New directions for RIS studies and policies in the face of grand societal challenges

Franz Tödtling, Michaela Trippl () and Veronika Desch ()
Additional contact information
Michaela Trippl: University of Vienna
Veronika Desch: University of Vienna

No 2021(01), GEIST - Geography of Innovation and Sustainability Transitions from GEIST Working Paper Series

Abstract: The regional innovation system (RIS) approach has become a widely used framework for examining the dynamics of innovation across space as well as for crafting policies aimed at promoting the innovation capacity of regions. The dominant focus of RIS studies and regional innovation policies has been on technological innovation that drives competitiveness and economic growth. In light of persistent environmental and social challenges such as climate change, health problems, and growing inequalities, this narrow understanding of innovation appears to be obsolete. This article claims that the RIS approach requires critical rethinking and reassessment to provide a solid basis for informing the next generation of regional innovation policies. We explore how RIS scholarship and policies could benefit from engaging more deeply with an alternative understanding of innovation. Inspired by recent work on responsible innovation, mission-oriented and transformative innovation policies, we develop the notion of ‘challenge-oriented RIS’ (CORIS). In contrast to conventional understandings of RIS, this approach embraces a broader and more critical understanding of innovation, captures the directionality of change, opens up to new innovation actors and novel coordination mechanisms between various stakeholders and territorial scales, and pays more attention to the application side and upscaling of innovation within the region and beyond. Acknowledging that regions vary in their capacity to fashion transformative change and challenge-oriented innovation, the paper outlines new directions for place-based innovation policies.

Keywords: regional innovation systems; grand societal challenges; sustainability transitions; challenge-oriented regional innovation policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse, nep-env, nep-geo, nep-hme, nep-ino and nep-tid
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.geist-wp.com/papers/geist_wp_2101.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aoe:wpaper:2101

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in GEIST - Geography of Innovation and Sustainability Transitions from GEIST Working Paper Series
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Johan Miörner ().