From Individual Action to Institutional Transfer: Redefining Responsibility through Transfer Competence in Regional Innovation Ecosystems

Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) has become an established framework for aligning innovation processes with societal values through anticipation, reflexivity, inclusion, and responsiveness. Yet, in practice, RRI often remains bound to project logics, funding cycles, and institutionalised transfer mechanisms that prioritise measurable outcomes over transformative learning. Building on recent work in the field of transfer didactics and competence-based innovation education, this paper argues that transformative responsibility requires the development of transfer competence: the ability to navigate uncertainty, negotiate directionality, and mediate between societal needs and institutional constraints. Drawing on educational design and applied research at the Technische Universität Berlin, we present a competence-based approach to cultivating RRI in higher education. Initially developed with students, this approach is now being extended to researchers and innovators in collaboration with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). By fostering reflexive and anticipatory agency within regional innovation ecosystems, universities can act as catalysts for responsible institutional transformation. The paper thus proposes a dialectical entanglement of individual action and institutional transfer, positioning transfer competence as a key capability for embedding RRI in the everyday practices of science and innovation.