Table Of ContentResponsive Ethics and Participation
Innovation and Responsibility Set
coordinated by
Bernard Reber and Robert Gianni
Volume 9
Responsive Ethics
and Participation
Science, Technology and Democracy
Kalli Giannelos
Bernard Reber
Neelke Doorn
First published 2022 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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ISBN 978-1-78630-756-9
Contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Bernard REBER
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii
Chapter 1. Defining Ethics and Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1. Ethical challenges in research and innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1.1. Ethics in governance of research and innovation . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1.2. Bottom-up approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2. Facing responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.2.1. The notion of responsibility in innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.2.2. Ethics and technology assessment: at the root of
responsible innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.2.3. From ethics of technology to responsible research
and innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.3. Public participation and the ideal of participatory democracy . . . . . . 22
1.3.1. Public participation in research and innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.3.2. Participation in technology assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
1.3.3. From broad participatory practices to deliberation . . . . . . . . . . 29
1.4. The diverse field of participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
1.4.1. Defining participatory activities: types and timelines . . . . . . . . . 33
1.4.2. Defining participants: types of actors and visions of engagement . 37
1.4.3. Finding value in participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
1.4.4. Models of participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
1.5. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
vi Responsive Ethics and Participation
Chapter 2. Regulations on Ethics and Participation . . . . . . . . . . . 49
2.1. Policies and regulations on the ethics of innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
2.1.1. Main regulations on research ethics and research integrity . . . . . 49
2.1.2. Ethics assessment: a standard in European funding programs . . . . 54
2.2. Analysis of current European regulations on ethics and participation . 58
2.2.1. The different institutional configurations for ethics
and participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
2.2.2. The current deadlocks of European regulatory bodies . . . . . . . . 63
2.2.3. Ethics of participation: current boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
2.3. Soft law on participatory approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
2.3.1. Re-shaping participatory approaches through soft law:
toward a normative instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
2.4. Beyond regulations: institutional needs for ethical participation. . . . . 73
2.4.1. The needs from a governance point of view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
2.4.2. Identifying good practices and criteria for
ethical participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
2.5. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Chapter 3. Ethical Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
3.1. How mainstream is citizen participation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
3.1.1. A case study on research funding organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
3.1.2. Citizens’ low involvement in R&I processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
3.1.3. Prevailing types of participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
3.2. Leveraging the funding of R&I for a novel approach
to participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
3.2.1. Context-sensitive specificities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
3.2.2. Expectations and legitimacy in the funding of R&I . . . . . . . . . . 104
3.2.3. The impact of participatory practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
3.3. Addressing the needs of research funding organizations . . . . . . . . . 114
3.3.1. Standardized approaches and the European discrepancies . . . . . . 114
3.3.2. Ethical grounds meeting public scrutiny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
3.4. Toward an ethics framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
3.4.1. Finding common paths and compromises in R&I governance . . . 119
3.4.2. Main critical factors facing institutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
3.5. An ethics framework for participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
3.5.1. Some guidelines for future ethics frameworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
3.5.2. A tentative ethics framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Contents vii
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Appendix 1: Categories Considered in the Case Study on
Research Funding Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Appendix 2: Tentative Ethics Framework. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Foreword
Participatory democracy is usually promoted as a key instrument in the
leveraging of the responsibility and accountability of science and technology
developments regarding society. Science and technology, or “research and
innovation” (R&I), covers virtually all innovation developments – of either a
scientific or technological nature – that can be applied to any sector. Past
studies have revealed the great diversity of participatory configurations and
the varying quality of participation, leading some to consider that
participation’s added value in R&I might not be an intrinsic attribute. This
calls into question the grounds on which ethical participation can be
established, as Pellé and Reber (2016) have already shown.
What is usually covered by “participation”, “engagement” or
“involvement” in R&I can vary according to the context and the normative
understandings, thereby generating a homogeneous representation of
practices that are not always clearly identified or convergent. Participation
remains a gray area in R&I and even in responsible research and innovation
(RRI), where several mechanisms compete with the same promise to
legitimize and offer a co-creation process or dialog between science (and
technology) and society. Moreover, new technologies are ambiguous and
complex, asking reconsideration of their relationships within humans
(Guchet, 2021).
