Responsible Research and Innovation

Can clay help us to counter the heat?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 10:36:29 +0000

Can clay help us to counter the heat?

Tags

Heatwaves

Responsible Research and Innovation

Climate Action

Topic

Heatwaves

Climate Change

research

Heatwaves instantly result in increased use of air conditioning, which already accounts for considerable energy consumption. Is there a better option?

Written by

Ellen Albertsdóttir & Adrian Grist

Turning on the air conditioning is the logical response for many to counter the heat.

However, it is not just a burden to the environment but also a financial blow to the pocket. It is an issue which prompted architect and researcher Marwa Dabaieh at Malmö University in Sweden to develop an eco-cooling system.

Air conditioning is the norm in Egypt, where Dabaieh tested her cooling system despite being very expensive to purchase and operate. Another issue in such countries is that many residents live outside the electricity grid.

Furthermore, the need for cooling systems will also increase in countries with modest average temperatures as heatwaves become more commonplace, as we are experiencing this already.

Marwa Dabaieh is a researcher working on the eco-cooling system made out of clay; Docent and associate professor at Malmö University.

As an expert in sustainable and environmentally conscious architecture, Dabaieh’s innovation relies on a self-assembly concept. This solution aims to keep indoor temperature and humidity low by using traditional ‘shisha funnels’ made of clay to construct a cooling system.

The goal is to lower the indoor temperature by 10 °C by combining clay funnels, water, and the natural power of sun and wind.

The experimental attempts so far have been promising. In a recently published scientific article, Dabaieh presents a reduction of the indoor temperature by 2 °C during an experiment in Cairo. Since then, she has achieved a decrease of 6 °C.

The next step for Dabaieh is to continue the development of the sustainable and passive cooling system.

“Clay is not expensive, which makes the construction price affordable. But it is expensive to develop the method. I am driven by pure passion for this but still need resources to take the pilot project further.

Now I hope to find innovation support that would allow me to scale up the project,” says Dabaieh.

The next step for her is to continue the development of a sustainable and passive cooling system with economical benefits.

“Some people, such as pensioners, the unemployed and refugees, cannot afford air conditioning. This means that mortality risks increase when heat waves become more common. Tragically, this happens when it could be resolved by being better prepared,” adds Dabaieh.

"This passive eco-cooling solution does not require any extra energy or electricity and can offer a practical solution to enhance the living conditions of low-income populations."

Using traditional ‘shisha funnels’ made of clay to construct natural cooling systems can help manage extreme heat.

This project is being developed at the Malmö University, which has close collaboration ties with the Forum for Social Innovation Sweden, the national knowledge and collaboration platform for social innovation and social enterprise.

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July 2022

How can innovation help your back pain disappear?

Business Spirit News reporting — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 10:16:19 +0000

How can innovation help your back pain disappear?

Tags

Innovation

Responsible Innovation

Responsible Research and Innovation

Wellbeing

Smart Health

Topic

Innovation

Responsible Innovation

Smart Health

The concept of a Smart Chair to improve the health and wellbeing of office workers has been developed as part of a Responsible Research and Innovation project.

The pandemic and working from home have dramatically increased the time we sit on a chair and the number of people suffering from back and neck pains.

A Smart Chair helping you improve your posture and maintain good habits could be a solution to avoid the negative health implications of sitting while working.

As a part of the Living Innovation project, global digital services company ATOS worked on this problem, trying to find a solution with citizens, particularly Millenials and GenZ, experts and scientists.

“We held several Design Thinking workshops in Spain and remotely with Austrian young people to understand the real needs of these groups.

Then, experts in the company have analysed the results and tested ideas in a virtual innovation workshop,” says Lydia Montandon, Business Development Director at ATOS Research & Innovation group.

As a result, they developed the concept of a Smart Office Chair, which is expected to be ergonomically designed in line with the recommendations of therapists: it should provide good support for the back, while integrated sensors detect the incorrect postures and send information to the user.

Lydia Montandon, Business Development Director, ATOS Research & Innovation group

The company would need to cooperate with office furniture manufacturers and physicians or traumatologists to produce a Smart Chair that can meet these requirements.

