IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i7p3044-d343829.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Higher Education Institutions as Knowledge Brokers in Smart Specialisation

Author

Listed:
  • Riikka Kangas

    (Faculty of Social Sciences, ProSoc, University of Lapland, FIN-96400 Rovaniemi, Finland)

  • Timo Aarrevaara

    (Faculty of Social Sciences, ProSoc, University of Lapland, FIN-96400 Rovaniemi, Finland)

Abstract

The effectiveness of societal interaction has become a key aspect in evaluating the success of higher education institutions (HEIs) in performing their duties. These factors have been built into institutional funding models, and the funding of research follows a similar approach. External stakeholders are now having to share in undertaking some of the functions that will define higher education institutions’ external activities, societal interaction and impact on society. The European Union’s smart specialisation strategy is such a factor. This initiative allows higher education institutions to implement policies by building regional clusters. The counterparts of higher education institutions in these clusters of smart specialisation are knowledge-intensive enterprises, high-tech service providers, educational institutions, the Arctic Smartness Specialisation Platform and other centers of expertise for smart specialisation. In this paper, we have analysed the role of higher education institutions as knowledge brokers in smart specialisation though a qualitative analysis of 20 interviews conducted during the implementation of the smart specialisation project. Our findings show that the knowledge broker role can be promoted from four perspectives: the social dimension of networks; decision-making and control; cluster building; and exchange elements. The clarification and legitimation of the role of higher education institutions as knowledge brokers in these areas would give smart specialisation more impetus to reach its goals.

