to: ©Tourism Ireland, Irelands Content Pool
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
Glossary of Terms
Acronym
Meaning
BERD
Business Enterprise Research Development
CAO
Central Applications Office
EDP
Entrepreneurial Discovery Process
ERDF
European Regional Development Fund
GP
Good Practice
HEI
Higher Education Institutions
IB
Intermediate Body
IP
Investment Priority
MA
Managing Authority NFQ Level 8 Equivalent to an Honours Bachelor’s degrees NFQ National Framework of Qualifications PI Policy Instrument RDI Research Development & Innovation RI Responsible Innovation RIS3
Research & Innovation Smart Specialisation Strategy
RRI
Responsible Research & Innovation
RSES
Regional Spatial & Economic Strategy
RTDI
Research, Technology Development & Innovation
S&E
Southern & Eastern
SDG
Sustainable Development Goals
SEBIC
South-East Business & Innovation Centre
S&E ROP
Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme
SFI
Science Foundation Ireland
SME
Small and Medium Enterprise
SRA
Southern Regional Assembly
S3
Smart Specialisation Strategy
STEM
Science Technology Engineering & Maths
STI
Science, Technology & Innovation
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
The Project and the Action Plan
The European Commission states that “research and innovation must respond to the needs and ambitions of society, reflect its values, and be responsible.” This means that while innovation is essential for our enterprises to compete on the global market, it also has the potential to change lives for the better. However, there are too many examples of innovations that have reached the market only to reveal negative impacts. We have seen examples of medicine that has had fatal consequences; we have seen the impact that large-scale transport and mass-agricultural production techniques have had on our environment; we are still finding out about the health and safety issues surrounding digitalisation. Responsible Innovation (RI) is an attempt to anticipate such negative impacts and to redirect innovation towards a model that reflects on impact from the start of product invention, design and production. RI engages with the public, the end-users of the product, in all development phases. RI encourages innovators to reflect on diversity, on ethics, on openness. It encourages them to anticipate and to govern their innovation. RI is a new concept and enterprises, particularly SMEs, are not always aware of it and of its potential benefits, or ready to apply it in their innovation processes. Public Authorities have a role here: they can raise awareness and capacity; they can provide incentives for its uptake; they can create favourable, collaborative
environments for RI; they can provide funding to experiment with tools to integrate RI into innovation processes. The MARIE project, co-funded by Interreg Europe, was designed to help the public sector to do just that. Public Authorities from 8 European regions have worked together to share experiences in RI in the context of their smart specialisation priority sectors. They have developed Action Plans that detail howmajor innovation funding programmes, including ERDF Regional Operational Programmes, will promote RI across their territories. Their objective is to ensure that regional public policy supports delivery of RI to enterprises’ product, process and service design, production and distribution.
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
Interregional exchange has helped partners to learn and to design improvements to their own policy. Exchange has included:
• 8 Interregional Learning Events , organised across Europe and using different methods to share ideas, knowledge and challenges;
• Analysis of 11 Good Practices , coming from different areas of Europe and representing different aspects of the RI process;
• An Enterprise Survey carried out with 23 companies from across the MARIE regions, to gather feedback from the ground, from the enterprises that can and must drive Responsible Innovation and that represent the beneficiaries of public policy for research, development and innovation;
• RI Maturity Assessment 1 carried out in all MARIE regions and then grouped for an interregional comparison;
• 2 large scale public events organised in Dublin in October 2018 and October 2019 and engaging with other international projects working on RI.
The MARIE Action Plan template 2 was designed to lead partners through various stages of interregional exchange leading to definition of concrete activities for policy improvement.
The steps included within the Action Plan template were carefully designed to create a seamless flow between:
2
4
The current (“where are we now?”) and envisaged (“where do we want to be?”) policy situation; 1
3
the description of the policy improvement and its positioning within the MARIE RRI concept;
the utilisation of the collected GPs, and
the alignment with the regional RRI maturity level and needs.
1. The templates and methodologies for both the Enterprise Survey and the Maturity Mapping were both designed by MARIE Exchange Manager, Athens University of Economics and Business – RC, who was also responsible for the interregional comparison and preparation of the joint reports. 2. The methodological flow of the project and the template was designed by MARIE Exchange Manager, Athens University of Economics and Business – RC, with some input used from templates provided by the programme and by previous, successful projects (Interreg Europe Action Plan Template / COGITA Interreg IVC project Road Map Template).
