ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that responsible research and innovation (RRI) can be an effective answer to this twofold uncertainty, so that responsiveness and the normative steering of research and innovation acquire more importance over risk individuation and management. It examines the diffusion of soft regulation as an important component of the governance framework of science and technology. Soft regulation attempts to answer the twofold uncertainty described above, which is addressed by leveraging the knowledge pool possessed by the regulatees and by integrating the divergence of values and interests through cooperation and flexibility. The chapter presents RRI in the broader context of the evolution of responsibility paradigms. By referring to their characterization in terms of time orientation and active/passive attitude to responsibility, three paradigms are distinguished. RRI aims at introducing responsibility into research and innovation processes at an early stage, by involving those who are concerned with their consequences in framing innovation activities, their aims and their goals.
