Author(s): Tzouvaras, C. & Seedall, C. & Tambornino, L. M. & Hastings, R. & Evans, N. & Labib, K.
Abstract
This deliverable presents a review of existing research ethics and research integrity (RE&RI) resources within the European Research Area (ERA). Based on findings from systematic reviews of guidance and training resources, it identifies key gaps and opportunities for integrating environmental and climate considerations, providing a foundation for developing operational guidelines and educational pathways that support the Green Transition and align with the European Green Deal in subsequent WPs.
The analysis reviewed 213 RE&RI guidelines and frameworks within the ERA. A major finding is that environmental and climate concerns remain largely underrepresented. Specifically:
- 58% of documents made no reference to environmental or climate issues at all.
- Of those that did, only 6% were classified as comprehensive, 14% as moderately comprehensive, and 22% as minimally comprehensive.
Engagement with key themes such as sustainability, biodiversity protection, and pollution was typically superficial, offering high-level principles without practical implementation strategies. The resources often mentioned broad concepts like sustainability and the precautionary principle, but neglected justice-related themes such as energy justice, intergenerational justice, or the role of indigenous populations and disproportionately affected communities. Moreover, emerging technology domains—such as geoengineering, renewable energy technology, or digital tools for behavioural change—were rarely addressed. Instead, most attention was given to biotechnology and ICTs. Many frameworks also lacked stakeholder-specific guidance. Practical and actionable advice for researchers, policymakers, or citizen scientists was minimal or absent.
Key gaps include:
- Lack of climate/environmental content in most RE&RI frameworks.
- Vague references without actionable implementation tools.
- Minimal coverage of newer, high-impact technologies.
- Limited inclusion of justice and inclusivity principles.
- Inadequate attention to risk assessment and stakeholder engagement.
While recommendations call for:
- Embedding climate/environmental ethics as core priorities.
- Including justice-based approaches (e.g., participatory and intergenerational justice).
- Creating flexible, stakeholder-specific, and adaptive guidelines that integrate sustainability, risk management, and emerging technology ethics.
Training Programmes and Materials
The analysis identified 255 training programmes and 95 training materials across the ERA. These were evaluated for their inclusion of environmental/climate concerns relevant to research and innovation ethics. While the quantity of materials was encouraging, their quality and depth varied widely:
- Some programmes referenced topics like the Anthropocene, climate justice, and indigenous knowledge.
- However, integration of ethical concepts and principles (e.g., precautionary principle, justice types) was inconsistent.
- Most training materials targeted university students, and formats varied from traditional courses to podcasts, workshops, and online modules.
Key gaps include:
- Lack of engagement with theories of justice and virtue ethics.
- Little engagement with the concept of environmental risk and how to mitigate it and concepts related to under-represented or marginalized groups or inclusion generally.
- Absence of important principles more frequently associated with environmental and climate ethics
Recommendations include:
- Developing training materials on:
o Justice, research and the environment
o Virtue and environmental and climate aspects of research and innovation
o Different types of environmental risks and methods for how to assess and mitigate them
o Representation in relation to whose knowledge is considered relevant and who should be included in decision-making
o Applying key environmental and climate ethics principles to research and innovation processes - Developing a strong argument and framing for why environmental and climate considerations should be considered as part of research ethics frameworks.
This summary is related to D1.3. Gap analysis of research ethics and integrity resources for research and innovation in general and new climate and environmental technologies in particular.