Innovative processes and practices, both on a technical and social level, can help create solutions to the major challenges of our time. 

Which innovations lead to sustainable solutions? How can we communicate to raise public awareness of the need for innovation? How can we shape change in society? How can we support people in implementing radical decisions or overcoming resistance to transformation processes? And how can we foster cooperation in innovation at the interface between science and society? 

These are questions that need to be answered. In the coming years, innovative and creative research collaborations between science, society, politics, business, and culture, integrating the expertise of various disciplines and practices, will develop visions, concepts, and approaches for how innovation can be shaped responsibly. 

From the outset, the Berlin University Alliance pursued a participatory approach to the Grand Challenge Initiative “Responsible Innovation in Times of Transformation.” This began with the Grand Challenge topic, which was identified in a bottom-up, open-ended process in which stakeholders from science and society, including teenagers, contributed their ideas, arguments, and questions. The project call phase was also participatory and accompanied by workshops for the joint development of project ideas by researchers and socetial actors, as well as consultation formats on transdisciplinary research modes organized by the TD Lab of the BUA. 

Ongoing Projects

Three interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary projects – Exploration Pilots – on the topic of “Responsible Innovation in Times of Transformation” have been funded by the Berlin University Alliance for two years since October 2024. The projects deal with the responsible design of innovations in the fields of care, mobility, and nutrition. Non-academic partners were involved in the development of the proposals for all projects and contributed their perspectives.