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The underpinning concept of irecs is based on ongoing stakeholder engagement to ensure a strong science-society nexus – a crucial aspect of ethical research and proper governance structures. By engaging civil society and the general public, the participatory method of irecs sought to strengthen the role of citizens with research and innovation, creating spaces for participation and dialogue to co-create project results.

As part of this engagement strategy, irecs contributed to a public workshop entitled "𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗿𝗮'𝘀 𝗕𝗼𝘅 𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗺𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗮'𝘀 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝗻?", which took place on Saturday, 20 September 2025, in the picturesque village of Methoni, in Messenia, Peloponnese (Greece). The event aimed at introducing key concepts of artificial intelligence and at drawing attention to its impact on society. It was organised by the Methoni Castle Friends Association with the scientific support of ARCHIMEDES Research Unit of the Athena Research Center and irecs. The event programme included the following talks:
 
👉 "𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻", by Timos Sellis, Director of ARCHIMEDES Research Unit
👉 "𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗜𝘁 𝗜𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱", by Katerina Pastra, Head of the “Language and Robots Lab”, Lead Researcher at the Institute for Language and Speech Processing (Athena Research Center)
👉 "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲", by Manolis Andriotakis, Journalist and Author, KATHIMERINI Newspaper
👉 "𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲" by  Eleni Spyrakou, Senior Researcher at the National Technical University of Athens, irecs team member

👉Round table discussion

The workshop was attended by students of the local high school and members of the local community, who expressed interest in the ethical challenges emerging from various AI applications and asked questions to the speakers. irecs’ methodology and aims, its training material (available in the ENERI Classroom), and introductory information about research ethics and research integrity were also presented.

The interaction with the attendees was lively and thought provoking. Students came well prepared for the event with a list of questions for the speakers and showed great enthusiasm about the topic. They contributed to the discussion with their experiences as users of Generative AI applications, and with their ingenious curiosity about the current state of the art and future developments of the field.

After the end of the event, the irecs team circulated an online survey to all members of the Methoni Castle Friends Association to collect perspectives of the public on ethics reviews, and to understand how citizens might play a more active role in ethical research practices.

Authors: Eleni Spyrakou, National Technical University of Athens