Editorial — Novation Forum II

«Reimagining Innovation for the Public Good» — Reflections from the II NOvation Forum

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5380/nocsi.i7.102435

Keywords:

Critical Studies of Innovation, NOvation Forum, Curitiba, Brazil, STS Studies in Latin America, Social Technology

Abstract

In a world increasingly captivated by the allure of technology and rapid innovation, the II NOvation Forum, held at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), in September 2024 (4-6th) stands as a critical and inspiring milestone. Under the theme «Reimagining Innovation for the Public Good», students, practitioners, and scholars from across the globe gathered to question the prevailing narratives of innovation and to explore alternative futures grounded in social justice, sustainability, and collective well-being.

Building on the foundations laid during the inaugural Forum, the second edition reaffirmed NOvation's mission: to establish an interdisciplinary community around the study of innovation, scholar-led community, a slow-science research endeavour that critically examines innovation as a deeply political phenomenon. It called for a shift beyond the mere deployment of emerging technologies, embracing the social, historical, and ethical dimensions of innovation practices. More fundamentally, it challenged the ideology of "innovation-speak" (according to Vinsel and Russell 2020 book, «The Innovation Delusion») that pervades contemporary policy and academic discourse, inviting us to rethink who innovation serves and how it can truly contribute to the public good.

Author Biographies

Carolina Bagattolli, Federal University of Paraná

Graduated in Economics at the Regional University of Blumenau (FURB, Brazil), master and PhD in Science and Technology Policy at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp, Brazil), specialist in Public Strategic Management and in Social Economy and Social Technology (Unicamp). She is currently associated professor at the Department of Economics and the Public Policy Post-Graduate Program (4P), both at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR, Brazil). Her research areas include analysis of public policies, stakeholder analysis and mimesis in the public policy – mainly on the Science, Technology and Innovation area; the study of innovative behavior on the part of the business sector in different countries, Latin American thinking on Science, Technology and Society, Social Economy and the field of Social Technology.

Tiago Brandão, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa

Holds a BA, MA and PhD in Contemporary History from NOVA FCSH (Portugal). His work focuses on Contemporary History and Public Policy, with emphasis on scientific policy, innovation studies, and the analysis and evaluation of STI (Science, Technology and Innovation) policies. He is currently a visiting foreign professor in the Bachelor’s programme in Public Policy at the Federal University of ABC (UFABC, São Paulo) and a researcher in the History, Territories and Communities (HTC) group at NOVA FCSH. Since 2021, he has also served as an accredited external lecturer in the postgraduate programme in Technology and Society (CAPES 5) at the Federal University of Technology – Paraná (UTFPR). He has published books, articles and peer-reviewed chapters on the history of science policy, critical studies of innovation, and the history of concepts and ideas in STI, with a special focus on Portugal and comparative perspectives within Ibero-America. He has collaborated extensively with Brazilian and Latin American researchers and has experience in university teaching, postgraduate supervision and academic publishing. He was PI of the Portuguese team in the CyTED network PCyT-Lab (“STI Policy Laboratory: Transferable Models at the Local Scale”) and, since 2024, is a member of the CyTED network “Changing Evaluation: Inclusive Transformation of Research in Ibero-America”.

Lucien von Schomberg, University of Greenwich

Lecturer in Creativity and Innovation at the University of Greenwich Business School (UK). Graduated with distinction in philosophy from the KU Leuven (Belgium). He specialized in continental philosophy with notable interest in existential phenomenology and traditional metaphysics. This led to a PhD project in the field of responsible innovation at Wageningen University (Netherlands). The results of this project are published in his doctoral dissertation, entitled Raising the Sail of Innovation. In addition, he conducts research for several EU Horizon 2020 and Interreg projects related to responsible innovation and circular entrepreneurship.

References

Sen, A. (2015). The Country of First Boys. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Vinsel, L. & Russell, A. (2020). The Innovation Delusion. How Our Obsession with the New Has Disrupted the Work That Matters Most. New York: Currency.

Additional Files

Published

2025-12-17

How to Cite

Bagattolli, C., Brandão, T., & von Schomberg, L. (2025). Editorial — Novation Forum II: «Reimagining Innovation for the Public Good» — Reflections from the II NOvation Forum. NOvation — Critical Studies of Innovation, (7), i-v. https://doi.org/10.5380/nocsi.i7.102435

Issue

No. 7 (2025): Critical approaches to innovation and alternative policy models for innovation

Section

Editorial

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Copyright (c) 2025 NOvation Equipe editorial; Tiago Brandão

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