In contemporary, industrialised and industrialising cultures, science and technology have become an inseparable element of our existence and socio-cultural endeavours. The technological cultures that we live in, make us empowered and vulnerable at the same time (Bijker, 2006; Hommels et al., 2014). To accommodate the uncertainty that is inherent in innovation processes and outcomes, it is generally considered beneficial to enrol multiple perspectives and ways of seeing and understanding the world, when looking for innovative solutions to specific problems. Since some ten years, this often happens under the banner of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). This special issue originated from such an effort. Funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), and with the collaboration of Maastricht University and the Indian wing of the Dutch chemical company DSM, we set forth to study the responsible innovation (RI) of biogas in a number of Indian villages in a two-year research project (2015–2017). This RespInnBio¹ project engaged with a technological innovation for the use of surplus rice straw as a feedstock for biogas production. Currently, the straw is being burnt in large amounts on the farmlands in the northern parts of India. Over the course of two years, we conducted a number of meetings. We enrolled various stakeholders, and we used various formats for the meetings-dialogue, seminar, workshop, conference and public discussion. Our final conference held in September 2017 provided a pivotal moment towards this special issue.

中文翻译：

---

全球南方的负责任研究与创新：农业，可再生能源和对对称的追求

在当代，工业化和工业化文化中，科学技术已成为我们生存和社会文化事业不可分割的要素。我们所生活的技术文化使我们同时充满力量和脆弱（Bijker，2006； Hommels等，2014）。为了适应创新过程和成果中固有的不确定性，在寻找针对特定问题的创新解决方案时，通常考虑采用多种视角和方式来了解和理解世界，这是有益的。大约十年以来，这经常在负责任的研究和创新的旗帜下发生（RRI）。这个特殊问题源于这样的努力。由荷兰科学研究组织（NWO）资助，并与马斯特里赫特大学（Maastricht University）和荷兰化工公司DSM的印度分部合作，我们着手研究了印度一些村庄的负责任沼气创新（RI）。一项为期两年的研究项目（2015-2017年）。这个RespInnBio ¹该项目致力于一项技术创新，利用多余的稻草作为沼气生产的原料。目前，印度北部的农田正在大量燃烧秸秆。在过去的两年中，我们进行了多次会议。我们招募了各种各样的利益相关者，并且我们使用了各种形式的会议-对话，研讨会，讲习班，会议和公开讨论。我们于2017年9月举行的最后一次会议为实现这一特刊提供了关键时刻。