A Center for Innovation Research Seminar with Muzamil Farooq, PhD Research Fellow in Innovation and Regional Studies at the Department of Innovation, Management, and Marketing, UiS School of Business and Law.
Welcome to a Centre for Innovation Research seminar:
- Date: Thursday February 20th
- Time: 12:00 - 13:00
- Room: UiS Campus Ullandhaug, Elise Ottesen-Jensens hus, room EOJ 276/277 and on Teams
Link to Teams meeting, Meeting-ID: 314 966 188 660, Password: sY7FW6YS
- Seminar speaker: Ph.D. Research Fellow in Innovation and Regional Studies at Department of Innovation, Management and Marketing, Muzamil Farooq, UiS School of Business and Law
- Title of the presentation: Exploring the Role of Universities in Regional Sustainability Transitions: A Comparative Study of Oil Specialized Regions
Abstract:
The recent shift of Regional Innovation System (RIS) research towards the Challenge Oriented Regional Innovation System (CORIS) underscores the pivotal role universities play in regional socio-technical transitions, addressing grand societal challenges such as inequality, poverty, climate change, and environmental degradation. Despite significant public investment in science and technology, and the expansion of universities' entrepreneurial Third Mission, these issues persist, necessitating a revaluation of how universities contribute to societal change within varying regional contexts. This regional focus highlights the necessity for universities to not only engage with but actively drive the sustainable transformation of their local contexts, setting the stage for a discussion on the necessary organizational adaptations within and beyond academic institutions to meet these challenges.
While burgeoning studies have highlighted the role of universities in regional sustainability transitions recently, there is a lack of contextual specificity especially in understanding how this role unfolds in different regions with distinct RISs that are increasingly embracing challenge-oriented missions. To address this research gap, this study employs a comparative case study method cantered on the two different regional universities, University of Stavanger in Rogaland, Norway, and the University of Aberdeen in Aberdeenshire, Northeast Scotland. These regions are presently transitioning from economies predominantly fuelled by oil to those focused on renewable energy and low-carbon technologies, while also overcoming different socio-technical challenges.
This context provides a robust backdrop for examining how pressures for socio-technical transition in the selected specialised industrial regions, particularly by the recent focus towards the CORIS, influence the role of universities. The study will provide a strong basis for comparative analysis, offering insights applicable to other specialised industrial regions facing similar socio-technical pressures under the transitioning of their core industries.