“In the future, smart health will probably focus more on preventing illnesses or diseases, helping people to avoid bad habits and therefore enjoying better wellbeing and healthier lives. But, let me ask you: How do you feel about your back and neck today?”

adds Montandon.

Software developers would use AI technologies to analyse built-in sensor data and detect unhealthy patterns.

An app would serve as an interface for the users and alert them when unhealthy postures can be corrected.

The idea is that “correct” postures can progressively become normal and become a new habit for the user.

The interesting part is that this chair is designed to be “shareable”.

Once the sitting position has been improved for one person – or one employee in an organisation – the Smart Chair can be passed on to the next one.

Thus, the business model is based on the idea of health prevention benefiting both employees and organisations in the long term.

According to Lydia, the whole design process has been fascinating since they involved different stakeholders in the ideation process.

“It was an exciting experience to reach out to younger generations and experiment with co-innovation methodologies during the pandemic.

It requires a lot of effort, but the resulting value proposition is richer than what we could have been achieved with traditional methods,” she recalls.

So far, the product has not reached the market yet, but the design team expects that the involvement of all stakeholders in the first steps of the project design will enhance its adoption when the product is ready to be commercialised.

“The main barrier in embracing co-creation in product design is the time and investment needed to organise co-innovation activities involving a representative group of stakeholders, including citizens, experts, salespeople, organisers, facilitators, etc.

Another barrier is the innovative way of doing things, which is still not convincing to all interested parties. A lot of effort is needed to raise awareness about the benefits of this approach,” Montandon explains further.

Lydia believes that a change of mindset regarding designing and developing an innovative product is needed, alongside how you approach customers, involving them in the process rather than presenting a result.

One of the early achievements would be for her to see her colleagues complaints about their back pains and visits to the therapist disappear soon, and provide this relief for many other people in the near future.

To learn more about this and other Responsible Innovation projects join the 'Living in a smart future' session at the Responsible Innovation Summit virtual conference on 19-22 Ocotber.

Headline image: Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

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September 2021

Using the Ethics Canvas for better Innovations

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:47:42 +0000

Using the Ethics Canvas for better Innovations

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Responsible Research and Innovation

Innovation

How to Implement Circular Business Models - Living Innovation interview

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:42:48 +0000

How to Implement Circular Business Models - Living Innovation interview

Tags

Circular Economy

Responsible Research and Innovation

Mainstreaming Responsible Innovation is crucial to Build Back Better

Anonymous — Sun, 04 Oct 2020 12:23:02 +0000

Mainstreaming Responsible Innovation is crucial to Build Back Better

Tags

Responsible Research and Innovation

Topic

Leaders of change will come together virtually for 2 days to make change happen

The 4th edition of the Responsible Innovation Summit aims to facilitate collaboration and knowledge exchange to 'help build back better' from the Covid19 pandemic. This virtual event will take place on 20-21 October where innovators can come together to discuss game-changing trends and learn from each other.

The coronavirus has shown how much we rely on global communities, nature and Innovation. It also revealed the vulnerability of businesses and the global economy. However, this situation offers a unique opportunity to implement new business practices and inspire innovations that lead to a more resilient and sustainable economy.

Responsible Innovation plays a vital role in Covid-recovery

“The world is facing an unprecedented test. And this is the moment of truth.

We must respond decisively, innovatively and together to suppress the spread of the virus and address the socio-economic devastation that COVID-19 is causing in all regions.

Finally, when we get past this crisis – which we will – we will face a choice.

We can go back to the world as it was before or deal decisively with those issues that make us all unnecessarily vulnerable to crises. The recovery from the COVID-19 crisis must lead to a different economy.” said António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations at the launch of the report on socio-economic impacts of coronavirus.

The Responsible Innovation Summit is a 2-days event, which is not only an online conference but a meeting point for innovators to cross-pollinate ideas and facilitate future collaborations.

The event aims to inspire business leaders, policymakers and researchers to find innovative ways that could help to build a more sustainable and just economy.