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
The MARIE Action Plan development strategy , showing the relationships between the current policy context, the envisaged policy improvement, the MARIE outputs, and the Action Plan development and implementation, is illustrated in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1. MARIE Action Plan development and implementation strategy
The Action Plan is, as such, divided into three parts:
• Part 1 – Policy Context: this part describes the current policy situation, the need(s) that render necessary its improvement and the envisaged / enhanced policy context; • Part 2 – Policy improvement(s) and relevance to MARIE: this part describes the proposed policy improvement(s), how it contributes towards the enhancement of the policy context, and its alignment with the MARIE outputs and the Interreg Europe policy improvement classification; • Part 3 – Actions and feasibility check: this part describes the actions and other dimensions included in the development of the Action Plan and to assess the feasibility of its implementation.
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020 Part 1: Policy context of Action Plan Description of the Regional Policy Context 1
The Southern & Eastern (S&E) Region of Ireland has strengths in many priority sectors in the Irish Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) through the presence of twelve HEI’s in the region. The S&E region is categorised as an ‘innovation leader’ in the National Needs Analysis and is on track to meet EU 2020 targets in research, development and innovation (RDI) intensity. The Irish Government’s Action Plan for Jobs focuses on regaining lost competitiveness, boosting productivity, increasing export intensity and market diversity, taking measures to improve Ireland’s attractiveness as a location for foreign direct investment and increasing start-ups and entrepreneurial activity. TheActionPlanfor Jobshighlights Ireland’s strong science base, but the focus of science, technology and innovation (STI) policymust beonaccelerating economic and societal return on STI investment, strengthening enterprise engagement with public research and driving commercialisation of public research. There are limitations in the capacity of HEIs to generate RDI activity and commercialise RDI outputs. Performance is hindered by lack of academic industrial linkages and limited resources available for business-based research and innovation.
The Southern Regional Assembly (SRA) has prioritised strengthening links between HEIs and industry to increase RDI within enterprises and accelerate commercialisation of research outputs. It is imperative to promote level, quality and commercial applicability of RDI, ensuring that industry leads the response to rapid changes in customer and societal needs/demands. Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is a relatively new concept in the S&E region of Ireland but could respond to the needs outlined above in terms of linkages between HEI’s and high RDI quality. Ireland does not have a separate RRI framework but applies general principles to national Research, Technology Development and Innovation (RTDI) policy and the associated investment priorities under the Regional Operational Programme (ROP). The S&E ROP has integrated the 3 horizontal principles of sustainable development, gender equality & non-discrimination and social inclusion into programme design and project selection. SRA has refined policies, procedures and monitoring metrics to reflect this with the aim of further refinement by introducing RRI elements based on learning from Project MARIE.
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
Description of the need(s) to be addressed through the policy improvement
Responsible Research & Innovation (RRI) has evolved from the acknowledgement that research needs to address societal as well as science & technological goals. RRI is an expansive and ambitious research model, connecting diverse aspects of the relationship between Research & Innovation and Society through; public engagement, open access, gender equality, science education, ethics, and governance. The wider inclusion and involvement of society is a fundamental principle of RRI. RRI’s ambition is to create a shared understanding between the EC, governments, business and research institutions; as a pre-requisite to building the trust and confidence of the public and other stakeholders, in the safe and effective systems, processes and products of innovation. RRI as an output and outcome aims to generate the ‘right’ solutions, products and services, which benefit people and planet as well as generate profit. There is no refuting that science has changed the world and continues to be a driving force for the progress of humanity. Science and technology have improved quality of life for many of us, but in some cases, innovation has led to controversial or unintended consequences. Some of the world’s greatest catastrophes have been driven by human activity due to lack of consideration for the outcomes. Research & Innovation must be fostered by a code of ethics informed by principles of sustainability and equity. Conducting research responsibly that not only answers questions and solves problems but is also in line with the ethical values and needs of society, must be a primary focus for government.
In practical terms what does the inclusion of RRI principles mean for the S&E ROP?
