Linking workplace innovation and regional development: Towards new roles for the university sector

Linking workplace innovation and regional development: towards new roles for the university sector.

2004 – With this paper the authors want to contribute to the discussion on how universities could make a more active part in workplace innovation, a crucial element for both compositeness and employment within their host regions.

The authors take the view that knowledge and expertise about regional development is the product of interaction between various sources of expertise.

This perspective on the creation and distribution of knowledge raises far-reaching questions about the nature of the processes and structures that can enhance effective interactions between different sources of expertise. They focus on why, where and how such learning takes place and what kind of knowledge can emerge from these interactions. Section 2 (‘why?’) argues for the centrality of the knowledge base to regional policy intervention. Section 3 (‘where?’) argues that the real locus for regional innovation is in the workplace and points to the need for better access to evidence-based approaches to change. However section 4 (‘how’?) argues that workplace innovation does not take place in a vacuum and that the regional context provides both stimuli and resources for change. Finally section 5 outlines a framework within which universities can redefine relationships with host regions.

Reference

Lantz, A. and Totterdill, P. (2004) Linking workplace innovation and regional development: Towards new roles for the university sector. In: Fricke, W. and Totterdill, P. (Eds.) Action research in workplace innovation and regional development, (pp. 183 – 205). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

 

Theme: External cooperation

Sector: n.a.

Source: Article/ Chapter in a book