The report explores the business case for co-creation both in the narrow and in the broader sense of the term, where, at its narrowest, the business case would be the monetary value it offers to commercial companies, and, in the broader sense, the business case would include non-monetary value (such as reputation, innovation potential, or access to markets) to innovation actors (i.e. including researchers, funding organisations, etc. as well) as adopters of co-creation processes. It reviews the GoNano experiences, considering feedback received from companies and other innovation actors on the GoNano co-creation activities, and reflects on the findings of a workshop with external stakeholders in October 2020 which aimed to explore the business case for co-creation in the context of three EU-projects funded under the NMBP-13-2018 call on risk governance in nanotechnology: NANORIGO, GOV4NANO and RISKGONE.

The report concludes that there may well be a business case for co-creation, both in the narrow and broader sense of the term. The GoNano experience in itself does not provide sufficient evidence to suggest that there is a business case for co-creation in the narrow sense. To argue for co-creation as a purely commercial activity for companies, more straightforward and convincing examples are needed that demonstrate the commercial benefit of co-creation. Still, co-creation may offer opportunities to operationalise the commitment of companies towards their stakeholders. There are some indications from other initiatives like PRISMA and LIVING INNOVATION that companies may adopt co-creation as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility strategies. However, the successful adoption of co-creation does seem to be limited to those cases where ‘doing good’ and ‘doing well’ coincide.

The business case for co-creation seems to look stronger if it is interpreted broadly, as the potential to realise value in the broader sense for all innovation actors. For researchers, co-creation could help to define new inroads for research, gain access to future technology users and attract new sources of funding. For policy makers, co-creation could offer solutions to wicked problems that carry broader stakeholder support. The GoNano experiences provides some initial clues to the potential added value for producers, researchers and policy makers. However, to make a convincing business case for co-creation, many more compelling examples are needed of the added value of adopting iterative, product-focused, transdisciplinary collaborations as part of innovation processes in research, innovation and policy making. As the GoNano project draws to a close, the search for the business case for co-creation continues.

Downlaod the report here: GoNano D5.4 – The business case for co-creation. 

Enabling co-creation in nanotechnologies

Below you will find seven policy briefs, each present GoNano experiences, insights and/or lessons learned.

Policy brief 1: Co-creation: A Practical Tool to Enhance Responsiveness in Research and Innovation

About: Co-creation can enhance responsiveness by

• Supporting the translation of abstract needs, values and concerns into practical options and action in research and innovation practices
• Facilitating a process of realisation and exploration of how and why broader societal perspectives matter in research and innovation

Policy brief 2: Moving from reflection to proactive engagement and action on societal needs, values, and concerns 

About: The move to action can be supported by

Leaving space for the recognition of opportunities and consciously integrate “interactional expertise in interactions between scientists, engineers, product developers, industry and policy

• Building collaboration in the early stages of research and development and encourage creativity and design thinking
• Supporting the training of interactional skills, literacy and expertise
• Implementing rewards for researchers that invite other experts and societal stakeholder to discuss and contribute to their work

Policy brief 3: Opportunities and Challenges of Co-Creation: Experiences from the GoNano Project

About: Strategies for overcoming challenges for co-creation

• Finding a shared goal and use it to drive your multi-stakeholder collaborations.
• Planning time to translate and mediate between your different types of stakeholders. The more diversity the more time you will need to mediate and build common understanding between groups.
• Choosing a clear purpose of the co-creation in research: democratisation or creation of shared value through product development. The goal prescribes the actors that should be involved and their ways of contribution.

Policy brief 4: The Value Chain: An approach to Implement Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) practices in Nanotechnologies Development

About: How the value chain approach can support the implantation of RRI

• It provides a schematic approach and a stepwise guide for embedding co-creation in business practices
• It helps identify hands-on suggestions to help successfully co-create along your value chain

Policy brief 5: Positioning Co-Creation: Democratisation versus Added Value

About: Possible uses of co-creation in research and innovation

• It can be used to integrate diverse perspectives and knowledge for improvement of innovation product and ideas
• It can be used to integrate diverse perspectives and knowledge for evaluation of the priorities and direction of research and innovation policies and practices In each case, organisers should carefully consider the role of, and expectations placed on laypeople in a co-creation process

Policy brief 6: Inclusion in Co-creation: What is Needed in Practice?

