Responsible Research and Innovation in Norway

AFINO is a virtual, transdisciplinary centre for responsible research, innovation and business operations in Norway. The centre connects a series of Norwegian research institutions in the exploration of how research, innovation and business operations to a larger extent can be directed towards realizing a desirable social development. UN's sustainable development goals indicate the direction towards which social development must move, and the AFINO centre will explore the possibilities and limitations of a Nordic and/or Norwegian context for the realization of these goals. The centre aims to increase the competence of researchers, entrepreneurs and others involved in technological development when it comes to working with this kind of future perspectives. The centre also aims at training the reflexivity of technology developers concerning their role and social responsibility, the ability to include new groups (not least the younger generations) in the innovation process, and to adapt to a more complex system for research and innovation. The point of departure is a change in the relationship between research, industry and society, from a more or less clear division of labour to interactive models for co-creation across sectors and disciplines.

AFINO will work systematically to strengthen and enrich Norwegian RRI and CSR practice and to broaden theory development within these areas, and specifically in the overlaps between them. AFINO will be a virtual, transdisciplinary centre bringing different types of competences together, in academic workshops and conferences as well as in stakeholder dialogues and organized exercises for reciprocal learning across professions, industries, and disciplines. The centre will develop and experiment with new and improved methods of learning and collaboration, specifically with the aim to enhance inclusion and foresight in technology development. To achieve these objectives, we have formed a broad coalition building on strong, existing networks and collaborations within RRI and CSR research environments in Norway, and between research institutions and industry. AFINO will explore the specific challenges and opportunities of a Nordic and/or Norwegian approach to responsible innovation. The centre steering group will consist of representatives from all hub partners, nodes, and at least two representatives from collaborating business partners/associated clusters. The core activities of the centre is divided between 8 WP: - WP 1: Management and network function, NTNU - WP 2: The AFINO pilots: Laboratories for responsible innovation - WP 3: The AFINO research school - WP 4: Building blocks for enhanced societal responsibility - WP 5: Illustrative Nordic cases on sustainability - WP 6: The Nordic Sustainable Innovation Dialogue Series - WP 7: Learning arenas through Future literacy laboratories - WP 8: Quality, foresight and inclusion in responsible research and innovation The WPs are interconnected in a number of ways, e.g. WP 4, 5 and 6 produce background for the thematic focus of WP 2, while WP 7 and WP 8 provide methodological input for WP 2. A specific task of WP 4 is to develop a sustainability model for the continuation of centre functions beyond the funding period.