New concept in 8 Call Topics in CL5 (Klima, Energie, Mobilität)Societal Readiness: Innovating for and with society

12. Juni 2025

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Author: Regine Wehner

When research results have a valuable impact for society

EU funding for research and innovation in the areas of climate, energy, and mobility has introduced a new requirement: Societal Readiness. Eight call topics in Horizon Europe’s Cluster 5 are currently flagged with the Societal Readiness Pilot. Applicants must address this aspect thoroughly to be funded. While this is a new mandatory requirement, the core of the concept itself is not new.

Innovating with tunnel vision

When innovators are developing solutions in isolation from the market, the potential users, and the consequences they might cause (whether positive or negative), they are innovating with tunnel vision. This can occur when the focus lies solely on the technical aspects of their work, neglecting the real-world context in which their innovations will operate.

A Cautionary Example: Lighting the Way

Let us imagine an innovative city lighting system is developed which activates lamps only when someone walks by, aiming to save energy. While efficient, this could unintentionally make people feel unsafe if they cannot see what lies ahead in the dark. It could exacerbate the problem of vulnerable people not going outside at night because they already feel unsafe walking in the dark. The result could be that these people cannot participate in society at night and therefore increase inequality in society. Such unintended consequences can reduce societal acceptance and hinder the innovation’s uptake, despite its technical merits.

Why the EU Cares

For the EU, funding innovations that fail to consider societal implications is risky. If uptake in society is low, public money is wasted. Addressing Societal Readiness can mitigate this risk by encouraging more thoughtful, inclusive, responsive and ethically sound innovation.

The concept of Societal Readiness

The EU defines Societal Readiness as “an indicator of R&I results, expressing they have accounted for different societal needs and concerns, thereby increasing its potential for societal uptake and transition towards societal adaptation.”

Societal Readiness builds on the concept of Responsible Research & Innovation (RRI), which has been part of EU policy for years. RRI encourages alignment between scientific progress and broader societal needs and expectations – in essence, RRI aims to innovate for society and with society. It calls on researchers and innovators to:

Anticipate consequences, e.g. in environmental, health-related, economic, or social terms

Reflect on underlying assumptions that are taken for granted

Involve stakeholders and relevant societal actors early in R&I activities
Stay responsive towards new external developments and insights, and be willing to learn and adapt

Putting Societal Readiness into Practice

The EU provides guiding questions to help researchers and innovators reflect on the RRI dimensions. For example: Who benefits? Who bears the burden? How are these groups involved in the development of the innovation? What conflicts might arise? How could conflicts be solved?

Still, the framework is flexible and proposals can propose their own methodology to include these reflections. A Coordination and Support Action (CSA) is in place to monitor and evaluate different approaches across the eight pilot topics. Proposals must allocate significant resources to Societal Readiness and involve all consortium partners across disciplines.

The Bigger Picture

The EU wants to make the most out of the research and innovation funded under Horizon Europe. While integrating Societal Readiness might increase the complexity in the projects and may divert some resources from technical development, it enhances the likelihood of meaningful impact. It encourages researchers innovators to shift from tunnel vision to broaden their perspectives—ultimately leading to more robust, accepted, and sustainable innovations.

Horizon Europe projects are usually collaborative by nature, allowing the new responsibility of addressing Societal Readiness to be shared. Innovation enablers like Steinbeis Europa Zentrum that are already dedicated to increasing the impact of the projects through the support researchers and innovators with dissemination of results, clarification of intellectual property ownership or development of business models, are well placed to guide project partners through Societal Readiness assessments.

Societal Readiness aligns with our mission to foster sustainable and responsible industrial change in Europe. We are committed to bringing this concept to life and observing its evolution closely.

Sources:

Horizon Europe Work programme (2025) – Cluster 5: wp-8-climate-energy-and-mobility_horizon-2025_en.pdf

Horizon Europe Programme Guide (version 5.0): programme-guide_horizon_en.pdf

Bernstein, M.J., Nielsen, M.W., Alnor, E. et al. The Societal Readiness Thinking Tool: A Practical Resource for Maturing the Societal Readiness of Research Projects. Sci Eng Ethics 28, 6 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-021-00360-3