About: Key requirements for realising inclusion in co-creation

• Investing in co-creation and develop skills and competencies of organisers to develop strategies that ensure continuous inclusion
• Carefully balancing the topic, questions and preparatory materials to avoid common difficulties for inclusion in co-creation and engagement processes
• Paying attention to your communication strategy and the messages you share about your project and process to communicate in a way that supports inclusion and diversity

Policy brief 7: Gender Issues in Nanotechnologies research and innovation

About: Gender issues in nanotechnologies research and innovation include

• Male norms and visions of future role and function of technological applications give shape to research ideas and processes thereby missing possibly discriminatory or harmful implications
• The performance and potential of women in science is judged and viewed differently than their male counterparts
• A lack of discussion and awareness on the difference between sex and gender. Gender or “gender equality” refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women, whereas sex refers to the innate biological characteristics

Industry Brief: The Power of co-creation

About: Designing solutions to shared problems with citizens and stakeholders

Download the report here: GoNano D5.5 – Collecting of the GoNano Policy and Industry Briefs

*The document may not be seen as an official deliverable of the GoNano project as it has not yet been approved by the European Commission.

The white papers are part of the Governance and Policy Outreach and Alignment objectives that aim to 1) feedback GoNano outcomes towards the development of concrete policy recommendations for governance of research and innovation in nanotechnology for increased responsiveness to societal needs and values and 2) feedback governance recommendations widely to policymakers, industry, research and innovation partnerships and consumer groups.

The white papers are built on the extensive background research gathered at the beginning of the project, as well as experiences of methodology development and demonstration by the pilot studies. Key policy questions were identified from the material and are synthesized with the white paper topics. The white papers, again, build the foundation for policy, ensure outreach to all major stakeholder groups in order to provide them with the GoNano co-creation experiences.

In the light of the overall aim of GoNano to open up research and innovation to a wider audience and to actively promote co-creation between different stakeholder groups, the GoNano white papers were put online in order to provide a broader audience to comment and give feedback. The three white papers were put on the GoNano website for a six weeks public consultation phase in April/May 2020.

The three GoNano white papers provide insights into different aspects of co-creation and responsiveness in the field of nanotechnology. Each paper addresses the question of ‘conditions for Responsible Research and Innovation in nanotechnology research and innovation from a different angle.

White Paper one establishes the foundation as to why co-creation responsiveness makes sense in nanotechnology and describes conceptual and empirical aspects of responsiveness of researchers and engineers in co-creation processes. It mainly addresses researchers, engineers, as well as other stakeholders involved in the research system (e.g. research funding or research institutions)

White Paper two provides a strategic focus regarding how to implement co-creation, considering research and the innovation eco-system. Thus, it addresses industrial and business partners, research institutions, and policy makers who are active in and are influencing research and innovation processes.

White paper three provides guidance on how to realize co-creation considering a gender and diversity perspectives in order to better integrate these in nano-related R&I. The main addressees of the paper are organizers and/or researchers in a position to put co-creation into practice.

Read the full report here: GoNano Deliverable 5.3- Collection of the GoNano White papers

*The document may not be seen as an official deliverable of the GoNano project as it has not yet been approved by the European Commission.

This report aims to integrate the insights and lessons learned over the course of the project, reviewing findings from the knowledge base and methodology developed in the early stages of the project and the results of a series of engagement activities organised in the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Spain from October 2018 to November 2019. It considers how the various project activities have contributed to the specific objectives of the GoNano project as well as the overall aim to improve the responsiveness of research and innovation processes to public values and concerns.

The overall GoNano experience has elucidated opportunities and challenges of co-creation as a tool to enhance the responsiveness of research and innovation. The results suggest how focused, guided interactions between different stakeholders can in principle lead to novel suggestions on how to integrate broader considerations in research and innovation decisions. Several insights evolved from wild ideas into specific propositions towards the end of the co-creation process. That said, the gap between the appreciation of broader issues around research and innovation, and the actual integration of those issues in daily research practices and priorities remains significant: the challenge is to get from constructive dialogue to practical action. The GoNano experience suggests that co-creation processes need to identify the concrete interests and address the motivations of all participants, maintain continuity of thought, ‘translate’ needs and concerns from the social realm to practical options in the technological realm, and drill down to the level where the discussion topics and identified courses of action are specific enough to affect the decisions of the actors involved.

