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This book is the result of a European Union funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Innovative Training Network on the Role of Universities in Innovation and Regional Development (RUNIN). The network received funding from 2016 to 2020 and supported 14 early-career researchers who undertook their doctoral training in the network. It builds on the collaboration between the universities in the European Consortium for Innovative Universities (ECIU), of which six of the participant teams are members. The universities in the ECIU share an ambition to promote innovation and to work closely with their regions. The RUNIN programme brings together scholars working on higher education, innovation and regions in order to study how the universities realise this ambition. The project aims to provide new knowledge for other universities and policy-makers on how universities can contribute to innovation in their regions. The programme includes a university and a regional development agency in each region as partners in order to examine the relationship between universities and their regions from both perspectives.The programme involved international mobility both before and during the programme. All early-career researchers moved from abroad to the university and region in which they were employed. The 14 researchers in the programme came from 12 different countries on four continents. They could thus bring an outsider’s perspective on the universities and the regions. This book presents those perspectives. It includes seven case studies authored by the early-career researchers working at each university, in which they analyse the relationship between the university and its surrounding region.The case studies show the wide array of roles which universities can take in their regions. Even though the universities share the same ambition and, as members of the ECIU, have similar profiles, the regional and national contexts in which they find themselves have implications for the types of activities which they do, the effects of these activities, and the way in which they are received both at the university and in the surrounding region.Work on this book started during the first training week of the project, hosted by the University of Lincoln in March 2017, when the researchers had started their PhDs only weeks or even days before. It ends as the programme draws to a conclusion, following an extensive programme of training weeks in all seven regions, several conference special sessions, joint publications, exchanges and successful PhD defences. It has been an honour to work with such a great group of promising researchers and inspiring supervisors through the process. The scholars in the RUNIN programme share an interest in studying universities and regions, but also in actively engaging with stakeholders, in communicating their research in new ways, and in contributing to the betterment of society. During the course of the programme, the network has evolved into deep collaboration and close friendships, where all participants have contributed to a supportive atmosphere.We hope this book will reflect that collaboration and will be of use to university managers, policymakers, academics and students who want to know how universities can contribute to their regions. The universities and regions presented here are all, in their unique ways, interesting examples of the multi-faceted nature of this relationship.
Eloïse Germain-Alamartine; Rhoda Ahoba-Sam; Gerwin Evers; Saeed Moghadam-Saman; Liliana Fonseca; Lisa Nieth; Maria Salomaa; Kwadwo Atta-Owusu; David Fernández Guerrero; Utku Ali Riza Alpaydin; Sergio Manrique; Sofya Kopelyan; Rıdvan Çınar; Huong Nguyen; David Charles; Paul Benneworth; Carlos Rodrigues; Artur Da Rosa Pires; Rune Dahl Fitjar. Entrepreneurial Universities in Regional Innovation. Entrepreneurial Universities in Regional Innovation 2021, 1 .
AMA StyleEloïse Germain-Alamartine, Rhoda Ahoba-Sam, Gerwin Evers, Saeed Moghadam-Saman, Liliana Fonseca, Lisa Nieth, Maria Salomaa, Kwadwo Atta-Owusu, David Fernández Guerrero, Utku Ali Riza Alpaydin, Sergio Manrique, Sofya Kopelyan, Rıdvan Çınar, Huong Nguyen, David Charles, Paul Benneworth, Carlos Rodrigues, Artur Da Rosa Pires, Rune Dahl Fitjar. Entrepreneurial Universities in Regional Innovation. Entrepreneurial Universities in Regional Innovation. 2021; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleEloïse Germain-Alamartine; Rhoda Ahoba-Sam; Gerwin Evers; Saeed Moghadam-Saman; Liliana Fonseca; Lisa Nieth; Maria Salomaa; Kwadwo Atta-Owusu; David Fernández Guerrero; Utku Ali Riza Alpaydin; Sergio Manrique; Sofya Kopelyan; Rıdvan Çınar; Huong Nguyen; David Charles; Paul Benneworth; Carlos Rodrigues; Artur Da Rosa Pires; Rune Dahl Fitjar. 2021. "Entrepreneurial Universities in Regional Innovation." Entrepreneurial Universities in Regional Innovation , no. : 1.
Natural resource-based innovations (NRBIs), especially through the valorization of waste and side streams, have recently become a significant element of the bioeconomy agenda in several countries across the world. Accordingly, a variety of institutions, including universities, have been expected to contribute to such innovations. While there have been serious efforts within universities to play a key role in NRBIs, questions of the extent of institutional continuity of these efforts over time and how this can be achieved remain unanswered in the literature. This paper, therefore, seeks to identify the determinants of a highly institutionalized structure that is supportive of NRBIs in universities. By mobilizing a literature in which the level of structuration is conceptualized as the degree of institutionalization and by using a single case study of a Portuguese public university, it was found that several internal and external factors have contributed to the institutionalization process, which has led to the emergence of a sedimented structure. Despite a high degree of institutionalization, several challenges that have either impeded the harnessing of the full potential of NRBIs or that have posed a threat to the university’s highly institutionalized structure were also found. The paper concludes that the institutionalization of NRBIs within universities not only requires orchestrated organizational efforts but also more consideration of the social, economic, and political dynamics that have recently engulfed universities.
Ridvan Cinar. Structuration of Natural Resource-Based Innovations in Universities: How Do They Get Institutionalized? Sustainability 2020, 12, 1834 .
