Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PeripheRIS (Enabling institutional change for innovation in European peripheries: from policy to implementation)
Reporting period: 2022-09-01 to 2024-08-31
Innovation is widely accepted as a key driver of regional competitiveness and growth, but policies aiming to support European peripheries have not been successful in curbing regional polarization, e.g. as understood by indicators of innovation performance and economic development. While institutions are seen to play a key role in peripheral development, serious inquiry into institutional aspects of peripheral regional innovation systems (RIS) has only recently been sparked. Similarly, ample research has focused on innovation and regional policy content (the 'what'), while policy implementation has been relatively neglected (the 'how'). PeripheRIS undertook research to enable institutional support for innovation in European peripheries, with particular attention to practical implementation, focusing on the interplay between institutions and actors in complex institutional-entrepreneurial relations. In peripheries, these can be reduced to key personalities on both sides, and the focus turns to the actors at work within the innovation ecosystem.
The research focused on the case study of South Tyrol, Italy. A mixed methods approach was developed, exploiting social network analysis and innovation biography methods, to trace the development of the innovation ecosystem in a key innovative sector, considering the actors that constitute and are drawn into the network over time as well as the scope of innovation(s) pursued. In doing so, the study aimed to investigate actors’ motivations for partnering in innovative activities, the quality and performance of the innovation ecosystem (i.e. mechanisms of support) and institutional enablers and barriers to innovation. All the while, the approach aimed to stimulate the participants to think beyond the traditional scope of techno-economic innovation to also consider social and ecological innovations as a means of addressing their challenges and development aims. In addition to academic outputs, the project planned to produce a practical guidebook with recommendations to local and regional governments for supporting innovation in peripheries.
The research focused on the case study of South Tyrol, Italy. A mixed methods approach was developed, exploiting social network analysis and innovation biography methods, to trace the development of the innovation ecosystem in a key innovative sector, considering the actors that constitute and are drawn into the network over time as well as the scope of innovation(s) pursued. In doing so, the study aimed to investigate actors’ motivations for partnering in innovative activities, the quality and performance of the innovation ecosystem (i.e. mechanisms of support) and institutional enablers and barriers to innovation. All the while, the approach aimed to stimulate the participants to think beyond the traditional scope of techno-economic innovation to also consider social and ecological innovations as a means of addressing their challenges and development aims. In addition to academic outputs, the project planned to produce a practical guidebook with recommendations to local and regional governments for supporting innovation in peripheries.
SO1. Framework conditions (WP1). The background work involved a literature review to identify key areas of interest for innovation research in South Tyrol, identifying the agriculture, tourism and energy/buildings sectors. The aims and scope of the literature review were revised, from initially aiming to systemize the knowledge of institutional enablers and barriers to identifying relevant sectors for the study of the innovation ecosystem in South Tyrol. A preliminary social network analysis produced a list of actors (stakeholders) and network based on collaborative partnerships in Interreg projects in South Tyrol. The scientific deliverable D1.1 – Report on framework conditions, has been recast to reflect this work. Also within SO1, a survey was developed to follow up the social network analysis 'from the bottom up' and lead into in-depth interviews. Due to the need to conduct the survey in two local languages, German and Italian, and to analyze it in English, the development stage extended this work by 3 months. The data collection instruments were finalized in Month 10.
SO2. Mechanisms for institutional transformation (WP2). The empirical stage of case research foresaw intensive training in causal process tracing, which was not offered in 2023, hence the methods were recast in favour of social network analysis to support the study of innovation through networks of knowledge and collaboration. Empirical results for the South Tyrol case were not obtained during the reporting period due to the delay in finalizing the survey.
SO3. Guidebook for local and regional governments (WP3). This objective aimed to generate practical findings from the case research and was planned for the second half of the project.
SO4. Bridging political science and economic geography (WP4). This objective focused on the scholarly contribution as a grand synthesis and reflection of learnings from the project, resulting in a scientific paper. To take advantage of a relevant call for papers, a theoretical manuscript was prepared and submitted early, in Month 11.
TRAINING. Practical trainings were obtained through participation in in-house courses at Eurac Research relevant at project initiation ("Getting things done" in Month 1 and "The ethics of data sharing and scientific products in Earth and Environmental Sciences" in Month 3). In addition, methodological training was obtained through participation in the 2023 ECPR Winter School intensive course on "Social network analysis" (4 ECTS) at KU Leuven in Month 6.
