Involving Universities in Regional Upgrading in the Periphery: Lessons from Northern Europe

This chapter presents and discusses two cases of regional upgrading involving public-run universities in two Northern European countries, Norway and the Netherlands. More specifically, it illuminates how academic groups associated with the field of medicine took pro-active steps to establish and further develop regional coalitions which, over time, have resulted in situated learning. The focus on processes of university-regional engagement and mutual satisfaction in a context where universities are pressured to be globally excellent allow lessons to be drawn for regions in Southern Europe. Subtle transfer is nevertheless required to account for universities’ autonomies and organisational ca…

Involving universities in regional upgrading in the periphery

This chapter presents and discusses two cases of regional upgrading involving public-run universities in two Northern European countries, Norway and the Netherlands. More specifically, it illuminates how academic groups associated with the field of medicine took pro-active steps to establish and further develop regional coalitions which, over time, have resulted in situated learning. The focus on processes of university-regional engagement and mutual satisfaction in a context where universities are pressured to be globally excellent allow lessons to be drawn for regions in Southern Europe. Subtle transfer is nevertheless required to account for universities’ autonomies and organisational ca…

Do Perceptions of Academic Scientists Influence Non-Academic Collaboration?

The recognition of academic research as a potential source of economic growth and social welfare has attracted the attention of both policymakers and academics over the past decades. Incentives have been introduced by policymakers to encourage academics to make their research accessible to wider audiences to improve societal benefits. Academics may work as part of collaborative R&D teams that help to benefit their research, such as to increase academic access to facilities and resources. However, this engagement may come with a potential cost or what has sometimes been referred to as the “dark side of collaboration.” Engaging with non-academic partners in collaborative R&D projects can have…

Reflecting on the Tensions of Research Utilization: Understanding the Coupling of Academic and User Knowledge

This paper addresses debate of how research is utilized that questions measuring ‘acts of use’ of research (patents, spin-offs, or license income). A science system is a progressive business where research builds upon diverse existing research and knowledge. The extent of research utilization is determined by the extent to which prior research can feed into research that ultimately leads to acts of use. We use the term ‘knowledge transformers’ to refer to research users that transform academic knowledge into the socio-economic domain, and define ‘usability’ of prior research as the ease with which it may contribute to research that knowledge transformers are able to absorb. We argue that to…

Does it take two to tango? Factors related to the ease of societal uptake of scientific knowledge

Science policy increasingly focuses on maximising societal benefits from science and technology investments, but often reduces those benefits to activities involving codifying and selling knowledge, thereby idealising best practice academic behaviours around entrepreneurial superstars. This paper argues that societal value depends on knowledge being used, making knowledge's eventual exploitation partly dependent upon on whether other users-societal or scientific-can use that knowledge (i.e. on how far new knowledge is cognate with users' existing knowledge). When scientists incorporate user knowledge into their research processes, what we call 'open research behaviours', their knowledge may…

Does usable research face higher obstacles within the academy?

The recognition of academic research as a potential source of economic growth and social welfare has attracted the attention of both policy-makers and academics over the past decades. But emphasising the impact of research brings a new set of tensions to scientific governance processes, and raises the risk that academics who engage more with users be hindered in pursuing their research activities. In this paper, we seek to understand whether researchers that meaningfully engage with societal users in their research micro-practices face additional obstacles in their research, whether in terms of the acceptance of that research by academic communities and the absorption of that knowledge by u…

Strategic agency and institutional change

Strategic agency and institutional change: investigating the role of universities in regional innovation systems (RISs). Regional Studies. Past analyses rooted in the thick description of regions successful in constructing regional innovation systems have given way to analyses more focused on the intentionality in these processes, and how actors in regions with their own wider networks can shape these high-level changes in regional fortunes. As part of this, place-based leadership has emerged as a promising concept to restore both agency and territory to these discussions, but it remains under-theorized in key areas. This paper contributes to these debates by arguing that there remains a re…

Beyond the Obvious

There is a general tendency amongst policy and certain academic circles to assume that universities are simple strategic actors capable and willing to respond to a well-articulated set of regional demands. In reality, however, universities are extremely complex organizations that operate in highly institutionalized environments and are susceptible to regulative shifts, resource dependencies, and fluctuations in student numbers. Understanding universities' contributions—and capacities to contribute—to regional development and innovation requires understanding these internal dynamics and how they interact with external environmental agents. Based on a comparative study across various national…

One size does not fit all! New perspectives on the university in the social knowledge economy

Universities face a tension from two urgent pressures they face, firstly to demonstrate that they deliver value for society in return for public investments, and secondly to demonstrate their responsibility by introducing strategic management to demonstrate to their funders that they meet their goals. In this special issue, we explore the ways in which these tensions play out in practice, as universities facing 'mission overload' in turn try to develop additional regional development missions, highlighting three findings. Firstly, there can be no one-size-fits all idea of a 'third university mission' alongside teaching and research because engagement is so context-dependent. Secondly, unive…

Regional Roles of Higher Education