In October 2019, SeeRRI project was presented at the workshop “Science for Citizens: how science meets regions and cities”, which showcase new ways of co-creation with multi-stakeholders in the process of developing Regional Research and Innovation strategies. SeeRRI, a project funded by the European Commission, focuses on establishing responsible research and innovation ecosystems by integrating Smart Specialisation Strategy and RRI.

There are significant complementarities between the vision of a learning organization and currently influential notions of responsible innovation (Hansen et al., 2020). In fact some of the core qualities that characterize the learning organization according to Senge (1990) – such as openness, reflection, a shared vision, and an emphasis on collective inquiry – are qualities that directly define responsible innovation according to some interpretations of that concept, except that to qualify as a responsible innovator an organization must extend the scope of those qualities beyond its own boundaries to include other stakeholders in society in the innovation process.

How can organizations become responsible innovators? We show how a “learning organization” is better able to practice RRI. Our findings suggest that practicing RRI may give companies a competitive advantage.