Actors' engagement in monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for responsible research and innovation: an explorative study of the AHP technique
- Autores: Irene Monsonís Payá
- Directores de la Tesis: José Félix Lozano Aguilar (dir. tes.), Mónica García Melón (dir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universitat Politècnica de València ( España ) en 2023
- Idioma: inglés
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Bárbara Ribeiro (presid.), Guillermo Palau Salvador (secret.), Elsa González Esteban (voc.)
- Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Desarrollo Local y Cooperación Internacional por la Universidad Jaume I de Castellón; la Universitat de València (Estudi General) y la Universitat Politècnica de València
- Materias:
- Enlaces
- Tesis en acceso abierto en: RiuNet
- Resumen
The capacity of humanity to modify the conditions of life on the planet has increased dramatically in the last century. Thus, two opposing phenomena concur concerning our societies' destructive and constructive potential. On the one hand, humanity faces the challenge of articulating processes to responsibly manage the products resulting from the development of science and innovation and to avoid the social, economic and environmental collapse that can result from them. On the other hand, humanity looks to the sciences and innovative potential to respond to global challenges that require approaches and coordination between different levels of action and from an inter- and transdisciplinary perspective.
In this framework, the term "Responsible Research and Innovation" (RRI) arises intending to integrate ethical aspects and demands for the participation of different actors in research and innovation processes so that the resulting products are aligned with society's expectations. Under the umbrella of the term RRI or Responsible Innovation (RI), a series of theoretical proposals and practical efforts have been articulated to operationalise the need to integrate an ethical perspective and promote the participation of new actors in research and innovation processes to modulate the constructive and destructive potential of the results of science and innovation. Including the term RRI in the European Commission's research programmes has been decisive in consolidating interest in RRI. The Horizon 2020 programme has boosted its use in Europe, allocating research funds for its operationalisation, promotion, evaluation and monitoring tools.
In this work, we will explore the design processes of RRI monitoring and evaluation tools. To do so, we will propose civic ethics as a theory that fits the philosophical foundation of the RRI concept, we will review how the values and expectations of agents outside the scientific and innovative process have been incorporated into the development of RRI monitoring and evaluation tools, and we will explore how the AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) technique can contribute to the development processes of these tools by aligning them with the requirements of civic ethics.
The work stems from the hypothesis that developing methodologies and tools for RRI assessment and monitoring can be considered research and innovation processes. Consequently, this paper will analyse the processes of research and innovation towards RRI assessment and monitoring tools through the lens of RRI. It will primarily focus on exploring the role of actors in such research and innovation processes and on the potential of the AHP technique to facilitate the integration of actors in developing RRI assessment and monitoring tools.
