Spaces enabling game-changing and sustaining innovations: Why space matters for knowledge creation and innovation

Innovation has become one of the key drivers for growth. However, how do we bring about innovation which is both radical and respects the limits of the world? One of our key assumptions is that we have to take into consideration the epistemological and cognitive processes leading to (radically) new knowledge first. We propose an approach that establishes spaces enabling such processes of knowledge creation—we refer to them as Enabling Spaces. This article is concerned with the question of how innovation, and more specifically, profound, radical, and sustainable innovation can be brought about in a more qualitative manner. What are the necessary concepts and attitudes which facilitate the processes of innovation. The notion of enabling as opposed to “managing” or controlling innovation will be developed. Furthermore the concept of situated/extended cognition will be discussed as a key ingredient for Enabling Spaces. The second part gives an overview of the concept of Enabling Spaces and of the design process leading to such spaces. Finally the concrete case of a knowledge creating university will be discussed.