Science, policy and practice interfaces for enabling innovation & sustainability
I am delighted to share the new application of “the Tuner” from the EU Science, Research and Innovation and EIT – European Institute of Innovation and TechnologyClimate-KIC “Co-creation for Policy” handbook. The Tuner, a new online tool for co-creation, has been co-designed in collaboration with the Transformative Innovation Policy Consortium
Tool: https://lnkd.in/gg7Jismt
JRC Handbook: https://lnkd.in/ez_jXB6n
In 2021, The Transition Policy Lab series supported policymakers in different countries to introduce policy-making practises by removing barriers to enable the necessary institutional change. It aimed to build capacity for co-designing and implementing systemic policies that can lead to transformative strategies and actions.
The #EIT Regional Innovation Scheme’s Transition Policy Labs, developed by the Transitions Hub, consisted of five interconnected capacity-building activities delivered in three different formats: Multi-stakeholder setting, science-based training and executive programmes.
Transitions Policy Labs Series 2021
Challenge-led system mapping – Collaboration project including 6 countries of the Western Balkans, EIT Cross-KIC project (2021)
An Actionable Atlas
This handbook introduces actionable knowledge on developing A Transformative Theory of Change by applying a portfolio approach to address a systems innovation perspective for projects and programmes. Tools, methods and lessons learned result from working hand in hand with EIT Climate-KIC projects around a portfolio of knowledge services for sustainable systems transformation. The step-by-step methodology aims to support practitioners in designing, implementing, and evaluating projects aimed at transformative system change by combining the Theory of Change methodology with the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP). It can be used to facilitate a co-creation process among societal stakeholders invested in sustainability, connecting innovation with societal challenges through the effective delivery of knowledge service.
The handbook has been developed through the collaboration between the Transformative Innovation Policy Consortium, INGENIO-UPV, the Austrian Institute of Technology and EIT Climate-KIC as part of the MOTION EIT Climate-KIC project.
Download the handbook Here
In this paper, I explored with several researchers and practitioners the application of foresight methods in a diverse collection of settings.
The European Commission Joint Research Centre’s (JRC) Scenario Exploration System (SES) is a foresight gaming system developed to facilitate the application of futures thinking to policy-making. It was originally geared at engaging EU policy-makers with scenarios in a facilitated process with a low learning curve.
Specifically, the SES was designed to help participants, in less than three hours, to engage in systemic thinking with a long-term perspective and to explore alternative futures on specific issues and themes. When applied in various contexts, the SES proved to have a broader range of applications, which led to communities of practice emerging around the tool.
One of the cases included in the paper is the application of SES in the EIT Climate-KIC project Climate Mitigation Fund where we addressed the challenges of facilitating a horizontal problem-solving process by combining knowledge from public authorities, SMEs and experts to redefine the socio-technical system in which regional climate funds can operate efficiently. Workshops in Bologna and Frankfurt applied visual tools created by the Transitions Hub for easing negotiation of complex issues.
The interdependent challenges of climate change need innovation in systems of practice and provision, not single innovation in products and processes. In this context, cities face the challenge of dealing with climate risks and impacts while moving to more sustainable, zero-carbon and resilient pathways. This is a significant opportunity for a new, sustainable market to combine existing knowledge and economies of scale within urban environments to produce new systemic solutions. However, there are considerable differences in progress between the leading cities (mainly in Northern/Western Europe) and the ones lagging behind. Intra-EU disparity claims for the existence of platforms that follow a systemic approach instead of “picking the winner”. The structures that allow for coordinating various actors by combining individual goals and capacities with shared purposes, norms and expectations refer to innovation platforms.
This study addresses the role of innovation platforms as catalysers of existing (or new) innovation systems in sustainable urban transitions to explore market opportunities. Empirically, emphasis is put on analysing the underlying factors of geographical structural differences and the patterns of relations between knowledge spaces and governance configurations. To do so, we analyse the portfolio of projects and activities of the EIT Climate-KIC. This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of innovation platforms as a mechanism to accelerate innovation in the urban environment that can enhance collaboration to achieve more equally distributed progress across all of Europe.
The results of this study are based on the activities implemented in the EIT RIS programme covering peripheral EU regions.
Research project team: Cristian Matti, Irene Vivas Lalinde, Julia Panny and Balnca Juan Agulló
Step-by-step short videos of tools from Visual Toolbox for System Innovation
Pentagonal problem
Actor Tree
Empathy map
Credential cards
Stakeholder map
Stakeholder Universe
The pattern of specialization in the cities of the Transition Cities project is analysed by applying the Circos (Krzywinski et al., 2009) data graphics tool for structural studies. The exercise seeks to facilitate the analysis of specialization evidence from patterns in the data.
The working paper presents a new sociotechnical and systemic approach to urban specialization with a policy focus on challenge-led clusters. Specialization patterns are explored through urban sociotechnical systems where networks and organisations act as “transition arenas” in a policy shift to the meso regime level as a new focus of transformative innovation. It is an alternative to the traditional macro/micro split, more attuned to systemic rather than singular innovation. It offers a broader definition of innovation, highlighting social, organisational, and business model novelty.
The Visual toolbox for system innovation” is a booklet-format collection of ready-to-implement tools to structure and manage the challenges and exploit opportunities of sustainability innovations and transitions.
The tools are presented in a simple and visual approach to support practitioners’ everyday work on climate change, transition and system innovation.
| De Vicente Lopez, Javier and Matti, Cristian (2016). Visual toolbox for system innovation. A resource book for practitioners to map, analyse and facilitate sustainability transitions. Transition Hub Series. EIT Climate KIC, Brussels 2016. ISBN 978-2-9601874-1-0 |
Download the Visual toolbox
The launch event “Opening the development agenda,” the STEPS center – Sustainable Alternatives for Latin America, was held on 5 and 6 November in Buenos Aires. STEPS Latin America is part of a network of universities based China, USA, Kenya, India, the UK and Sweden. STEPS Latin America seeks to renew and open innovation agenda and sustainability of the region, based on the idea that there are different paths to development. During the two-day panel on Open Science, Innovation inclusive, horizontal innovations for sustainability and natural resources and development which will have important guests were made internationally. My participation in this event was to design and facilitation of participatory workshops with the aim of thinking policies to promote open knowledge production and think a new research agenda on innovation and sustainable development for the region.
The workshop Policies to open the generation of knowledge was based in participatory techniques aimed to allow jointly identification of a number of items such as tools, methodologies and priorities related to S & T policy. Brainstorming techniques and World Cafe are used to enhance the diversity of perspectives and facilitate the exchange of ideas between different actors. The outcome of this workshop will be digitized and shared with participants to encourage collaboration in different areas.
The workshop Research agenda for sustainable development was based in participatory techniques for making maps on areas of knowledge and research priorities through a prospective approach. By visualizing a future scenario, the exercise seeks to help participants to relate different elements at different levels and over time in order to facilitate change processes at the system level. The outcome of this workshop will be digitized and shared with participants to encourage collaboration in different areas.
The event was part of the new line of collaboration between Transition Hub – Climate KIC and the STEPs center. Further actions are related with the co-development of learning materials and exploring research opportunities in the area of resilient and smart agricultural systems
See full agenda of the event here & summary of event in STEP website
CRISTIAN MATTI 