Read the full report here: GoNano D4.4 – Insights and lessons from the engagement activities

In summary

GoNano sought to design and implement a co-creation process that aligns nanotechnologies with societal needs and values. The co-creation process aimed to derive concrete suggestions from a deeper understanding of the needs and values of European citizens, and to explore the potential commercial value of integrating societal considerations in nanotechnology research and innovation. To realise these ambitious objectives, the project partners have produced a wealth of information on research and innovation policy, public engagement and co-creation in nanotechnologies.

The overall co-creation process spanned a wide range of activities across Europe. All in all, the workshops have mobilized 249 participants around co-creation in nanotechnologies. Moreover, 46 interviewees from 14 countries have provided their views on nanotechnologies and engagement in the initial stages of the project, 893 respondents from across Europe have commented through an online consultation on the product suggestions resulting from the workshops, and 198 persons responded to the evaluation questionnaires and interviews.

The overall GoNano experience has elucidated opportunities and challenges of co-creation as a tool to enhance the responsiveness of research and innovation. The findings of the GoNano co-creation process confirm that with some effort and careful preparation, it is possible to demonstrate to stakeholders that it does make sense to look at the broader dimensions of research. Participants valued the general opportunities for mutual learning and networking. However, getting from constructive dialogue to practical action remains a significant bottleneck: there is a gap between the appreciation of broader issues around research and innovation and the actual integration of those issues in daily research practices.

The GoNano experience suggests that co-creation processes need to identify the concrete interests and address the motivations of all participants, maintain continuity of thought, ‘translate’ needs and concerns from the social realm to practical options in the technological realm, and drill down to the level where the discussion topics and identified courses of action are specific enough to affect the decisions of the actors involved.

Aligning research and innovation to societal needs and values is not just a matter of deciding what sorts of future applications European citizens and stakeholders want and need (which is difficult enough, given widely divergent responses). It is also a matter of practically realising the desired change. Due to the relative autonomy of the research and innovation system, calls for responsiveness will need to identify the win-win opportunities where ‘doing good’ and ‘doing well’ coincide.

Read the full report here: GoNano D4.4 – Insights and lessons from the engagement activities

*The document may not be seen as an official deliverable of the GoNano project as it has not yet been approved by the European Commission

Over the course of three years, GoNano brought together citizens, civil society organizations, industry, researchers, and policy makers across Europe to align future nanotechnologies with societal needs and concerns. The co-creation process aimed to demonstrate how researchers can work with public and professional stakeholders to create novel suggestions for future nanotechnology products.

Why co-creation?

As you may know, co-creation can broadly be understood as a collaborative development of new value (concepts, solutions, products, and services) together with various stakeholders (such as organized customers, industry, research, civil society organisations, and policymakers). It is a form of collaborative innovation: ideas are shared and improved together.

Policy makers like yourself are an essential stakeholder in this process for two reasons. Firstly, during the co-creation process you provide essential input about the external conditions and framework to promote societal engagement in nanotechnologies. And secondly, since the findings from the GoNano experiences are fed back into policy recommendations (GoNano white papers and policy briefs), policy makers are key stakeholders in using these recommendations in real-life cases to ensure the future governance of nanotechnology is more responsible and responsive to societal needs and values.

Co-creation enables policy makers to work more closely with society and ensures support from all sides. This is a new sort of conversation according to a policy maker of the Provincial Council of Flevoland in The Netherlands:

“Rather than external professional facilitators, it was the politicians themselves who facilitated the group sessions. This heightened the sense of being involved in the ‘real’ conversation among all participants and allowed the residents to get a direct response to their ideas and possible concerns”

See the interviews with the workshop participant and best practice example on the GoNano Youtube channel.

