Considering expert takeovers in citizen involvement processes

Abstract

While citizen involvement has become an increasingly accepted and popular procedure in both the theory and practice of responsible research and innovation (RRI), there remains a curious dilemma in that the accomplishment of involvement does not necessarily ensure sought responsibility towards citizens. Instead, experts may easily take over the process of involvement and change the outcomes in quite distinct directions, as is empirically shown in this article, while still claiming to draw legitimacy from citizens. To counteract such unwanted takeovers, citizen contributions should be considered as a point of reference throughout the subsequent activities resulting from the involvement. Alternatively, the citizen contributions should simply be used as they were articulated without any significant expert translation. The article draws on empirical insights from an extensive case study in which citizens in 12 European countries articulated visions on sustainable futures, which experts then formulated to priorities for the European Union's Horizon 2020 framework programme for research and innovation.