Expert panel discussions will be featured around four key areas:

Roadmap to Build Back Better
Changing the narrative
Building resilient and sustainable businesses
Making Profit with Purpose the new Buisness as Usual

There will be a particular focus on financing positive change, leadership skills and methods to deliver sustainable growth, and the business case of Responsible Innovation and Circular Economy practices.

“The power to change the world is in the hands of every innovator, but we need to cross-pollinate ideas, raise awareness and act collaboratively to deliver a just transition to a sustainable economy. We want to generate positive change by using the power of communication and empower cross-sectorial knowledge sharing," says Szilvia Szabó, co-founder and organiser of the Responsible Innovation Summit.

Responsible Innovation Summit, 2019, Dublin

“We are definitely going to miss the personal meetings, but the virtual edition presents a great opportunity to be more inclusive, open up the discussions and disseminate the content afterwards on multiple channels”, adds Szabó in regards to running the event online this year due to coronavirus.

The unique lineup of speakers presents an opportunity to hear war stories, learnings and raise questions about defining a new business as usual.

More than fifty speakers from all over the world are coming together to discuss actual topics and share best practices that could help decision-makers to lead the way forward.

“Using research papers and case studies as a starting point, we have identified nine ways in which Responsible Innovation can be beneficial for different stakeholders.

If you are a researcher or a practitioner interested in this field, we invite you to discuss if and how Responsible Innovation increases innovativeness and competitiveness, creates new market opportunities, helps to mitigate risks and avoid losses, trust and corporate image and helps attract the best employees,” says Dr André Martinuzzi, Head of the Institute for Managing Sustainability Vienna University of Economics and Business, who will lead one of the workshops at the summit.

Dublin City Council supports this not-for-profit event which traditionally was held in Dublin, and the core team behind the conference is located in Ireland.

“Dublin is seeking to develop as a hub for Responsible Innovation – we already have a strong Economic and Enterprise eco-system that support Innovation. One of the reasons why we are supporting the Responsible Innovation Summit is that we recognise the need to drive awareness and engagement in creating Innovation that results in economic growth and social good at the same time.

Dublin is a leading Hub for Innovation

We see this event as a great opportunity to connect, engage, learn and commit to further action to advance this agenda for Dublin and those who live and work in our beautiful capital city.” says Mary Mac Sweeney, Deputy Head of Enterprise and Economic Development, Dublin City Council.

She adds that "Raising awareness of what these changes will mean for each individual business is essential. It is clear by now that the European Green Deal introduced in 2019 by the European Commission will play a critical role in the process of recovery. This is Europe’s new agenda for sustainable growth which aims to transform our cities to become cornerstones in building a climate-neutral economy by 2050 in Europe.”

Delegates can join various sessions discussing Responsible Innovation trends, emerging business models making a 'Profit with Purpose' and learn from value-driven enterprises.

Organisers are passionate to make this event educational, inspirational and accessible to all innovators who want to generate a positive impact.

Attendees can book tickets to access all sessions, visit virtual expo booths, join launch events and embrace networking opportunities. Bursary tickets are also available to innovators who could benefit from attending but lack the resources.

This two day offers a chance for innovators to actively get involved in shaping the future by turning major challenges into opportunities.

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October 2020

2-day conference for making Responsible Research and Innovation real

Szilvia Szabó — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 12:00:57 +0000

2-day conference for making Responsible Research and Innovation real

Tags

Responsible Research and Innovation

Conference

Date

19th March 2020 - 20th March 2020

Venue

Sapienza University, Rome, Italy

Responsible Research and Innovation for real conference - Rome, Italy

The FIT4RRI consortium organises its summit “RRI for real” marking the end of their three-year project.

FIT4RRI brought together experts from nine European countries, who analysed and tested how to foster the real uptake of Responsible Research & Innovation and Open Science. The summit starts a new collaborative phase of shaping the future of open science and society relations.

The final summit will take place at Sapienza University of Rome where about 100 delegates will come together to exchange experiences and tools to support responsible and open institutional change.

Through interactive formats, participants will connect to various stakeholders and experience and discover good practices and strategies for RRI and Open Science.