Supporting policy makers in the process of co-creation

To support you in the aligning of R&I with the values, needs and expectations of society, GoNano developed various tools, guidelines and policy papers: 1) The GoNano policy briefs present the results of the engagement activities and provide recommendations based on the GoNano experiences, 2) The GoNano white papers provide insights into different aspects of co-creation and responsiveness in the field of nanotechnology. 3) The GoNano co-creation toolkit and ‘The Road of Co-creation’ website section are developed to support stakeholders to develop their own co-creation event. and 4) The ‘How to..’ guide for citizens is developed to prepare your participants for a co-creation event, to improve your co-creation event.

1) The GoNano Policy Briefs

The GoNano policy briefs present the results of the engagement activities and provide recommendations based on the GoNano experiences.

Policy brief 1: Co-creation: A Practical Tool to Enhance Responsiveness in Research and Innovation

About: Co-creation can enhance responsiveness by

Policy brief 2: Moving from reflection to proactive engagement and action on societal needs, values, and concerns 

About: The move to action can be supported by

Policy brief 3: Opportunities and Challenges of Co-Creation: Experiences from the GoNano Project

About: Strategies for overcoming challenges for co-creation

Policy brief 4: The Value Chain: An approach to Implement Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) practices in Nanotechnologies Development

About: How the value chain approach can support the implantation of RRI

Policy brief 5: Positioning Co-Creation: Democratisation versus Added Value

About: Possible uses of co-creation in research and innovation

Policy brief 6: Inclusion in Co-creation: What is Needed in Practice?

About: Key requirements for realising inclusion in co-creation

Policy brief 7: Gender Issues in Nanotechnologies research and innovation

About: Gender issues in nanotechnologies research and innovation include

Industry Brief: The Power of co-creation

About: Designing solutions to shared problems with citizens and stakeholders

2) The GoNano White Papers

GoNano developed three white papers through and interactive writing process with stakeholders and the general public. Each white paper focusses on specific aspects of co-creation and responsiveness in the field of nanotechnologies.

White Paper one establishes the foundation as to why co-creation responsiveness makes sense in nanotechnology and describes conceptual and empirical aspects of responsiveness of researchers and engineers in co-creation processes. It mainly addresses researchers, engineers, as well as other stakeholders involved in the research system (e.g. research funding or research institutions)

White Paper two provides a strategic focus regarding how to implement co-creation, considering research and the innovation eco-system. Thus, it addresses industrial and business partners, research institutions, and policy makers who are active in and are influencing research and innovation processes.

White paper three provides guidance on how to realize co-creation considering a gender and diversity perspectives in order to better integrate these in nano-related R&I. The main addressees of the paper are organizers and/or researchers in a position to put co-creation into practice.

Read the full report about the white papers here: GoNano Deliverable 5.3- Collection of the GoNano White papers

3) Develop your own co-creation process

The co-creation is a downloadable guideline that offers a six-step approach to help enacting stakeholders to develop their own co-creation process. The guideline describes how to define your co-creation goal, identify relevant stakeholders, and design, implement and reflect on the co-creation process afterwards.

The Road of Co-creation is a website a section on the GoNano website, which take the visitor through the entire process of developing and carrying out co-creation events, providing them with the necessary training materials and recommendations that are relevant at the different steps along the way.

4) Prepare your participants for the co-creation process

With the ‘How to..’ guide for citizens on public participation, we would like to share our lessons learned and support citizens and other stakeholders who would like to engage with nanotechnologies. The guide supports participants to express their own needs and concerns and ensure that their thoughts are taken into account in future developments. It offers a five-step approach that aims to help you define your interests, identify the right opportunity, and become involved in nanotechnology research and development. It’s an invitation for citizens to express their own needs and concerns and help shape the future directions of nanotechnologies.

The GoNano approach

GoNano believes that research and innovation can benefit from being more open to societal needs and concerns. Over the course of three years (2017-2020), GoNano enabled collaborative development (co-creation) in three nanotechnology application areas: food, energy and health. We first consulted citizens about their wishes, needs and concerns regarding future nanotechnology applications. This was used as input for the first and second stakeholder workshops, which aimed to stimulate citizens, civil society organisations, industry, researchers and policy makers across Europe to co-create research aims and think about concrete (product) suggestions for future nanotechnologies. Read more about the GoNano approach and results. 