• SRA through the administration and governance of the S&E ROP will be setting the agenda for the region by providing leadership, direction and resources to researchers and business innovators, and platforms to engage civil society organisations and science educators;
• Integration of RRI principles into current and future RDI co-funded projects that are aligned to the process and outcomes of RTDI policy and S&E ROP priorities;
• Facilitate an increase in the level and quality of research taking place in the S&E region of Ireland by incorporating company engagement with applied research through the co-funded SFI Programmes. SFI are ROP Intermediary Bodies(IB’s) and manage 2 schemes under Priority 1:
i. Research Centres Programme: to develop a set of world-leading large-scale research centres (9 co-funded to date) aligned to S3 priorities;
ii. Associated Spokes Programme: to incorporate new areas of research and establish new industrial & academic collaborations to existing SFI research centres.
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
RRI dimensions are considered in the process of evaluation, selection and impact assessment of RDI co- funded projects. However, there is a need to integrate a more comprehensive system to embed the RRI dimension in the management, delivery and governance of the process (designing calls for projects, evaluation criteria for RRI elements, supporting potential applications in understanding the new procedures, monitoring metrics) and to raise awareness of policy managers of the RRI dimension and its potential application. This will assist the S&E region of Ireland to increase the level of commercialisation of research by the HEIs in the programme area in line with the S3 strategy.
MARIE is the first project in Ireland to directly address the lack of RRI in regional policy giving it much needed visibility.
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
Description of the policy instrument selected for improvement
The Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme (S&E ROP) 2014-2020 is a funding package of €500million, co-funded through the ERDF, the Irish Exchequer and Public Funds to be invested in the region over the programme period. This funding supports a significant programme of investment in research, technological development & innovation, and entrepreneurship in both enterprises and research centres which seeks to improve the region’s international competitiveness while boosting job creation.
S&E Regional Operational Programme 2014-2020 – Priority 1: Strengthening research, technological development and innovation:
The overall objectives of this Priority are to increase the level of research taking place in the S&E region with company engagement by supporting applied research and to increase the level of commercialisation of research by the HEI’s in the region. This priority seeks to enhance research and innovation (R&I) infrastructure and to facilitate capacity building in order to develop R&I excellence and promote Competence Centres. This priority also has a focus on promoting business investment in R&I through developing links and synergies between enterprises, research & development centres and the higher education sector. The priority has been aligned with Ireland’s identified priority research areas as set out in the Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3).
Priority 1 comprises 2 Investment Priorities (IP) (1a & 1b):
• Under IP 1a: the objective is to increase the level of research taking place in the Region with company engagement by supplying applied research;
• Under IP 1b: the objective is to increase the level of commercialisation of research by the Higher Educational Institutions (HEI’s) in the region.
"
If you always do what you always did you will always get what you always got Albert Einstein
"
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
Description of the envisaged / enhanced policy context
While the S&E ROP has a very strong emphasis on Research & Innovation it only inadvertently promotes aspects of RRI primarily the quadruple helix cooperation. It does not currently include a specific, comprehensive focus on responsibility. In order to meet societal challenges and expectations, broader societal involvement in R&I is needed to collaboratively reflect on the futures we aspire to as societies. Further integrating the values, guiding principles and requirements of RRI into our policy instrument, whether existing or brand new, can contribute to increasing the ethical acceptability, sustainability and social desirability of the processes and outcomes of a programme. The MARIE project is an opportunity to integrate and embed RRI as a horizontal principle into the S&E ROP in order to improve the quality of responsible innovation delivery and enhance the governance of RRI principles.
By enhancing the governance of RRI principles the S&E ROP will:
• Be robust and adaptable to the unpredictable development of R&I;
• Share responsibility and accountability among all actors;
• Enhance governance and reporting on RRI by providing governance instruments to foster shared responsibility;
• Encourage an increase in the number of researchers embedding RRI principles into their work;
• Facilitate better alignment of RTDI to the values, needs and expectations of a wider public;
• Lead to an increase in the level of public engagement and science education;
• Provide an opportunity to increase awareness of the benefits of RRI in all societal actors;
• Alleviate the perceived complexity of the concept and means of application of RRI by facilitating an appropriate approach for public authorities;
• Influence how RRI is integrated into future policy/programme;
• Provide an opportunity to ensure any changes and outcomes of the enhanced reporting is sustainable going forward.
