Executive Summary

The discussions during the Indian National Workshop on RRI were quite productive, in which participants covered a number of important issues: the 5 RRI policy keys (ethics, societal engagement, gender, open access and science education) and their place in the Indian context and practice, where there are concerns related to the access, equity and inclusion (AEI), which are more paramount than the general ideas of ethics, engagement etc; theoretical and practical dimensions of responsibility in science and innovation; and good RRI practices and possibilities for their wider uptake. It emerged during the Workshop that though the term RRI was not used in any official document; the parallels of elements of RRI can be found in both policy and practice. It was also pointed out that in order to assess the progress of RRI, there is a need to define and devise indicators and parameters. All participants agreed to the fact that any framework for RRI must have people at the core and should address the basic problems of the Indian society. All the participants thanked RIS for convening such an important workshop on a new and emerging concept of RRI.