Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Jos van den Broek
Author-Name-First: Jos
Author-Name-Last: van den Broek
Author-Name: Franziska Eckardt
Author-Name-First: Franziska
Author-Name-Last: Eckardt
Author-Name: Paul Benneworth
Author-Name-First: Paul
Author-Name-Last: Benneworth
Title: The transformative role of universities in regional innovation systems
Abstract: Universities play many important roles in the knowledge-based economy, providing
innovation support services directly, but also changing the way that innovation is
organised in their regions, and building new economic development pathways. Their
roles can be particularly important in less successful regions that lack a critical mass of
other knowledge actors who have the skills to organise regional innovation structures
and processes. This working paper seeks to explore the roles that universities can play in
one very specific type of peripheral region namely cross-border regions, where national
borders hinder interactions, network-formation and institutionalisation between
innovation actors that might geographically be proximate. Our research question is: what
roles do universities play in cross-border regions and how can we understand these roles
through a conceptual typology? We propose a conceptual typology for how universities
may build up elements of university innovation activities in cross-border regions using
their teaching, research, management and administrative processes. We explore this in
six border regions: Bothnian Arc, Hedmark - Dalarna, Helsinki – Tallinn, Ireland –
Northern Ireland, TTR-ELAt and Öresund to reflect more widely on universities’ wider
roles in building up regional innovation systems.
Length: 32 pages
Creation-Date: 2017
File-URL: https://ris.utwente.nl/ws/portalfiles/portal/6027785
File-Format: Application/pdf
Number: 201705
Keywords: border regions, cross-border regional innovation, university internationalisation university regional engagement, university third mission
Handle: RePEc:chs:wpachs:201705