Pilot 2 – Karlsruhe Technology Region 

karlsruhe technology region disposes of a very high level of economic development with leading international firms, innovative smeS AND STARTUPS WITHIN ITS TERRITORIAL BOUNDARIES.

Equally strong in research, private and public, the region is a home to four Fraunhofer Institutes and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). 

With TetRRIS, the region seeks to address the need to scale mobility and transport solutions with multiple public and private actors integrating the concepts of RRI and S3 and their integration to regional innovation strategies with a view to increasing the understanding of sustainability across policy/society/environment.  

PROJECT RESULTS

The RRI pilots envisioned for the Karlsruhe Technology region are based on a recently elaborated regional development strategy that focuses the region’s profile in three main areas: (1) technological focus on mobility, digitalisation and energy, (2) the integration, cooperation, and way of life and (3) regional development based on industry and skilled personnel. The implementation of the vision for the region is very much dependent on TRK GmbH as the main public regional organization actor.  

Indeed, “de facto RRI” elements have already been implemented in the region, as innovation practitioners from Karlsruhe often follow RRI principles in practice. Furthermore, the project within this pilot region promotes a great emphasis on inclusion and public engagement and education, as well as on diversity, ethics and openness. 

The two main pilot actions for this region include the development of a “Practitioner Network for Citizen and Stakeholder Engagement”, as to provide a space addressed to discussions among participants and the structuration of exchanging dialogue between policymakers of Karlsruhe, Tampere and Szeged-Timisoara regions.  

The two main pilot actions coming from this region include the Practitioner Network for Public Stakeholder Engagement and the Exchange with Tampere and Szeged-Timisoara regions. 

So far, the completed objectives include the following: 

  • The Practitioner Network for Public and Stakeholder Engagement (one of the major pilot actions of the project): a network that provides space for discussion among all practitioners of challenges and experiences, as well as the exchange of good practices. The initial response to this action was positive, but due to the pandemic, the initiative had to be postponed.  
  • For the second pilot action, different dialogues and exchanges were identified between the policymakers of the Karlsruhe region and the Tampere and Szeged-Timisoara regions. This action has served three main purposes: to introduce members from all the organisations, to have a greater familiarisation between these two and to identify common fields of interest and shared areas of concern.  

It is foreseen to have greater development of these two pilot actions: 

  • As for the Practitioner Network, it is expected to shift from online to in-person meetings. Furthermore, greater focus will be placed on the interests of the network’s core members.  
  • Regarding the Exchange between the two regions, two workshop-style exchanges are expected to be held. 

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