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The spatial and scalar implications of missions: Challenges and opportunities for policy

Author

Listed:
  • Elvira Uyarra

    (Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, The University of Manchester)

  • Iris Wanzenboeck

    (Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University)

  • Kieron Flanagan

    (Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, The University of Manchester)

Abstract

In recent years, debates about innovation policy have highlighted a broader scope for action and a widening of the range of policy goals such policies are expected to (or might be expected to) address. Scholars and analysts have both detected but also advocated a shift from generic and primarily R&D-based innovation support measures towards a new (or third) 'generation' of innovation policy - variously referred to as challenge-led, mission-orientated or transformative innovation policies. This new generation of innovation policy thinking is a response to major societal challenges such as climate change, migration, or food and energy security - the implication being that traditional innovation policies were either inadequate in response to or else uninterested in such challenges. A more targeted and challenge-oriented innovation policy should, it is argued, help to deliver desired, and not just more, innovations. This implies a more active role of the state in funding risk-taking activities and in creating - not just correcting - markets. This 'normative turn' in innovation policy has also been observed in the design and implementation of regional policies, with a greater emphasis on the socio-ecological dimension of innovation, particularly in the context of the European Green Deal and the Innovation Strategies for Sustainability (S4). Whilst there is much agreement that bolder, more customised and directional policies are needed to tackle the societal challenges of our time, there is less consensus about how such policies should be implemented in practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Elvira Uyarra & Iris Wanzenboeck & Kieron Flanagan, 2023. "The spatial and scalar implications of missions: Challenges and opportunities for policy," MIOIR Working Paper Series 2023-04, The Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIoIR), The University of Manchester.
  • Handle: RePEc:bdj:smioir:2023-04
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    File URL: https://pure.manchester.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/263803125/mioir.wp.2023_04.pdf
    File Function: Submitted version (MIOIR WP Series), 2023
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mariana Mazzucato, 2018. "Mission-oriented innovation policies: challenges and opportunities," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(5), pages 803-815.
    2. Dominique Foray, 2018. "Smart specialization strategies as a case of mission-oriented policy—a case study on the emergence of new policy practices," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(5), pages 817-832.
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    Cited by:

    1. Francesco Cappellano & Francesco Molica & Teemu Makkonen, 2024. "Missions and Cohesion Policy: is there a match?," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 51(3), pages 360-374.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Transformative innovation policies; Mission-oriented approaches; Societal challenges; Spatial and scalar dimensions; Regional innovation;
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