Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - RiConfigure (Reconfiguring Research and Innovation Constellations)

Teaser

Contemporary society is facing a range of grand challenges. Addressing these, existing institutions and actors in the knowledge economy are playing new roles and entering into new constellations of collaboration across sectoral divides. Universities are seeking to contribute...

Summary

Contemporary society is facing a range of grand challenges. Addressing these, existing institutions and actors in the knowledge economy are playing new roles and entering into new constellations of collaboration across sectoral divides. Universities are seeking to contribute more directly to local and global civil society. Corporations are breaking new ground in balancing responsibilities to shareholders against social responsibility through public engagement. Public sector organizations are taking on more entrepreneurial roles and aiming for more resilient forms of public innovation. Citizens’ groups and civil society organizations are breaking out of their traditional protest and oversight roles and take matters into their own hands whether through the ’maker movement’, social entrepreneurship or sustainable innovation.

The main challenge facing practitioners and policy-makers who seek to strengthen and support these changes to the constellations of R&I is that new constellations and new roles in innovation are conceptualized, strategized and practiced in highly diverse ways depending on the outlooks of different types of actors, which creates as much confusion as inspiration. Different strands of research and policy literature that center on such new constellations agree on the value of increased integration between R&I and society, but disagree on the nature of that value.

The RiConfigure project pursues the following six objectives:

1. Engage stakeholders in the diversification of R&I-constellations and roles
2. Enhance conceptual clarity on new constellations and new institutions and actors in R&I
3. Facilitate the dissemination of good practices throughout multiple practitioners’ networks
4. Inform and train key stakeholders to accelerate the uptake of good practices
5. Involve policy-makers in mutual learning to inspire changes to R&I governance
6. Support policy-makers with evidence to enable changes to R&I governance frameworks

Work performed

During the 1st reporting period of RiConfigure, the consortium has focused its efforts on the following activities:

• An extensive study of the existing work on Quadruple Helix Collaborations and related fields and, based on this, an analytical framework with accompanying data collection tools. Developing a methodological manual for the social labs (WP1). Outlining data needs for the analysis and incorporating these in the data collection tools (WP6).
• Recruiting Quadruple Helix Collaborations as main- and mirror cases for the social labs, organizing the first panel meetings, initiating the first interventions and collecting data to document the cases and processes (WP2-5).
• Reaching out to existing platforms and networks and establishing working agreements with actors with interest in RiConfigure. Organizing a joint dialogue meeting with innovation practitioners and policy makers to present the first findings from the social labs and collect inputs for the further process in RiConfigure. Draft the first policy brief (WP7).
• Developing a market analysis of existing trainings on Quadruple Helix Collaborations and RRI and, based on this, making a first outline of the training activities. Collecting information from the social labs for use in the development of courses (WP8).

The main exploitable results from the 1st reporting period include:

- A social lab methodology manual for facilitation of Quadruple Helix Collaborations. The manual is made to direct the processes in the social labs, but will be useful as inspiration for facilitation of Quadruple Helix Collaborations outside of RiConfigure.
- Videos introducing the concept of Quadruple Helix Collaborations, RRI and RiConfigure
- Small catalogue with stakeholder engagement tools
- Blog entry for OECD OPSI: “Do we need a reorientation for the innovation imaginary?” See the blog here: https://oecd-opsi.org/do-we-need-a-reorientation-for-the-innovation-imaginary/
- A special Session on Quadruple Helix and RRI at the European Triple Helix Congress (ETHAC 2019)

Final results

EXPLOITABLE RESULTS
During the 2nd reporting period of the project RiConfigure will further produce the following results:

- Case reports describing 100 Quadruple Helix Collaboration projects in terms of their partners and their respective roles, collaboration type, timespan, budget, governance frameworks affecting the collaboration etc. The reports will be available for researchers, innovation practitioners, Quadruple Helix facilitators and others looking for empirical examples of Quadruple Helix Collaborations to inform their work.
- Four data reports comprising all data from the four social labs run in RiConfigure. The data documents 1) intervention processes addressing collaboration issues in the five main cases of Quadruple Helix Collaborations and 2) a series of panel meetings where the main cases and mirroring cases have exchanged on collaborations issues in their respective projects. The data reports will be available for researchers, facilitators and others interested in methods to address collaboration issues in Quadruple Helix Collaborations.
- Four practitioners\' accounts of how public-sector organizations, industry, research institutions and civil society can initiate Quadruple Helix collaborations compatible with RRI
- A progress report with the preliminary analyses of 1) Quadruple Helix collaboration praxis, 2) RRI practices in Quadruple Helix Collaborations and 3) the impacts of governance frameworks on Quadruple Helix collaborations
- A Policy-Makers\' Handbook for Supporting Quadruple Helix Innovation
- Reports with key lessons from three dialogue events with innovation practitioners and policy makers reflecting on and supplementing the outcomes of RiConfigure
- A collection of four policy briefs on Quadruple Helix Collaborations and RRI. One policy brief will address a Colombian governance context.
- Legacy agreements with stakeholder organizations, platforms and networks
- Training programs and recommendations for online and face-to-face courses on Quadruple Helix Collaboration and RRI
- At least five implemented courses on Quadruple Helix Collaboration and RRI
- Five booklets aimed respectively at innovation practitioners in research, industry, the public sector, civil society and innovation policy makers


EXPECTED IMPACTS
RiConfigure is designed to obtain three overall expected impacts:

1) Enable the diversification of actors and stakeholders in research and innovation processes
2) Enable the spread of good practices among actors and stakeholders involved in new constellations
3) Enable the transformation of governance frameworks that affect actor and stakeholders involved in new constellations

Website & more info

More info: http://riconfigure.eu/.