From ecodesign to responsible eco-innovation A comprehensive investigation of responsible innovation in practice

International audienceResponsible innovation (RI) has been introduced as a normative concept that can be defined on the basis of three norms: avoiding harm, do good and coordinate for the sake of protecting the people and the planet (Voegtlin and Scherer, 2017). If the ostensive aspects of responsible innovation have been developed, their performative aspects remain understudied. In order to understand the challenges and issues of RI in practice, we propose to study the field and practices of ecodesign and eco-innovation. Often designated as a crucial lever to tackle environmental Grand Challenges, their diffusion is still limited. The aim is to understand how the initial techno-scientific framing of ecodesign helps to explain these mixed results, and under what conditions ecodesign could be integrated in a more pragmatic responsible eco-innovation strategies, oriented toward stakeholders aimed at producing positive legitimacy judgments. Through a comprehensive analysis of the literature and the conduct of 27 semi-directive interviews, we highlight the coexistence of two regimes-a techno-centric regime, and a still emerging responsible eco-innovation regime-of which we discuss the characteristics, promises and limits