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020 Part 2: Policy improvement and relevance to MARIE outputs
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The proposed policy improvement
Title
Enhancing governance of RRI principles in the implementation and monitoring of the S&E Regional Operational Programme 2014-2020 (S&E ROP). Dimensions of RRI are currently considered in the policy instrument through integration of the 3 horizontal principles of 1) sustainable development, 2) gender equality & non-discrimination and 3) social inclusion into programme design and project selection. However, it has been recognised that there is a need to integrate a more comprehensive system to further embed the RRI dimension into the management, delivery and governance of the process, this can be complemented by raising awareness with the policy managers of the enhanced RRI dimension and its potential application. Improvementof thepolicyinstrument focusesonenhancedgovernance. The Southern Regional Assembly (SRA) are Managing Authority (MA) for the ROP. A Monitoring Committee (MC) was established at the outset of the programme to review all progress and impact made under the ROP and have the authority to make strategic decisions. SFI, as IB, are required to complete and submit a progress report against pre-determined targets and milestones to the MC in advance of the annual committee meeting. The scope to make changes to the reporting template is limited and a case must be presented and approved through the MC at the annual meeting. SFI and SRA negotiated and agreed a revised reporting template which was presented and approved by the MC. Specifically, this revised template will now require SFI to incorporate additional reporting on twoRRI keys: Public Engagement andpromotion of Science Education in all their ResearchCentres andAssociated Spokes Programmes co-funded through the S&E ROP.
Description of policy improvement
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
The policy improvement will be implemented over 2 phases:
Phase 1 - the policy improvement outlined in this action plan has been achieved, the additional RRI reporting has been agreed with SFI and approved by the ROP Monitoring Committee. The indicators to be reported on have been agreed with SFI who will commence the revised reporting in 2020 for the activities carried out in 2019. Phase 2 – SRA will be measuring and reporting on results against the agreed Impact Assessment Indicators. Whilst the policy improvement is being implemented, measured and reported on for the years 2020 and 2021, in linewith the Interreg Europe requirements, the SRA are considering this improvement as a pilot stage to be further enhanced and carried over into future programming periods and potentially into other measures. The learning fromphase-1 and results reported in phase-2 will be instrumental in determining how best to incorporate RRI elements into future programming periods. As detailed above a revised reporting template has been agreed and approved with the purpose of incorporating it into the next programme. SRA are in talks with the EC around the details of the post 2020 programming periods. Going forward this will require the engagement of all actors (from individual researchers, policy-makers, innovators, civil society organisations, SMEs, HEIs, government bodies and State Agencies) to adopt and incorporate additional RRI principles in their reporting requirements under S&E ROP. While the S&E ROP has a very strong emphasis on Research & Innovation it only inadvertently promotes aspects of RRI, namely quadruple helix cooperation. It does not currently include a specific, comprehensive focus on responsibility. Further Integrating the values, guiding principles and requirements of RRI into our policy instrument, whether existing or brand new, can contribute to increasing the ethical acceptability, sustainability and social desirability of the processes and outcomes of the programme. The MARIE project is an opportunity to fully integrate and embed RRI as a horizontal principle into the S&E ROP in order to improve the quality of responsible innovation delivery and enhance the governance of RRI principles. The policy improvement being implemented comes under Type 2 – Management of the Policy instrument i.e. methodology for monitoring and evaluating has been refined.
Improvement over current policy instrument
Type of policy improvement
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
Impact of the proposed policy instrument
Impact of proposed policy improvement on the envisaged / enhanced policy context
The enhanced governance of additional RRI elements in the S&E ROP will ensure RTDI in the region is increased and enriched by ensuring better alignment to the values, needs and expectations of a wider public in the S&E region. It has been proven that policies/strategies and practices basedonRRI canopenupR&I toall relevant actors and improve co-operation between science and society resulting in the pairing of scientific excellence with social awareness and responsibility. The SRA, through the administration and governance of the S&E ROP, will be setting the agenda for the region by providing leadership, direction and resources to researchers and business innovators, and platforms to engage civil society organisations and science educators. The enhanced governance will incorporate monitoring metrics which will allow us to measure the impact of the promotion of science education through SFI.