In order to foster responsible research and innovation in the nano research and innovation (R&I) system, innovative processes are required in order to improve the responsiveness of research and innovation processes to public values and concerns, and to enhance the confidence of stakeholders that new technologies respond to societal needs and values. The early and continuous engagement of all stakeholders is key to sustainable, desirable and acceptable innovation in nanotechnologies, in which R&I is aligned with the values, needs and expectations of society.GoNano will co-create concrete product suggestions within the areas of food, health and energy, illustrate new opportunities for innovation and develop policy recommendations.

The following deliverable offers a consolidation of key findings from previous and ongoing EU and national engagement projects, relevant academic literature and material from interviews with RRI experts, co-creation practitioners, risk communication experts and societal engagement experts with respect to how to facilitate and pursue a co-creation process.  Projects differ according to their emphasis, e.g. on “public engagement”, “stakeholder engagement”, “co-creation” or “mutual learning”. While we acknowledge the differences that exist in these notions here, we do not engage with those differences as such.

Read the full report here: GoNano D1.1- Building on the state-of-the-art: Ex-post evaluation on mutual learning

In summary

In order to foster responsible research and innovation in the nano research and innovation (R&I) system, innovative processes are required in order to improve the responsiveness of research and innovation processes to public values and concerns, and to enhance the confidence of stakeholders that new technologies respond to societal needs and values. The early and continuous engagement of all stakeholders is key to sustainable, desirable and acceptable innovation in nanotechnologies, in which R&I is aligned with the values, needs and expectations of society.

GoNano will co-create concrete product suggestions within the areas of food, health and energy, illustrate new opportunities for innovation and develop policy recommendations. The GoNano co-creation process aims for enhanced societal engagement in the governance of the innovation of nanotechnologies. In order to foster such an innovative process, GoNano will showcase an early state-of-the-art continuous citizen and stakeholder engagement process, building on the insights of previous EU and national projectsin the field of public engagement and on an ex-post evaluation of the mutual learning process between stakeholders in previous relevant nanotechnology projects and on societal debates on emerging technologies.

Deliverable 1.1 offers a consolidation of key findings from previous and ongoing EU and national engagement projects, relevant academic literature and material from interviews with RRI experts, co-creation practitioners, risk communication experts and societal engagement experts with respect to how to facilitate and pursue a co-creation process. We begin by presenting the rationale for co-creation, both with respect to the general objective of making research and innovation more responsive to societal needs and expectations, and with an emphasis on the GoNano approach to co-creation. In carrying out a mapping and analysis of a variety of projects and initiatives, we encountered the following types of recommendations:

1. 1. How to organise co-creation exercises: substantive and procedural requirements
   2. Sociological/philosophical observations regarding how interactions worked (or should have worked

The following report is structured along these recommendations; where possible, good practice examples of how other projects have addressed certain issues were included. Studies of public perception of nanotechnologies also offer some important insights for GoNano with respect to understanding attitudes to nanotechnologies and specific needs for information in co-creation exercises.The report also outlines highlights of some relevant studies and specific methodologies –described in the project reports –that are of interest for GoNano. Next key lessons for GoNano from a state-of-the-art study of the public engagement literature are extracted. And finally, an overview of national nanotechnology dialogue initiatives carried out in consortium partners’ countries and drawout the implications of these exercises for our own project is offered.

Read the full report here: GoNano D1.1- Building on the state-of-the-art: Ex-post evaluation on mutual learning

Part of the GoNano objectives are to create an engagement process which is cognisant of gender, diversity, culture and communication traditions across Europe. By being aware of what aspects of gender, culture, diversity and communication methods affect public discourse and public opinion, we can engage the public in a more immediate and significant way, and thereby develop a better and more effective communication and consultation methodology. This report is divided into two parts, where the first part consists of a literature review where these issues of gender, culture and communication is investigated. The second part is an analysis of societal debates, where online tools are used for harvesting, mapping and analysing social data on social media and websites on national debates in five European countries –the Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Denmark, Netherlands and Spain

Read the full report here: D1.2- Understanding the role of culture, gender and communication traditions and their implications for enagagement methodologies communication and dissemination

In summary

Part of the GoNano objectives are to create an engagement process which is cognisant of gender, diversity, culture and communication traditions across Europe. This engagement process will inform future nanotechnology development, by ways of public discourse and methodology development, as well as co-creation. In order to adequately align nanotechnology Research and Innovation with societal needs, it is important to look at societal issues such as gender, culture, and diversity.