RESULTS TO DATE. By Month 14, the project achieved: (1) an updated literature review of the innovation studies in the case area and adaptation of the background literature to current debates and discourses in economic geography, regional innovation systems and EU innovation and regional policy (the European Green Deal and 2021-2027 priorities); (2) update on the methods and research plan, from causal process tracing to social network analysis and innovation biographies for tracing the development of an innovation ecosystem; (3) a preliminary understanding of the innovation ecosystem in South Tyrol based on social network analysis, ready for deeper investigation through a survey and interviews; (4) finalization of data collection instruments, including a trilingual survey and interview guide; (5) presentations of preliminary results of social network analysis and next steps at scientific conferences of the Regional Studies Association and European Society for Rural Sociology; (6) a conceptual paper submitted to a scientific journal.
EXPLOITATION AND DISSEMINATION. The project envisioned specific channels and opportunities for exploitation and dissemination, some of which have been realized by Month 14. The project was communicated amongst non-local interested parties through workshops and meetings amongst professional networks, e.g. Interreg Europe and OECD Spatial Productivity Lab/Local and Regional Development. Preliminary results were presented at a workshop hosted at Eurac Research, including knowledge transfer from the ECPR Winter School on "Social network analysis". Results were also disseminated at scientific conferences of the Regional Studies Association (RSA) and European Society for Rural Sociology (ESRS) and through a manuscript submitted to a scientific journal. Data collection instruments including a trilingual survey will be openly available on Zenodo after validation and plan to be exploited in future studies.
SO2. Mechanisms for institutional transformation (WP2). The empirical stage of case research foresaw intensive training in causal process tracing, which was not offered in 2023, hence the methods were recast in favour of social network analysis to support the study of innovation through networks of knowledge and collaboration. Empirical results for the South Tyrol case were not obtained during the reporting period due to the delay in finalizing the survey.
SO3. Guidebook for local and regional governments (WP3). This objective aimed to generate practical findings from the case research and was planned for the second half of the project.
SO4. Bridging political science and economic geography (WP4). This objective focused on the scholarly contribution as a grand synthesis and reflection of learnings from the project, resulting in a scientific paper. To take advantage of a relevant call for papers, a theoretical manuscript was prepared and submitted early, in Month 11.
TRAINING. Practical trainings were obtained through participation in in-house courses at Eurac Research relevant at project initiation ("Getting things done" in Month 1 and "The ethics of data sharing and scientific products in Earth and Environmental Sciences" in Month 3). In addition, methodological training was obtained through participation in the 2023 ECPR Winter School intensive course on "Social network analysis" (4 ECTS) at KU Leuven in Month 6.
RESULTS TO DATE. By Month 14, the project achieved: (1) an updated literature review of the innovation studies in the case area and adaptation of the background literature to current debates and discourses in economic geography, regional innovation systems and EU innovation and regional policy (the European Green Deal and 2021-2027 priorities); (2) update on the methods and research plan, from causal process tracing to social network analysis and innovation biographies for tracing the development of an innovation ecosystem; (3) a preliminary understanding of the innovation ecosystem in South Tyrol based on social network analysis, ready for deeper investigation through a survey and interviews; (4) finalization of data collection instruments, including a trilingual survey and interview guide; (5) presentations of preliminary results of social network analysis and next steps at scientific conferences of the Regional Studies Association and European Society for Rural Sociology; (6) a conceptual paper submitted to a scientific journal.
EXPLOITATION AND DISSEMINATION. The project envisioned specific channels and opportunities for exploitation and dissemination, some of which have been realized by Month 14. The project was communicated amongst non-local interested parties through workshops and meetings amongst professional networks, e.g. Interreg Europe and OECD Spatial Productivity Lab/Local and Regional Development. Preliminary results were presented at a workshop hosted at Eurac Research, including knowledge transfer from the ECPR Winter School on "Social network analysis". Results were also disseminated at scientific conferences of the Regional Studies Association (RSA) and European Society for Rural Sociology (ESRS) and through a manuscript submitted to a scientific journal. Data collection instruments including a trilingual survey will be openly available on Zenodo after validation and plan to be exploited in future studies.
As mentioned among the results, the project has produced a manuscript responding to current debates and research agendas in economic geography, based on challenges to innovation in European peripheries in the context of sustainable development and transitions. Also contributing to the state of the art, the updated methods planned for social network analysis and innovation biographies go beyond the norm for case research by putting the agency of actors across multiple sectors at the heart of institutional analysis and providing a structure and process for combining quantitative and qualitative analysis that can be transferred to any case context, thereby reducing the need for deep contextualization.