Responsible Research and Innovation in the Global South: Agriculture, Renewable Energy and the Pursuit of Symmetry

In contemporary, industrialised and industrialising cultures, science and technology have become an inseparable element of our existence and socio-cultural endeavours. The technological cultures that we live in, make us empowered and vulnerable at the same time (Bijker, 2006; Hommels et al., 2014). To accommodate the uncertainty that is inherent in innovation processes and outcomes, it is generally considered beneficial to enrol multiple perspectives and ways of seeing and understanding the world, when looking for innovative solutions to specific problems. Since some ten years, this often happens under the banner of Responsible Research and Innovations (RRI). This special issue originated from such an effort. Funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), and with the collaboration of Maastricht University and the Indian wing of the Dutch chemical company...