RRI for Real conference details

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Building Self-Sustaining Research and Innovation Ecosystems - SeeRRI project

kiss.tamas — Sun, 12 Jan 2020 19:32:59 +0000

Building Self-Sustaining Research and Innovation Ecosystems - SeeRRI project

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Responsible Research and Innovation

Responsible Research and Innovation in action

Szilvia Szabó — Tue, 07 Jan 2020 17:54:10 +0000

Responsible Research and Innovation in action

Tags

Responsible Research and Innovation

Topic

Policy

EU project

Responsible Innovation

European partners are working on the integration of Responsible Research and Innovation principles into local funding policy.

EU regions are starting to address Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), but they face common challenges of the perceived complexity of the concept and means of application.

Giulia Bubbolini from the Centre for Innovation and Economic Development and Jessica Huntingford, Head of European Projects at Resolvo are working shoulder to shoulder with 10 partners from 8 regions on the MARIE (Mainstreaming Responsible Innovation in European 3S) project to integrate Responsible Innovation into funding programmes.

Q: What is the easiest way to explain RRI - Responsible Research and Innovation?

“We can only find the right answers to the challenges we face by involving as many stakeholders as possible in the research and innovation process. Research and innovation must respond to the needs and ambitions of society, reflect its values, and be responsible.” The European Commission (Science in Dialogue Towards a European Model for Responsible Research and Innovation, 2012),

That sounds like an ambitious goal but we’d like to keep it simple and linking it to real life examples happening in our regions.

In practice, if you work towards RRI you know that innovation is essential for our enterprises to compete and survive on the global market and that it has the potential to change lives. However, you also know that there are too many examples of innovations that have reached the market only to reveal negative short or long-term impacts.

RRI is an attempt to anticipate these negative impacts and to redirect innovation towards a model that reflects on creating a positive impact from the start to the finish of the innovation chain.

Q: What are the key objectives of the MARIE project and how do you see progress so far?

A lot of work has been done at the academic level and even at the individual enterprise level and to set a framework in place at the European level. Less work has been done to ensure that local and regional authorities are designing and implementing policies that really encourage their beneficiaries and stakeholders to anticipate negative impacts of innovation and reflect on impact.

This is where MARIE project fits in.

We want to take RRI to the public policy sphere. We use interregional exchange to help public authorities to integrate responsibilities into major innovation funding programmes, including ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) Regional Operational Programmes and the Smart Specialisation Strategies that lie behind them.

Our objective is to ensure that regional public policy supports the delivery of RRI to enterprises’ product, process and service design, production and distribution.

After 2 and a half years we are already seeing concrete results.

We started with exchanging, understanding and analysing.

Now partners are using that foundation to design Action Plans that detail in concrete terms how their policies can incorporate RRI and promote it across their territories. Some are creating a community of stakeholders to raise awareness about RRI.

Others are considering how to integrate responsible criteria into ERDF calls for innovative SMEs or for other territorial actors. Partners are also looking at how the monitoring systems of their Research & Development (R&D) funded projects can better reflect a focus on impact. Action Plans will be finalised and approved by the end of this year.

Our partners are all stakeholders involved in local and regional development. They either manage directly or support main policy instruments in their territories, which is important to ensure that we can have a real impact on the policy framework.

We have 4 regional councils/ministries, 1 national funding agency and 3 local development and innovation agencies. Besides, 2 universities are supporting their regional authority in Action Plan development and our partners cover 8 European countries, and each has had something to offer in terms of experience.

We have been lucky because our partners are committed to the project and to the theme of RRI and are really working to achieve project results. We also put a good management structure in place, covering all our bases. Centre for Innovation and Economic Development is a lead partner with previous project management experience and extensive knowledge of RRI.

Lead partner meeting - MARIE project

The Exchange Coordinator role was allocated to Athens University of Economic and Business – Research Centre ensuring that the methodological structure of the project was sound. Resolvo Srl, expert in Interreg Europe and specialised in responsible development, supports all stages of project design, implementation and monitoring.

Q: What is your biggest learning so far as a partner in the MARIE project?

One of our partners is the Southern Regional Assembly in Ireland, where RRI is a relatively new concept however through their involvement in the MARIE project they have been introduced to an RRI community they may not otherwise have been aware of.