These areas of focus present us with an opportunity to get a deeper insight into what motivates opinions, thoughts, needs, values and concerns — are these the same, or are there differences between or within various groups? Does gender have any impact on how values, needs and concerns around nanotechnology are shaped; does demographic diversity influence such concerns? What information and knowledge can we glean from looking into divergences of opinions and differences in discourse? What can we gain from increased awareness and focus on these issues?

This report is divided into two parts, where the first part consists of a literature review where these issues of gender, culture and communication is investigated. The second part is an analysis of societal debates, where online tools are used for harvesting, mapping and analysing social data on social media and websites on national debates in five European countries –the Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Denmark, Netherlands and Spain.

Conclusion

The findings from the data-mapping exercise showed that organisations have a very important role to play in disseminating information and building trust with the general public on topics like nanotechnology, and if the aim is to start a dialogue, dissemination needs to be both one-way and two-way in order to have an impact beyond those who already have an interest in the issue at hand. Public opinion can be influenced and change from a generally positive attitude towards nanotechnology to a hostile and negative perception –it is only by having a solid, facts-based communication channel that is effective in its reach that this can be avoided. In addition to this, the literature review informed us of how the lay public form opinions, how they are influenced, how they assess risk, and how gender and diversity play out in this area.

Read the full report here: D1.2- Understanding the role of culture, gender and communication traditions and their implications for enagagement methodologies communication and dissemination

During the first part of the GoNano project about fifty stakeholders with different roles in the R&I value chain have been interviewed in order to discuss the main technological developments in food, health and energy sectors. Representatives of R&I networks, public and private research, industry, policy makers, and end-users from several different countries in Europe have been involved. The respondens were asked about the main technological developments in the three sectors, in order to highlight the potential applications with significant impact on society and the issues that could be relevant to discuss in public debates.

Interview findings include examples of applications using nanotechnologies in the sectors of food, health and energy, with particular focus on short to medium term product solutions. Both common, and sector specific issues have been identified and have been turned into future applicaitons and product scenarios.  Most of them are expected to have a significant social impact, and are also aligned with acknowledged R&I priorities at policy and industrial level. These include applications of nanotechnologies for smart packaging, nano‐filtering, novel foods and plant protection products (food and agri‐food sectors), and regenerative medicine, diagnostic and assistive medical devices, targeted and personalized medical treatments (healthcare), and energy generation and storage, energy efficiency and application of the internet of things (energy).

In the report, the research priorities, product scenarios, and the needs and concerns emerged from the interviews are analyzed. Differences and similarities between the three sectors have been discussed and some cross-sectorial or general issues have been highlighted. Also, several insights to design future dialogue initiatives on nanotechnologies have been collected, regarding the methodology, the stakeholders to be engaged, the issues to debate and the goals to be pursued through societal engagement.

Read the full report here  D1.3- Stakeholders engagement in nanotechnologies: areas and issues for a dialogue

The background material presented in this report was developed for the first round of stakeholder workshops.These stakeholder workshops are part of a co-creation process where citizens and professional stakeholders (representatives from industry, policy, civil society and research) create suggestions for future nanotechnology products and research in the areas of ‘health’ (the Netherlands), ‘energy’ (Spain), and ‘food’ (Cech Republic). The goal of the co-creation process is to demonstrate how responsiveness to societal values, needs and concerns can be built into nanotechnology research and innovation processes resulting in products that are judged as socially desirable, sustainable, and acceptable.

Brochure content

Stakeholders that were invited to the stakeholder workshops received a personalized invitation in which the aims of GoNano and the purpose of engaging in the co-creation process was shortly explained. The information material provided also gave an overview of the overall co-creation process,and what was expected of their contributions during the workshop on page 2 and 3 of the information material. To make the GoNano co-creation process as transparent as possible, the infographic of the process was included, as well as the steps that will be taken after the stakeholder workshop. Furthermore, a short paragraph about the organizers of the workshops was included. This latter paragraph was adjusted to the pilot country.

Read the full GoNano report- D4.1 Background material for stakeholder workshops