Transformative Translations? Challenges and tensions in territorial innovation governance

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5380/nocsi.v0i5.93603

Keywords:

Innovation Governance, Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), Translation, Maintenance

Abstract

Since the 1990s, changing ways of producing and circulating knowledge have been accompanied by debates that diagnose and call for change in the relationship between science, society, politics, and innovation. Most recently in Europe, some of these debates emphasize the concept of responsible research and innovation (RRI). In this paper, we present a comparative analysis of different territorial RRI-pilots within the Horizon 2020-funded project TRANSFORM. In these pilots, different translations of RRI become visible. RRI (1) gets translated as participatory and deliberative modes of innovation governance aimed at transformative change, (2) takes the shape of citizen science projects; and (3) is enacted as participatory agenda setting and (plans for a) citizen assembly. We argue that it is the often-invisible work of establishing, nurturing, and caring for relationships within the territorial R&I ecosystems – what can the thought of as ongoing “maintenance work” – that creates the conditions for more responsive modes of innovation governance, and thus a shift towards transformative change in innovation policy. Through describing these translations and the related practices we will direct attention to the potential, challenges, and systemic barriers of this kind of work.

Author Biographies

Thomas Völker, Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities, University of Bergen

He is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and Humanities of the University of Bergen, Norway. His research interests include practices of knowledge production and circulation in environmental governance and modes of experimenting with participatory democracy in policymaking.

Rasmus Slaattelid, Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities, University of Bergen

He is Director and professor at the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and Humanities (SVT), University of Bergen, Norway. His research focuses on translations between fields of knowledge, in the form of metaphors, models, and analogies.

Roger Strand, Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities, University of Bergen

He is professor at the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and Humanities of the University of Bergen, Norway, and Co-Director of the European Centre for Governance in Complexity. His research focuses on uncertainty and complexity at the interfaces between knowledge and action.

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Published

2023-12-04

How to Cite

Völker, T., Slaattelid, R., & Strand, R. (2023). Transformative Translations? Challenges and tensions in territorial innovation governance. NOvation - Critical Studies of Innovation, (5), 56–85. https://doi.org/10.5380/nocsi.v0i5.93603