Suggested Citation

  • Riikka Kangas & Timo Aarrevaara, 2020. "Higher Education Institutions as Knowledge Brokers in Smart Specialisation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-15, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:7:p:3044-:d:343829
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/7/3044/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/7/3044/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Marco Di Cataldo, 2015. "Quality of government and innovative performance in the regions of Europe," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(4), pages 673-706.
    2. Louise KEMPTON & John Goddard & John Edwards & Fatime B. Hegyi & Susana Elena-Pérez, 2014. "Universities and Smart Specialisation," JRC Research Reports JRC85508, Joint Research Centre.
    3. Jos van den Broek & Paul Benneworth & Roel Rutten, 2019. "Institutionalization of cross-border regional innovation systems: the role of university institutional entrepreneurs," Regional Studies, Regional Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 55-69, January.
    4. John Edwards & Elisabetta Marinelli & Eskarne Arregui Pabollet & Louise Kempton, 2017. "Higher Education for Smart Specialisation Towards strategic partnerships for innovation," JRC Research Reports JRC109780, Joint Research Centre.
    5. Schmitt, Achim & Klarner, Patricia, 2015. "From snapshot to continuity: A dynamic model of organizational adaptation to environmental changes," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 3-13.
    6. Martina Kauffeld-Monz & Michael Fritsch, 2008. "Who are the brokers of knowledge in regional systems of innovation? A multi-actor network analysis," Jena Economics Research Papers 2008-089, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    7. Yuzhuo Cai & Cui Liu, 2015. "The roles of universities in fostering knowledge-intensive clusters in Chinese regional innovation systems," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 42(1), pages 15-29.
    8. Carlo Gianelle & Fabrizio Guzzo & Krzysztof Mieszkowski, 2020. "Smart Specialisation: what gets lost in translation from concept to practice?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(10), pages 1377-1388, October.
    9. Anahita A. Jami & Philip R. Walsh, 2016. "Wind Power Deployment: The Role of Public Participation in the Decision-Making Process in Ontario, Canada," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(8), pages 1-18, July.
    10. Sapsed, Jonathan & Grantham, Andrew & DeFillippi, Robert, 2007. "A bridge over troubled waters: Bridging organisations and entrepreneurial opportunities in emerging sectors," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 1314-1334, November.
    11. Arne Isaksen & Roman Martin & Michaela Trippl (ed.), 2018. "New Avenues for Regional Innovation Systems - Theoretical Advances, Empirical Cases and Policy Lessons," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-319-71661-9, December.
    12. Michaela Trippl & Tanja Sinozic & Helen Lawton Smith, 2015. "The Role of Universities in Regional Development: Conceptual Models and Policy Institutions in the UK, Sweden and Austria," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(9), pages 1722-1740, September.
    13. Elvira Uyarra & Kieron Flanagan & Edurne Magro & James R Wilson & Markku Sotarauta, 2017. "Understanding regional innovation policy dynamics: Actors, agency and learning," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 35(4), pages 559-568, June.
    14. Chrys Gunasekara, 2006. "Reframing the Role of Universities in the Development of Regional Innovation Systems," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 101-113, January.
    15. Carlo Gianelle & Alexander Kleibrink, 2015. "Monitoring Mechanisms for Smart Specialisation Strategies," JRC Research Reports JRC95458, Joint Research Centre.
    16. Elvira Uyarra & Chiara Marzocchi & Jens Sorvik, 2018. "How outward looking is smart specialisation? Rationales, drivers and barriers," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(12), pages 2344-2363, December.
    17. Wynanda I. Van Enst & Peter P. J. Driessen & Hens A. C. Runhaar, 2017. "Working at the Boundary: An Empirical Study into the Goals and Strategies of Knowledge Brokers in the Field of Environmental Governance in the Netherlands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-14, October.
    18. Lauritz B. Holm-Nielsen & Kristian Thorn & Jeppe Dørup Olesen & Tina Huey, 2013. "Talent development as a university mission: the quadruple helix," Higher Education Management and Policy, OECD Publishing, vol. 24(2), pages 99-113.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cristina Bianca Pocol & Liana Stanca & Dan-Cristian Dabija & Veronica Câmpian & Sergiu Mișcoiu & Ioana Delia Pop, 2023. "A QCA Analysis of Knowledge Co-Creation Based on University–Industry Relationships," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-19, January.
    2. Łukasz Mach & Karina Bedrunka & Ireneusz Dąbrowski & Paweł Frącz, 2021. "The Relationship between ROP Funds and Sustainable Development—A Case Study for Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-19, May.
    3. Łukasz Mach & Karina Bedrunka & Anna Kuczuk & Marzena Szewczuk-Stępień, 2021. "Effect of Structural Funds on Housing Market Sustainability Development—Correlation, Regression and Wavelet Coherence Analysis," Risks, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-17, October.
    4. Magdalena Kogut-Jaworska & Elżbieta Ociepa-Kicińska, 2020. "Smart Specialisation as a Strategy for Implementing the Regional Innovation Development Policy—Poland Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-21, September.
    5. Karina Bedrunka & Ireneusz Dąbrowski, 2022. "Recommendations for changes in the methodology of public EU funds allocation in the context of economic crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic," Bank i Kredyt, Narodowy Bank Polski, vol. 53(6), pages 605-624.
    6. Yuzhuo Cai & Jinyuan Ma & Qiongqiong Chen, 2020. "Higher Education in Innovation Ecosystems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-12, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jonas Meyer & Michael Pillei & Friedrich Zimmermann & Gernot Stöglehner, 2018. "Customized Education as a Framework for Strengthening Collaboration between Higher Education Institutions and Regional Actors in Sustainable Development—Lessons from Albania and Kosovo," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-17, October.
    2. Robert Hassink & Matthias Kiese, 2021. "Solving the restructuring problems of (former) old industrial regions with smart specialization? Conceptual thoughts and evidence from the Ruhr," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 41(2), pages 131-155, October.
    3. Carlo Gianelle & Fabrizio Guzzo & Javier Barbero & Simone Salotti, 2022. "The economic implications of Smart Specialisation governance: a general equilibrium analysis for Italy 2014-2020," JRC Working Papers on Territorial Modelling and Analysis 2022-05, Joint Research Centre.
    4. Paul Vallance & Jiří Blažek & John Edwards & Viktor Květoň, 2018. "Smart specialisation in regions with less-developed research and innovation systems: A changing role for universities?," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 36(2), pages 219-238, March.
    5. Ron Boschma, 2021. "Designing Smart Specialization Policy: relatedness, unrelatedness, or what?," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2128, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Sep 2021.
    6. Anna Butzin & Franz Flögel, 2024. "High-tech development for “left behind” places: lessons-learnt from the Ruhr cybersecurity ecosystem," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 17(2), pages 307-322.
    7. Martina Fromhold-Eisebith & Claudia Werker, 2013. "Universities’ functions in knowledge transfer: a geographical perspective," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 51(3), pages 621-643, December.
    8. Ricard Esparza-Masana, 2022. "Towards Smart Specialisation 2.0. Main Challenges When Updating Strategies," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(1), pages 635-655, March.
    9. Pedro Marques & Kevin Morgan, 2021. "Innovation without Regional Development? The Complex Interplay of Innovation, Institutions, and Development," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 97(5), pages 475-496, October.
    10. Tatyana Tolstykh & Leyla Gamidullaeva & Nadezhda Shmeleva, 2021. "Universities as Knowledge Integrators and Cross-Industry Ecosystems: Self-Organizational Perspective," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440209, February.
    11. Giuseppe Calignano, 2022. "Not all peripheries are the same: The importance of relative regional innovativeness in transnational innovation networks," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(1), pages 276-312, March.
    12. Magro, Edurne & Wilson, James R., 2019. "Policy-mix evaluation: Governance challenges from new place-based innovation policies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(10).
    13. Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Di Cataldo, Marco & Monastiriotis, Vassilis, 2020. "How ‘smart’ are Smart Specialisation strategies?," CEPR Discussion Papers 15442, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Eduardo Hernandez-Rodriguez, 2024. "Technological diversification through global value chains in European regions," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2429, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Sep 2024.
    15. Marina Knickel & Sabine Neuberger & Laurens Klerkx & Karlheinz Knickel & Gianluca Brunori & Helmut Saatkamp, 2021. "Strengthening the Role of Academic Institutions and Innovation Brokers in Agri-Food Innovation: Towards Hybridisation in Cross-Border Cooperation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-22, April.
    16. Eduardo Hernandez-Rodriguez & Ron Boschma & Andrea Morrison & Xianjia Ye, 2023. "Functional upgrading and downgrading in global value chains: Evidence from EU regions using a relatedness/complexity framework," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2316, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jul 2023.
    17. Ridvan Cinar & Paul Benneworth, 2021. "Why do universities have little systemic impact with social innovation? An institutional logics perspective," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 751-769, June.
    18. Marco Di Cotaldo & Vassilis Monastiriotis & Andres Rodriguez-Pose, 2020. "Populism Amidst Prosperity: How ‘smart’ are Smart Specialisation strategies?," LEQS – LSE 'Europe in Question' Discussion Paper Series 162, European Institute, LSE.
    19. Maximilian Benner, 2021. "System-level agency and its many shades: How to shape the system for path development?," PEGIS geo-disc-2021_10, Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    20. De Silva, Muthu & Howells, Jeremy & Meyer, Martin, 2018. "Innovation intermediaries and collaboration: Knowledge–based practices and internal value creation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 70-87.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:7:p:3044-:d:343829. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.