In this reflective article the hoRRIzon project shares experiences and views from engagement with researchers, academics, project partners and advisory group members. The paper focuses on some tensions expressed by participants and lessons learnt from the project so far – the time and timing required to put responsible research and innovation (RRI) into practice, some confusion of what RRI implementation involves, and the need for institutions to provide more practical support and incentives to support early and embedded RRI practice within a project.