Taking a step backward and considering participatory practices from a
governance perspective, echoing reflexive (Maesschalck, 2017) and pluralist
governance (Reber, 2016), this book studies the way R&I institutions deal
x Responsive Ethics and Participation
with participatory mechanisms and provides the tools to understand the
uneven or even unstable ground forming the ethical basis for these
mechanisms. Despite the great public attention and the growing institutional
(and governmental) support provided to public participation in Europe, the
legitimacy of these mechanisms throughout their design, implementation and
follow-up is not a given. This book aims at bringing together innovation
ethics with participatory practices, asking what an ethical participation could
be and presenting a critical theoretical analysis of the definitions and the
regulations shaping both the fields of innovation ethics and of participation
in R&I. It continues the work of Sophie Pellé (2017) in business studies.
Responsibility and responsiveness imply taking a critical stance on
participation, considering how participation is justified, what the goals or
outcomes to be targeted are, and the nature and the scope of the underlying
ethical issues. It means taking into account the preservation of the freedom
and responsibilities of the actors involved (Lenoir, 2019). In addition,
participatory processes relate to varying interests on behalf of the
participants, thus requiring further examination of who has an interest in an
R&I process, might be affected by its outcomes or might contribute to new
solutions: these questions are an integral part of the legitimacy of
participatory processes. At the same time, the timescale and the resources of
participation have to be examined as well, as they shape the nature and
degree of involvement. All of them have their part to play in the programs to
develop individual and collective competencies (Loisy and Coulet, 2018).
Building on the overall blurred vision that R&I literature and practices
showcase regarding participation, this book combines theoretical
considerations with policy-making and empirical insights. The main
orientation of this study draws from the conclusions of past publications,
which have highlighted the overall lack of understanding of why, how and in
view of what quality participatory practices are undertaken (Pellé and Reber,
2016). These questions are here addressed through the scope of an original
methodology, empirically tested and improved, aiming at developing new
taxonomies and definitions.
This book reveals the lack of common understanding around consensual
terms such as “citizens”, “stakeholders”, “participation” and “ethics”. Also,
an additional layer of complexity appears with the diversity of
institutionalized mechanisms, some of them being formalized, others not,
Foreword xi
and with a diversified connection to ethics. It also reveals how little
equipped R&I institutions can sometimes be when it comes to resources and
guidance for participatory practices and for ethics (Gianni, 2016).
Understanding what participation means is all the more difficult when the
ethical grounds on which it can be set are not identified and when it is not
clear which ethical risks or issues can be at stake.
From the perspective of R&I governance, building a framework for an
ethical participation implies considering the ethical requirements of both
innovation and of participation, and thereby defining a method that could
allow for increased legitimacy and adaptation of participatory mechanisms.
As participation requires resources (both human and financial), expertise and
commitment, the need for guidance and tools to design and implement
processes that are both adaptive and legitimate would be a requisite for a
“responsive” participation (Reber, 2022). The analysis of the grounds on
which participatory processes can be ethically developed and conducted
forms the bedrock of this study.
In the governance of R&I, ethics procedures are not necessarily
formalized and may not cover all processes throughout their lifetime.
Similarly, when the public is invited in consultation, co-creation or any other
participatory activity, the design and involvement are not necessarily part of
a formalized process, nor do they necessarily abide by specific rules
ensuring the quality of the initiative and its added value. From the inception
to the ex post evaluation of the R&I outcomes, having a responsive
participatory mechanism remains an ideal for which tools, understanding and
capacities might be lacking.
The ideal of participatory democracy encounters profound challenges and
critique over its effective connection to decision-making and regarding
whether its actual impact aligns with democratic values. What if ethics and
participation in R&I governance could be combined in a comprehensive and
responsive system? This is the question and the guiding hypothesis of this
book, which also methodically anchors the touchstone of an ethical
participation. Observing how the governance of R&I struggles to harmonize
the processes and the means deployed to promote public participation –
citizens and stakeholders – in science and technology, it seems timely to
overcome the conceptual and practical hurdles through a comprehensive
approach.
