RRI legacies: co-creation for responsible, equitable and fair innovation in Horizon Europe

Abstract

The H2020 framework programme has been a key driver and catalyst of Responsible Research and Innovation, in Europe and beyond. We argue that the new framework programme, Horizon Europe, shifts the focus away from the research and knowledge production emphasis of H2020 to innovation, placing new requirements on RRI and the RRI community. The ‘new policy experiment’ of Missions and Open Innovation 2.0 can and should be seen an opportunity to leverage the insights gained from the past decade of activities in RRI and to extend and improve, particularly with regards to fair and equitable co-creation activities. With the increase focus on innovation, novel and responsible ways of innovating and co-creating must be embedded in these activities to reinforce the link between science, innovation and society. In this perspective, we argue that co-creation can act as a linking-pin between the open science emphasis of H2020 and the open innovation accent of Horizon Europe.