0000000000708159
AUTHOR
Jon P. Knudsen
showing 9 related works from this author
Emergence of regional leadership – a field approach
2016
ABSTRACTEmergence of regional leadership – a field approach. Regional Studies. The complex processes associated with the emergence of regional leadership are interpreted in this paper through a field theoretical framework, and are discussed with example cases relating to green economy developments in four Nordic regions. It is argued that macro- and meso-level processes create opportunities and constraints for local agency, and how local agency can respond to this is discussed. Field theory offers a novel perspective on regional leadership because it helps one gain a deeper understanding of the various forms regional leadership can take.
Education and Social Structure
2015
In this chapter Education and Social Structure, Jon P. Knudsen argues that the role and effect of education is strongly integrated with social and cultural structures. In order to understand how education works, one has to understand how it interrelates with the norms and structure of the cultural environment it plays into. The chapter calls for a balanced development strategy, where new initiatives are discussed in relation to the social and historical environment it is part of. The focus moves from the university to the region. Of course we cannot assume that all universities are seen as part of regions. Some draw on students and subject matter from a wider world. However, even the region…
Towards a new spatial perspective – Norwegian politics at the crossroads
2018
The purpose of the article is to investigate how the hegemony of traditional regional policy in Norway has been weakened in favour of policies of a new type, derived from the combined effect of cli...
Piloting Regional Innovation or Much Ado about Nothing?—Evaluating the R&D Policy Initiative of Nordland, Norway
2014
AbstractThis article evaluates the results of almost a decade of experience with regional R&D development and implementation for enhanced innovation in the county of Nordland, Norway. Following a 2002 national devolution initiative, the county of Nordland was the first among Norwegian counties to coin and implement a distinct R&D policy for business-related innovation and development. This was done by setting up a broad regional partnership, framing a regional strategy and by coordinating substantial budgetary resources to implement the strategy. The evaluation describes the results of this process as ambiguous. This article looks at the process from three perspectives. First, we look at th…
The Sociocultural Basis for Innovation
2018
This chapter argues how economic behaviour in geography could be understood as historically anchored varieties of practice. Contemporary European patterns replicate deep anthropological dispositions as suggested by authors like Geert Hofstede and Emmanuel Todd, and substantiated by Duranton et al. (Types and the persistence of regional disparities in Europe. Economic Geography, 85(1), 23–47, 2009). Old, formative schemes are still operating and new institutional forms, be they cultural, economic or political, are conditioned by their mechanisms. This also goes for innovation. However, in the field of innovation policies, culturally explained variations, cleavages and mismatches are translat…
Vicarious habitation – reinterpreting the role of peripheral living in a Nordic context
2017
This article argues that some of the contemporary attention given to sustaining habitation of regions and communities beyond capacity and prospects of economic growth can be understood by introduci...
The Dialogical Approach to Workplace Innovation
2021
This chapter presents a Nordic-based research approach, aimed at encouraging dialogical processes and broad participation at work, in order to support workplace innovation. The approach has been implemented in Norway and Sweden. The chapter (a) presents the theoretical underpinning related to the dialogical approach to workplace innovation; (b) presents findings from three large successive workplace innovation programmes based on this foundation in Norway; (c) connects (a) and (b) by presenting the programme designs, evaluations and research output and finally (d) reflects upon learning points from this programme history. The overall thesis is that the dialogical approach to workplace innov…
Dealing with rural-urban economic welfare challenges in the Nordic countries – a theory-based overview
2020
Abstract Geography has played an important part in creating the Nordic welfare states. This article discusses how the urban-rural dimension has been dealt with in the context of developing economic welfare. Four different policy interventions are presented: exogeneous shocks, buy out, palliative treatment and endogenous growth through innovation. Of these, the latter prevails in contemporary policy discussions. The application of policy measures varies substantially between the Nordic countries. We have different Nordic models rather than a single model. While in the aftermath of World War II economic development and welfare arguments combined to justify geographical centralisation, the pre…
Action research strategies at the “third place”
2014
Published version of an article in the journal: International Journal of Action Research. Also available from the publisher at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1688/IJAR-2014-02-Johnsen This article discusses action research strategies in regional development. It argues that regional settings are complex, and conceptualises this as the “third place”. This complexity implies a democratic challenge. Furthermore, using regional leadership as a case, it argues that in order to approach this as action researchers, one needs to discuss the assumptions the research is based on. The article discusses two action research approaches: the socio-technical approach and the democratic dialogue approach, and argues …