By enhancing the governance of RRI principles the S&E ROP will:
• Be robust and adaptable to the unpredictable development of R&I;
• Involve a wide range of stakeholders in the development of the Regional Action Plan thereby embracing and promoting the RRI holistic approach;
• Share responsibility and accountability among all actors;
• Provide governance instruments to foster this shared responsibility;
• Influence how RRI is integrated into future policy/programmes;
• Ensure any changes and outcomes of the enhanced reporting is sustainable;
• Facilitate the pairing of scientific excellence with social awareness and responsibility;
• Increase the level of commercialisation of research by the HEIs in the programme area in line with the S3 strategy.
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
Impact of proposed policy improvement on the envisaged / enhanced policy context
As a result, the improved S&E ROP will strengthen RTDI capacity and outcomes in the region, producing better science, making research agendas more diverse and taking better account of real-world complexities and opportunities. TheSRA, throughtheadministrationandgovernanceof theS&EROP,will be setting the agenda for the region by providing leadership, direction and resources to researchers and business innovators, and platforms to engage civil society organisations and science educators. RRI principles, aligned to the process and outcomes of RTDI policy, will be integrated into current and future RTDI co-funded projects and ROP priorities. This is expected to maximise the potentials of smarter growth in the region by taking an approach to innovation that will drive growth and build a better more inclusive society, thus future proofing the region to remain robust and adaptable to the unpredictable development of R&I. S&E ROP already addresses some aspects of RRI. However, significant improvement is possible through a more integrated approach and the introduction of enhanced governance of additional RRI principles in the S&E ROP. As stated previously the S&E ROP has elements of RRI within the programme however it does not have a specific focus on the monitoring and metrics of the impact of RRI. The additional reporting on public engagement and science educationwill significantly enhance the overall governance and embedding of RRI principles within the S&E ROP. This enhanced reporting and monitoring policy will focus and strengthen RTDI which in turn will increase the level of research with company engagement taking place and better align RTDI outcomes with the values and needs of society.
Elements of improvement of the current policy context
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
Impact assessment indicators
The indicators that will measure the expected impact the policy instrument aims to achieve are as follows:
• Science Technology Engineering &Maths (STEM) Leaving Certificate participation numbers and % change year-on-year;
• STEM Leaving Certificate female participation numbers and % change year-on-year;
• STEM Level 8 first preference numbers and % change year-on-year;
• STEM Level 8 first preference female numbers and % change year- on-year;
• Number of research projects approved under the SFI Discover Programme.
These indicators will enable SRA to quantitatively assess the change based on year-on-year outcomes and will inform future policies of national and regional organisations including SFI.
Baseline will be taken from the State Examinations Commission and the CAO for results published in 2018 for the academic year 2017-2018.
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
Policy improvement and relation to MARIE RRI concept
MARIE RRI Concept Dimensions
Components of RRI dimension
How?
RRI dimensions
Public Engagement Sentinel stakeholder SFI to now report on outreach activities and public engagement. Gender Equality The monitoring of female participation in STEM subjects will be reported on through the impact assessment indicators. Science Education
Sentinel stakeholder SFI to now report on science education promotional activities at second level RRI support actions Quadruple Helix All aspects of quadruple helix will be incorporated into policy engagement. Research
Enhanced reporting and monitoring should lead to increased interest in STEMwhich in turn should increase the numbers of researchers and level of research taking place in the S&E region of Ireland. Enhanced Governance of RRI principles in the implementation and monitoring of the S&E ROP for all research Centres Programmes and associated Spokes Programmes by our Sentinel Stakeholder.
Assessment
Good Practice 1 - used to define the Policy Improvement
Title of Good Practice 1
Cooperation between research Institutes and/or universities and companies through high level structuring R&D programmes (Ambition Research Development 2020)
GP owner (region)
Dev-Up, Region Centre-Val de Loire, France
Can this GP address the policy need(s) identified in the previous section? If yes, how?
Yes, the good practice Ambition Research Development 2020 addresses the:
• Governance system in place to better manage projects in line with stakeholders;
• Monitoring of projects and introduction of RRI elements which is done on an annual basis by their Regional Council;
• Objective that R&D should provide socio-economic impacts as well as scientific outcomes.
