Solving systemic sustainability challenges can solely be addressed through collective action, with shared responsibility between different actors. At the same time, people view responsibility as problematic and ambiguous when the connection between actions and their outcomes is marked by significant uncertainty. We use a social identity theory approach to investigate responsible innovation at the cutting of collective research practice. This qualitative study examines the development of the collective understanding of ‘responsibility’ in an interdisciplinary research group looking to secure funding to research and trial innovations in the electronics sector in the age of climate change. Our study found no awareness of methods, characteristics, or theory related to responsible innovation in the group at the local, national, transnational, or global level. There was no plan or process in place to get closer to a common understanding of what responsibility means in the context of the research group. Additionally, our study found a gap between actions of implementing responsibility in the context of private live and professional life. This is a clear indication that there is lack of knowledge diffusion of responsible innovation, or responsible research and innovation, even in academia. We propose that reflexivity, through project-based means, is a prerequisite for deep engagement with ‘sustainability’ for developing a collective understanding of responsibility fit for addressing systemic challenges.
