On 30 September, EDvocacy participated in an online clinic organised by the REINFORCING project, bringing together more than twenty past and present grantees to exchange experiences from implementing Open and Responsible Research and Innovation (ORRI) initiatives.

The session provided a valuable space for grantees to discuss common challenges encountered as projects move from planning to implementation. Among the topics explored were stakeholder engagement, sustaining ORRI practices beyond individual projects, improving access to ORRI knowledge and resources, and demonstrating meaningful impact.

For the EMPATHER project, coordinated by EDvocacy, these discussions closely reflect our own work on embedding responsible research and innovation principles into educational research involving children and young people. In particular, the exchange offered an opportunity to reflect on how stakeholder participation, responsible digitalisation, privacy-by-design and ethical research practices can become part of everyday research processes rather than remain abstract principles.

Learning from the experiences of other REINFORCING grantees is also particularly timely as EMPATHER moves towards consolidating its experiences and practical resources into its forthcoming ORRI Guide for Educational Research. The guide aims to translate responsible research principles into practical guidance that educators, researchers and other stakeholders can apply throughout the educational research lifecycle.

We thank the REINFORCING team, Stickydot, and all participating grantees for creating an open and constructive space for exchanging challenges, lessons learned and practical solutions.

Such exchanges are an important part of building a stronger ORRI community and helping responsible research practices continue beyond the lifetime of individual projects.