“Engaging with our stakeholders has made us realise there is a huge appetite out there for working responsibly which is very encouraging.

Interreg Europe promotes small policy changes and the biggest learning we have taken as a partner is the far-reaching impact even a small change to public policy can have. “, said Karen Coughlan, EU projects officer at Southern Regional Assembly.

Q: What is the potential impact of this project?

Our objective is not to make wide-scale recommendations, not to influence European and national agendas. We are expecting impact largely at the regional level.

We aim to make real change to the funding programmes currently in place in the European regions involved in MARIE. We will be monitoring this change over the second phase of the project, which runs from January 2020 to December 2021.

So far, partners are expecting to increase awareness among regional stakeholders about RRI, its potential benefits and how to apply it. They are also expecting to grow the number of applications for regional R&D funding that incorporate RRI analysis, measures and monitoring.

"We hope that the long-term impact of these concrete changes will be visible in terms of more economic development: competitive SMEs, who innovate responsibly," says Giulia Bubbolini lead partner of the MARIE project.

Q: What have been the most inspirational part of the MARIE project so far for you?

As Lead Partner, we have an overview of what all partners are doing and of the whole evolution of the project. The most inspirational part so far was seeing all the learning and exchange suddenly kick in, when a couple of regions came forward with real proposals to make an immediate change to their policy instruments.

They showed all of us that interregional cooperation can lead to action, if we are proactive and grab the opportunity to make a change. We look forward to seeing the same happen to the other partners – they are all working hard in that direction.

“Knowing we have a voice in how to influence regional policy for innovation has been hugely inspirational. RRI is a not that well known in Ireland so working as a partner on the project with other regions with the same goals has been of immense value.

We all want the world to be a better place and RRI plays a huge role in achieving this. Through our involvement in the MARIE project, we get to set the framework for a better future.” adding Karen Coughlan representing the Southern Regional Assembly in Ireland.

Q: Can you share some of the best case studies that you came across in the MARIE project?

We are already seeing concrete results with our project. Here are two examples:

Finland

In Tampere region, the regional council has integrated Responsible Innovation (RI) criteria into the evaluation of proposals within an ERDF call on Artificial Intelligence. All proposals were asked to demonstrate the value of their proposal in terms of 6 RI criteria: engagement, ethics, openness and transparency, safety and reliability. Proposals are under evaluation and it is expected that 5 will be approved, mobilising around 1.7M€: 5 projects that are more responsible, thanks to this change.

Southern and Eastern Region of Ireland

In Southern Ireland, the regional assembly has integrated the monitoring system for ERDF research funding with principles related to public engagement and science education, encouraging researchers to consider further the social impact of their work. This monitoring covers two funding schemes, which between them have co-funded set up of 14 research centres and made 17 awards to existing research centres. All of these will integrate responsible principles to their monitoring.

Q: Is there any advice that you would share with someone who is interested to work on RRI related projects?

As Lead Partner, we have attempted to fit MARIE into a network of European projects working on RRI. There are so many projects out there at the moment, so it makes sense to work with others and build on what they are doing.

We would suggest that anyone interested in RRI should first see what has already been done and then get in contact with the people that did it. You can learn so much, save time and get better results

"The best is to come in with an open mind! Collaboration and learning are key to the success of any project so don’t be afraid to reach out to someone already working on a project in this area.

There is a huge RRI community and there will be no obstacle or problem that hasn’t been encountered and overcome.

RRI can sometimes be perceived as stick however it can also prove to be a very effective carrot when used in the right way!

Stakeholder meeting, Tampere, Finland

Responsibility and success can go hand in hand." says Karen Coughlan

Over the next few months, you can expect to find there more examples of policy improvements going on across our partner regions.

We would be glad to welcome stakeholders who are interested to find out more to join us at our upcoming events. You can find details on the MARIE project website!

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January 2020

Open call for collaboration!

Szilvia Szabó — Fri, 14 Jun 2019 16:38:48 +0000

Open call for collaboration!

Tags

Responsible Research and Innovation

Business

Profit with Purpose

Date

30th October 2019 - 30th October 2019

Venue

Dublin, Smock Alley Theatre

Join the leaders of change at the 3rd Responsible Innovation Summit! Open call for collaboration

Now is the time to share your knowledge, network and drive positive change!

