Objectives:
This article analyzes the central paradox related to the implementation of RRI, focusing on the key role of universities. The thesis of the work states that universities, although institutionally predisposed to be leaders and promoters of RRI, are simultaneously a place of deep, structural resistance to this concept.

Material and methods:
The article is theoretical and review-based. Analysis and critique of the hitherto dispersed literature in the fields of innovation management, science policy, sustainable development studies, and higher education studies constituted the primary research tool. This allowed for the creation of a coherent analytical framework, enabling the establishment of relationships and dependencies and the identification of a key research problem at the intersection of these disciplines, concerning the paradoxical role of universities in implementing RRI.

Results:
RRI is a key tool for building a more sustainable and ethical future, in which science and technology serve the common good. The integration of RRI with the sustainable development agenda is logical and necessary, yet it constitutes the greatest implementation challenge for the new paradigm of innovation management. Universities, which are naturally predisposed to be leaders and catalysts of paradigm change, must overcome internal cultural and structural barriers.

Conclusions:
The analysis showed that RRI, with its emphasis on anticipation, reflection, engagement, and responsiveness, is a key tool for harmonizing technological progress with social values and SDGs. Universities should play a central role in this process as natural leaders of this transformation. However, they must overcome the systemic conflict between the ideals of RRI and the realities of the political economy of academic research.