In line with Irelands ‘Action Plan for Jobs’ and ‘Smart Specialisation Strategy’ the SRA prioritises strengthening links between HEIs and industry to accelerate economic and societal return on STI investment, strengthening enterprise engagement with public research and driving commercialisation of public research. There are limitations in the capacity of HEIs to generate RDI activity and commercialise RDI outputs, by following the principles of this Good Practice to measure the success of socio-economic impacts the aim is to see an acceleration in the commercialisation of research going forward.
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
Adopting the governance and monitoring principles outlined in this good practice by incorporating a stronger governance system and subsequent metrics into the S&E ROP 2014-2020 will facilitate stronger embedding and governance of RRI elements thereby improving the policy Instrument. As defined in this Good Practice the enhanced governance of the S&E ROP will follow a quadruple helix approach in collaboration with the primary stakeholder integrating them into the process and fostering a more vested interest into the improvement and reporting on the RRI elements. The primary stakeholder, in this case SFI, is responsible for administering the funding for Ireland’s Research Centres Programme and Associated Spokes Programme making their involvement and ongoing commitment crucial to the success of the policy improvement. As previously noted while the S&E ROP has a very strong emphasis on R&I it has no specific focus on Responsibility. Review of the good practice ‘Ambition Research Development 2020’ highlighted the impact stronger governance could have on the S&E ROP, through the enhancement of the governance system in place they are better able to manage projects in line with stakeholders. Going forward SRA will emulate this by incorporating enhanced governance through the addition of reporting on RRI elements on an annual basis by SFI, Intermediate Body on the ROP, and establishing monitoring metrics. This will facilitate SRA in monitoring the socio-economic impacts and meet the overall objective of improving regional public policy that supports delivery of RRI to enterprises’ product, process and service design, production and distribution. The good practices were initially introduced in a poster format at ILE2 in Athens on the 30th & 31st May 2017. This gave the opportunity to review the main learning points and question elements that were unclear. At this same event Natalie Boulanger from Dev-Up spoke of the ‘Ambition Research Development 2020’ GP clarifying the aim of their approach was to launch a real partnership not only among the research institutes and the universities, but also by involving companies in the R&D projects. This is one of the main priorities for the SRA further cementing the value in applying the learning from this GP. ILE3 in Orleans in November 2017 provided the opportunity to meet the stakeholders involved in this GP. Group discussions at ILE4 in Tampere, Finland on the 29th-30th May 2018 gave a more rounded and in-depth understanding of the GP and how best to apply it to achieve the desired influence over the S&E ROP. The ongoing discussions and subsequent learnings taken from GP prompted us to not only look at Governance in isolation but to also apply relevant monitoring metrics to measure the impact of the policy improvement.
What elements of this GP are included in the policy improvement presented
Exchange/Transfer Process
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
Match between Regional RRI Maturity and selection of GP
This GP addresses elements of stronger Governance which the S&E region of Ireland scored a modest rating in the maturity mapping exercise.
Through adoption of the principles outlined in this GP the SRA aim to:
• Embed the governance of RRI elements into the S&E ROP;
• Mirror their quadruple helix approach by integrating SFI into the process and fostering a more vested interest into the improvement and reporting on the RRI elements.
There is a match between the actual and required level of RRI maturity.
Good Practice 2 - used to define the Policy Improvement
Title of Good Practice 2
RIS3 Galicia: Shared vision and entrepreneurial discovery
GP owner (region)
Galician Agency for Innovation (GAIN), Spain.
Can this GP address the policy need(s) identified in the previous section? If yes, how?
Yes. The good practice (GP) ‘Shared vision and entrepreneurial discovery’ deals with:
Public engagement;
• Stronger governance improving efficiency and effectiveness;
• More focused allocation of funding;
• Involvement of stakeholder and innovation players in defining the regions strategic challenges and objectives;
• Agreement on shared vision and conclusions.