If you're an expert working on a project related Responsible Innovation or value-driven entrepreneurship you can apply to get involved at the 3rd edition of Responsible Innovation Summit, Dublin!

There are various options to contribute, such as joining panel discussions, leading interactive conversations, running workshops.

Leaders come together here from different sectors such as academia, business and policy to share knowledge and build a community of innovators who want to make a positive impact with their work. The aim of the conference is to promote the concept of Responsible Innovation and challenge the status quo of "business as usual".

Find out more and join the leaders of change!

Responsible Innovation Summit

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Mainstreaming Responsible Research and Innovation

kiss.tamas — Wed, 03 Apr 2019 21:20:46 +0000

Mainstreaming Responsible Research and Innovation

Tags

Responsible Research and Innovation

Date

1st July 2019

Venue

Dublin

Partners from 8 regions are facing challenges together to integrate the concept of Responsible Innovation into local funding programmes. The journey is long from good intention to good practices.

EU regions are starting to address Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), but they face common challenges of the perceived complexity of the concept and means of application. There is a huge potential here if they can overcome barriers such as lack of awareness.

Q: What is the easiest way to explain RRI - Responsible Research and Innovation?

That sounds like an ambitious goal but we’d like to keep it simple and linking it to real life examples happening in our regions.

RRI is an attempt to anticipate these negative impacts and to redirect innovation towards a model that reflects on creating a positive impact from the start to the finish of the innovation chain.

Q: What are the key objectives of the MARIE project and how do you see progress so far?

This is where MARIE project fits in.

Our objective is to ensure that regional public policy supports the delivery of RRI to enterprises’ product, process and service design, production and distribution.

After 2 and a half years we are already seeing concrete results.

We started with exchanging, understanding and analysing. Now partners are using that foundation to design Action Plans that detail in concrete terms how their policies can incorporate RRI and promote it across their territories. Some are creating a community of stakeholders to raise awareness about RRI.

Q: Could you give us more insights on the MARIE project partners?

We have 4 regional councils/ministries, 1 national funding agency and 3 local development and innovation agencies. We also have 2 universities, both supporting their regional authority in Action Plan development. Our partners cover 8 European countries, and each has had something to offer in terms of experience.

We have been lucky because our partners are committed to the project and to the theme of RRI and are really working to achieve project results.

We also put a good management structure in place, covering all our bases. Centre for Innovation and Economic Development is a lead partner with previous project management experience and extensive knowledge of RRI.

Q: What is your biggest learning so far as a partner in the MARIE project?

“Engaging with our stakeholders has made us realise there is a huge appetite out there for working responsibly which is very encouraging.

Q: What is the potential impact of this project?

Our objective is not to make wide-scale recommendations, not to influence European and national agendas. We are expecting impact largely at the regional level.

We hope that the long-term impact of these concrete changes will be visible in terms of more economic development: competitive SMEs, who innovate responsibly.

Q: What have been the most inspirational part of the MARIE project so far for you?

Q: Can you share some of the best case studies that you came across in the MARIE project?

We are already seeing concrete results with our project. Here are two examples:

Finland

Southern and Eastern Region of Ireland

Q: Is there any advice that you would share with someone who is interested to work on RRI related projects?

We would suggest that anyone interested in RRI should first see what has already been done and then get in contact with the people that did it. You can learn so much, save time and get better results

"The best is to come in with an open mind! Collaboration and learning are key to the success of any project so don’t be afraid to reach out to someone already working on a project in this area.

There is a huge RRI community and there will be no obstacle or problem that hasn’t been encountered and overcome.

RRI can sometimes be perceived as stick however it can also prove to be a very effective carrot when used in the right way!

Responsibility and success can go hand in hand." says Karen Coughlan

Over the next few months, you can expect to find there more examples of policy improvements going on across our partner regions.

We would be glad to welcome stakeholders who are interested to find out more to join us in November 2019 in the beautiful city of Santiago de Compostela for our final Phase 1 event.

Learn more about the MARIE project

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