Informal, Institutional and Interdependent Openings for Responsible Research and Innovation

Cross-cultural comparisons generate valuable insights about how the social sciences can shape technoscientific domains and trajectories. In this Special Issue Commentary, we reflect on the rich insights contained in the articles exploring social scientific experiences with responsible research and innovation (RRI) in Japan and the UK, and organize our reflections around three types of opening for thinking about and approaching RRI going forward. First, we affirm the importance of exploring informal spaces for cultivating RRI, especially for consolidating connections and opening up opportunities. Secondly, and relatedly, we argue that possibilities for informality are intertwined with the institutional (e.g. projects, practices, norms), and much can be learned from comparing different experiences at this nexus. Finally, we draw attention to the productive potential of investigating interdependencies for enabling novel ways of approaching RRI, with respect to both forging collaborations between social and biophysical researchers, and in framing and undertaking public engagement initiatives.