This GP effectively links the elements of RRl with the establishment of a stronger governance structure for conducting analysis and increased public engagement. On review of this GP the SRA were prompted to revisit our maturity mapping exercise and to revise the current reporting requirements in order to address areas flagged for improvement namely governance and public engagement. The enhancement of the governance structure within the S&E ROP requires additional engagement from SFI, our primary stakeholder, further consolidating their commitment to embedding RRI into their work thereby increasing public engagement and strengthening RTDI in the region. By following the lead of this GP in their extensive quadruple helix approach and involving a wide array of stakeholders in a shared vision for the region the SRA can ensure all relevant stakeholders are fully informed of the potential impact of embedding RRI elements into their work. This can help facilitate the objective of increasing the level of commercialisation of research by the HEIs in the programme area in line with the S3 strategy.
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
What elements of this GP are included in the policy improvement presented
This GP addresses both public engagement and the establishment of a governance structure for managing better outcomes and analysis of the impact of embedding RRI into research practices. The influence over the S&E ROP will focus on enhanced governance and stronger public engagement. The SRA has recognised the need for additional reporting and governance and will adopt the approach outlined in this GP by enhancing the governance of the S&E ROP through refinement of reporting requirements from funding recipients and encouraging stronger public engagement and science education. This will require the engagement of all actors, most specifically SFI, which will call on the need for extensive public engagement. The good practices were initially introduced in a poster format at ILE2 in Athens on the 30th & 31st May 2017. This gave the opportunity to review the main learning points and arising from discussions with GAIN ascertain that the governance and public engagement elements of this GP were of relevance to the policy improvement being sought. Group discussions at ILE4 in Tampere, Finland on the 29th-30th May 2018 gave a more rounded and in-depth understanding of the GP and how best to apply it to achieve the desired influence over the S&E ROP. At each partnership meeting there have been ongoing discussions between SRA and GAIN on respective good practices submitted. At ILE7, which took place in Kiel, Germany on the 13th-14th June 2019, GAIN informed us of modifications being made to the GP. There was discussion as to what format this would take however nothing would be confirmed until the end of July. A meeting took place between SRA and GAIN on the 29th July 2019 in the offices of the SRA in Waterford, Ireland. At this meeting refinements to the ‘Shared vision and entrepreneurial discovery’ were discussed and shared and GAIN sought more clarification on the GP submitted by the SRA ‘Broadening the Scope of Impact’. It was acknowledged that Galicia and the S&E region of Ireland are at similar stages of development and as such could benefit in sharing work practices in the future. SRA and GAIN have agreed to schedule further meetings with the intention that we continue to build on this exchange of good working practices that has arisen from our involvement in the MARIE project.
Exchange / Transfer process
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
Match between Regional RRI Maturity and selection of GP
This GP is concerned with Public Engagement and Governance both of which the S&E region of Ireland scored a modest rating for in the maturity mapping exercise.
Through adoption of the principles outlined in this GP the SRA aim to:
• Follow the lead of this GP in their extensive quadruple helix approach;
• Enhance the governance through refining the reporting requirements of funding recipients;
• Encouraging stronger public engagement and science education.
There is a match between the actual and required level of RRI maturity.
Other elements of the MARIE Interregional Exchange process used to define the Policy Improvement
The information and learning that we drew from in the development of this action plan was:
• Good practices referenced above;
• The Maturity Mapping exercise highlighted three areas of improvement in Ireland prompting us to concentrate on enhanced governance elements of the policy instrument;
• The Enterprise Survey which supported the findings of the maturity mapping exercise and focused our efforts on improving reporting requirements on Public Engagement & Science Education. An amalgamation of the learning from the above-listed exercises led us to concentrate on improving the governance of RRI within the S&E ROP 2014-2020 and more specifically, on reporting elements of public engagement and promotion of science education. In addition to the above we found the exchange of learning from the partnership meetings, seminars and the mid-term event to be of immeasurable value. At the kick-off meeting, in Cessna, Italy on the 09th February 2017, speaker Dr Simone Arnaldi of CIGA, University of Padua, clarified the role of RRI in the regional context. She spoke of the shift in RRI and the recognition of the importance of governance to the extent that it is now one of the key pillars. She stated ‘“Governance” can be seen as the integrative dimension of social needs, responsibility practices and political/institutional framework’. This insight informed us when reviewing and selecting the relevant good practices and determining how to influence the policy instrument. Another key learning point from this initial event was not to underestimate the role of intermediary organisations as they are key to the objective of mainstreaming RRI. Also emphasised was the importance adopting of a long-term methodology to achieve true quadruple helix cooperation, a cornerstone of RRI.
