Participation of the Public in Research Projects with Different Time Horizons

The development of an innovative new agricultural system can only be successful in the long term if it is characterized by a certain robustness. Participation promises to fulfil this function for the social component. Various and diverse positive effects are currently attributed to participation of the public which has become mandatory in many research and innovation projects. However, many questions about participation are unanswered, especially when it comes to projects with very long-term horizons. Under what conditions and when is participation in projects with different time horizons useful and which parts of the public (citizens, stakeholders, experts etc.) add value within participative processes?

Here, acceptance research is reaching its limits because this discourse has to be focused on possible, probable and desirable futures - while considering the unknowingness of future needs. The latter are associated with great uncertainties and non-knowledge i.e. the lack of concrete ideas - in science as well as in public. Innovation processes have become more complex, in particular a high increase in communication and interaction is apparent. The starting point are promises of the future potentials and risks of innovation and subsequently leads to expectations based interpretations by the public.

The overall objective of the subproject is to investigate the usefulness and effectiveness of various methods for participation of the public in research projects with different time horizons.

Text: M. Preiss, FUB