Regional Development Platform Method (RDPM) as a tool for regional innovation policy 1

Regional development strategies should be based on the sound assessment of regional resources, as well as on forming dynamic capabilities aiming to develop the resource configurations in order to form regional competitive advantage. In this study, the concept “regional development platform” is used as a tool for assessing the regional potentials on which sustainable, competitive advantage could be built. The Regional Development Platform Method (RDPM) is presented as a tool for designing and managing a regional innovation system. It consists of eight phases, in which the underlying potential in the region is explored and the exploitation of the potential organized. The experiences gained from applying the RDPM in the Lahti region, Finland, are used to illustrate the article.     

Knowledge management in regional innovation networks: The case of Lahti,Finland1

This article focuses on knowledge creation and management in regional innovation networks. A knowledge management system for a regional innovation network is designed. Besides explicit and tacit knowledge, self-transcending knowledge is taken into account within the knowledge management system. In addition, considerations of knowledge vision as well as methods from futures studies are incorporated into the system. An innovation network of the Lahti regional innovation system, Finland, is used as a case example in the article. The article highlights the importance of combining loose network development and an explicit, systematic approach to planning and working on knowledge-related matters within regional innovation networks.     

Mapping the Activities Between a Public Research Organization and Interest Groups: A Case Study of LUT CST in Finland

The management of interest groups is the key element of fund raising and project development for a public research organization (PRO). Management is never a simple task. However, its complexity increases considerably when the research field of the PRO is generic, with numerous potential industries utilizing the research results. This paper discusses the identification and managing of interactions between a PRO and its interest groups. The case example is the Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), hosting the Centre for Separation Technology (CST).     

Re-categorizing innovation policy according to broad-based innovation

This study lays the foundations for a theory of broad-based innovation and its potential role in innovation policy. The concept of broad-based innovation and its use in policy documents is discussed, followed by a discussion of the components of such innovation. This article proposes a re-categorization of modes of knowledge production in innovation activities to describe the need to more consistently consider and include different types of innovation activities in innovation policy. The study seeks to outline a novel theoretical structure that bridges a number of separate subfields in the study of innovation, providing a comprehensive treatment of the differential innovation puzzle. The study contributes by providing this novel theoretical framework for future planning and evaluation of innovation and innovation policies, systems and strategies.     

Advisory Professorship Model as a Tool for Practice-Based Regional University–Industry Cooperation

The growing importance of “practice-based innovation models” has challenged the current consensus on the role of universities as main drivers of regional innovation systems. New models are needed to ensure the efficiency of co-operation between the region and universities. In this article, we present and analyse the effects of one practice-based innovation tool, the advisory professorship model, developed in the Lahti region, Finland. The Lahti region is relatively big by Finnish standards, but has no university of its own, which makes new types of knowledge transfer necessary. The empirical analysis is based on interviews of the companies that participated in the materials technology advisory professorship programme, developed and operated by Tampere University of Technology. In the analysis, we utilize the conceptual framework and analytical matrix developed by Tura et al. [(2008) Breaking inside the black box: Towards a dynamic evaluation framework of regional innovative capability, Science and Public Policy, 35(10), pp. 733–744] in the measuring of regional innovation capability. The study approach is based on regional and industrial viewpoints. In the light of the study, the programme had positive impacts on the innovation capability and innovation processes of companies. The advisory professorship model can be considered a useful practice-based innovation tool for regional university–industry co-operation with some limitations.     

Finnish Mosaic of Regional Innovation System—Assessment of Thematic Regional Innovation Platforms Based on Related Variety

The emphasis of Finnish innovation policy has very much been on promoting actions that can be labelled as science–technology–innovation mode of innovation, which is based on the production and use of codified scientific and technical knowledge. However, recent research has emphasized also the importance of more experienced-based mode of learning and innovation, which can be labelled as doing–using–interacting mode of innovation. This study is an attempt to shed light on the current development phase of Finnish innovation system facing the new paradigm. The Finnish innovation system is seen as a mosaic of regional innovation systems. The regional innovation systems are analysed through a developed framework including elements of theories of innovation systems and cluster theories as well as two recent national-level strategy documents. One of the main concepts of the study is related variety in regional innovation platforms. This study also aims at creating a pragmatic framework for describing related variety at the regional level by combining aspects from two theoretical frameworks. The empirical data were gathered in a series of workshops in all the Finnish regions during the year 2008. The result maps Finnish thematic regional innovation platforms fuelled by related variety.     

A northern Neolithic? Clay work,cultivation and cultural transformations in the boreal zone of north‐eastern Europe,c.5300–3000 bc

The adoption of pottery in eastern Fennoscandia in the later sixth millennium BC has traditionally been understood in straightforward technological and practical terms, and as a development that did not mark other significant changes in local culture or ways of life. Recent research in the region, combined with new ideas about Neolithization in Eurasia more generally, nonetheless suggests that the adoption of pottery was associated with more fundamental cultural and environmental transformations than has previously been thought. This article brings together diverse old and new data from north‐eastern Europe and discusses the character and dynamics of cultural and human‐induced environmental change following the adoption of pottery. The aim is to provide a scenario of long‐term cultural changes and, in particular, to consider the significance and broader implications of the very practices of clay use and cultivation, as well as their links to wider cultural and environmental phenomena.