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
At ILE2 in Athens on 30th & 31st May 2017 Governance as a horizontal principle of RRI was clarified explaining the difference between inclusive participation and stakeholders' roles. Taking this learning into consideration we ensured SFI had hands-on involvement and a formalised role in the influence over the policy instrument. The interaction with the stakeholders provided an insight into what they require from public authorities / public policies to incorporate RRI and strengthen their work The mid-term event in Dublin on the 16th October 2018 presented an opportunity to learn from other projects focused on RRI. The Marina project noted one of their principle findings as being ‘public engagement & science education approaches are gathering the interest of a large part of the society, but increased support from policy makers are needed for the spread of their implementation’. This learning point was applied to our performance indicators to ensure the effectiveness of the enhanced governance of the S&E ROP 2014-2020.
ILE6 in Bucharest on the 06th February 2019 allowed us to experience their good practice by participating in an innovation cafe promoting the quadruple helix approach.
Trello provided a very efficient and practical solution to sharing documents and facilitating access to learning shared or presented at meetings.
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
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Part 3: Definition of actions and feasibility check
The European Commission (Science in Dialogue Towards a European Model for Responsible Research and Innovation, 2012) states: “we can only find the right answers to the challenges we face by involving as many stakeholders as possible in the research and innovation process. Research and innovation must respond to the needs and ambitions of society, reflect its values, and be responsible.” The SRA as a partner on the MARIE project and in in keeping with the ethos of Interreg Europe identified and co-ordinated with the relevant stakeholders throughout the project in particular stakeholders SFI and SEBIC have been actively involved in the development of the Regional Action Plan. SFI was identified as crucial to the success of the enhanced governance of the S&E ROP and in turn the improvement of the Policy Instrument. Agreement from SFI to the additional reporting requirements was sought and granted through various ongoing discussions and stakeholder meetings. Stakeholders involved in the development and implementation of the policy improvement
Name of stakeholder
Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) – Peter Clifford, Marian Boland, Declan McGrath and Joan Hynes
Type of stakeholder
Academia / Research
Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) is the national foundation for investment in scientific and engineering research primarily funding research in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) which promotes and assists the development and competitiveness of industry, enterprise and employment in Ireland. SFI actively promotes and supports education and engagement around STEM and creates awareness and understanding of the value of STEM to society and to the growth of the economy.
Through focused investment SFI aims to ensure that Ireland:
• leads the world in strategic research areas;
• has globally recognised SFI Research Centres;
• and is a hub for industry/academic research collaborations.
Southern Regional Assembly | Regional Action Plan
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Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
SFI offers a range of funding schemes which support scientists and engineers to deliver both research excellence and economic and societal impact. They currently invest approximately equal amounts of its budget in individually-led awards (e.g. SFI Investigators programme, Career Development programme, Starting Investigators programme, etc.) and in large Research Centre-type activities. SFI awards grants based upon the merit review of distinguished scientists. SFI also advances co-operative efforts among education, government, and industry that support its fields of emphasis and promotes Ireland’s ensuing achievements around the world. Engaging with industry remains one of the key mechanisms for transferring the benefits of public investment in research into sustainable economic development and creating competitive advantage for Ireland. Approximately 40% of SFI grants include an industry collaborator, these collaborations may be either to perform basic or applied research. SFI’s mission is to be a global leader in scientific research and innovation while staying true to their core values including integrity, collaboration and respect.
Responsibilities / role within the development and implementation of the policy improvement
• Science Foundation Ireland are authors of the good practice ‘Broadening the Scope of Impact’ for the MARIE project which has been adopted and published by Interreg Europe.
• SFI will assist in development and improvement of the policy framework changes at stakeholder meetings.
• SFI’s principal role is the collection and reporting of primary metrics and outputs upon which the policy improvement will be based.
• To further assist where applicable with the development and implementation of the policy improvements throughout the project.
Does this organisation provide political backing to the implementation of the policy improvement? If yes, how?
No
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