Responsible innovation and scaling up

Our expertise

In short

Theory of scaling
Scaling Readiness
GenderUp
Focus Groups for Responsible Innovation

Transformation depends on the alignment of technical, social and institutional changes. Thus, there are always multiple processes of innovation, scaling up, and scaling down happening at the same time, and the results can be desirable or undesirable. Through the Wageningen Transformation Initiative, we pool our knowledge and expertise to support responsible innovation and scaling.

If you want to link various technical and social innovations, you need to look closely at how they influence one another. This requires effective collaboration during research and development. The same applies if you want a large group of people to start using these innovations. This requires four interrelated strategies. Firstly, there is ‘scaling out’, which ensures that more people in different regions get involved. In addition, ‘scaling up’ helps to secure better regulations from policymakers, whilst ‘scaling down’ is intended to change people’s way of thinking. Finally, ‘scaling down’ helps to break old, harmful habits and techniques.

Although all these changes are often well-intentioned, they can have unintended negative consequences for groups of people or the natural environment. That is why we must approach this responsibly. This means continuing to think critically, anticipating and resolving potential drawbacks in advance, and involving the right people in decision-making. The Wageningen Transformation Initiative supports this with useful ways of thinking and practical methods.