Francisco FERNÁNDEZ-BELTRÁN, Universitat Jaume I, Spain
Rosana SANAHUJA-SANAHUJA, Universitat Jaume I, Spain
Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) represents the great commitment of the European Union to better align the processes and results of research and innovation with the values, needs and expectations of society. The management of RRI is thus presented as an opportunity to promote a real and effective dialogue between science and society, in which communication performs a two-way job: informing about the capacities of science and knowing the legitimate interests of affected people. This work analyzes the level of implementation of RRI in Spanish universities and addresses how university communication is carried out to provide support. For this, a direct consultation has been carried out with these universities and an analysis of their respective websites, which has allowed us to know the current situation of RRI management and the role of communication in its practical application.
Based on the Public Communication of Science and Technology models (Tinker, 2013), we analyze how RRI allows overcoming the unidirectionality of the Public Appreciation Model of science and technology, in which the flow of information goes from science to the public. The cognitive deficit model (Brossard and Lewenstein, 2010) coexists with others that involve greater interaction, such as the Public Engagement with Science and Technology Model (Brossard and Lewenstein, 2010; Miller, 2001). However, despite the bidirectionality, this model continues to separate science and society and maintains the center of gravity in science (Alcibar, 2015). The Critical Understanding of Science in Public Model surpasses the previous two and establishes channels for the public to reach a critical understanding of the scientific phenomenon and, therefore, to question and respond to the pros and cons that technoscience raises (Horst, 2008 ), in line with the RRI philosophy.