AMA StyleRidvan Cinar. Structuration of Natural Resource-Based Innovations in Universities: How Do They Get Institutionalized? Sustainability. 2020; 12 (5):1834.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRidvan Cinar. 2020. "Structuration of Natural Resource-Based Innovations in Universities: How Do They Get Institutionalized?" Sustainability 12, no. 5: 1834.
Social innovation has been increasingly regarded as an instrument through which transformative structural change, necessary to address grand societal challenges can be achieved. Social innovations are encouraged by the emergence of innovation systems that support changes not exclusively driven by a techno‐economic rationality. In the context of this special issue, there has been both little understanding of social innovation systems within mainstream innovation ecosystem approaches and little analysis of the roles played by universities in social innovation systems. We here focus on the institutional complexity of universities and their field‐level dynamics as serving as a potential break on the institutionalisation of social innovation. To deepen our understanding of this, we utilise a literature around institutional logics to foreground characteristics of organisational fields with regard to social innovation. Drawing on empirical data gathered in two public universities located in different countries, we show that in one case the potential of social innovation is undermined by two dominant institutional logics, in the other its permeation across the organisational field is seriously challenged by a more powerful dominant logic. The institutional logic approach is useful to highlighting the barriers to building productive innovation ecosystems incorporating social considerations, and helps to explain the persistent difficulties in reframing ecosystems approaches to reflect wider societal dynamics.
Ridvan Cinar; Paul Benneworth. Why do universities have little systemic impact with social innovation? An institutional logics perspective. Growth and Change 2020, 1 .
AMA StyleRidvan Cinar, Paul Benneworth. Why do universities have little systemic impact with social innovation? An institutional logics perspective. Growth and Change. 2020; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRidvan Cinar; Paul Benneworth. 2020. "Why do universities have little systemic impact with social innovation? An institutional logics perspective." Growth and Change , no. : 1.
Rhoda Ahoba-Sam; Lisa Johanna Nieth; Kwadwo Atta Owusu; Gerwin Evers; Liliana Fonseca; Sofya Kopelyan; Alina Meloyan; Huong Nguyen; Maria Salomaa; Utku Ali Riza Alpaydin; Ridvan Cinar; David Fernandez-Guerrero; Eloise Germain-Alamartine; Sergio Manrique; Saeed Moghadam-Saman; Mirjam Jeanette Schuijff. Higher Education Institutes and the Twente Board: Policy Report. Higher Education Institutes and the Twente Board: Policy Report 2019, 1 .
AMA StyleRhoda Ahoba-Sam, Lisa Johanna Nieth, Kwadwo Atta Owusu, Gerwin Evers, Liliana Fonseca, Sofya Kopelyan, Alina Meloyan, Huong Nguyen, Maria Salomaa, Utku Ali Riza Alpaydin, Ridvan Cinar, David Fernandez-Guerrero, Eloise Germain-Alamartine, Sergio Manrique, Saeed Moghadam-Saman, Mirjam Jeanette Schuijff. Higher Education Institutes and the Twente Board: Policy Report. Higher Education Institutes and the Twente Board: Policy Report. 2019; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRhoda Ahoba-Sam; Lisa Johanna Nieth; Kwadwo Atta Owusu; Gerwin Evers; Liliana Fonseca; Sofya Kopelyan; Alina Meloyan; Huong Nguyen; Maria Salomaa; Utku Ali Riza Alpaydin; Ridvan Cinar; David Fernandez-Guerrero; Eloise Germain-Alamartine; Sergio Manrique; Saeed Moghadam-Saman; Mirjam Jeanette Schuijff. 2019. "Higher Education Institutes and the Twente Board: Policy Report." Higher Education Institutes and the Twente Board: Policy Report , no. : 1.
Universities have recently been pressurized to go beyond their economic conceptualization of third-mission activities and contribute to solving grand societal challenges in the regions in which they are located. Social entrepreneurship has emerged as one mechanism by which universities can address societal challenges. Despite a growing awareness of universities’ potential and expectations to enhance social entrepreneurship in their geographical vicinities, how these processes become legitimized within a higher education context has received surprisingly little attention. This paper, therefore, explores factors affecting the (de)legitimacy process of social entrepreneurship within universities. Using a single case study design that relies on semi-structured interviews carried out in a Dutch public university, it was found that organizational legitimacy of social entrepreneurship remains unestablished. Furthermore, the legitimacy process is affected by (1) the expectations of stakeholders, the difficulty of measuring social impact and third-mission indicators; (2) an overemphasis on high-tech research and application as an organizational identity; (3) the absence of a leader in the field and lack of organizational recognition; and (4) stringent regulations of public institutions in the Netherlands. In addition, enhancing social entrepreneurs is hindered by the lack of place-based belonging among the student body. Consequently, this paper argues that a holistic approach that focuses on the specificities of universities and the increasing competitive environment in which they have come to function, the potential facilitating role of other organizational actors in the field, and designing appropriate policy instruments and incentives would benefit universities in their efforts to enhance social entrepreneurship.
Ridvan Cinar. Delving into social entrepreneurship in universities: is it legitimate yet? Regional Studies, Regional Science 2019, 6, 217 -232.
AMA StyleRidvan Cinar. Delving into social entrepreneurship in universities: is it legitimate yet? Regional Studies, Regional Science. 2019; 6 (1):217-232.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRidvan Cinar. 2019. "Delving into social entrepreneurship in universities: is it legitimate yet?" Regional Studies, Regional Science 6, no. 1: 217-232.