Science, policy and practice interfaces for enabling innovation & sustainability
Cristian Matti & Davide Consoli
Governance of a Complex World 2014 GCW 2014
“Smart, inclusive and sustainable growth: lessons and challenges ahead” 18-20 June, 2014 Turin (Italy)
Special track: “The geography of innovation”
My DPhil research project analyses the long term pathways of knowledge creation within and across a multilevel environmental governance system. Emphasis will be put in the strategies for pursuing energy security of supply and for supporting renewable industry in Spain by considering areas of technology development and environmental policy through networks articulation.
The study focuses on mechanism for knowledge creation as part of government and industry response to the current multilevel framework on energy and environment. In doing so, this research seeks to identify the major contributors to the emergent knowledge base, be they individuals, research organizations, governmental agencies or firms. Finally, it will analyze the reasons behind differences in performance among Spanish regions.
This research will try to identify key environmental policy and technology factors that contributed to the development of wind energy sector in Spain. Emphasis will be put in the implementation pattern of policy instruments that facilitated pathways to develop renewables energy regionally as well as the extent to which the recombination of existing knowledge and new forms of organization within and across the value chain affected emergent technological capacity.
Theoretically, the research seeks to contribute to the understanding of the development of an emergence sector among a multilevel governance context but putting particular emphasis on interaction and interdependences within and across areas of technical development and environmental policy. It also aims to get a better understanding of processes of adaptation and integration of polices (emanating from higher hierarchical levels) to local context as a strategic response to face new challenges and opportunities.
PhD dissertation available HERE
The ongoing global economic crisis is seriously challenging advanced capitalistic economies. In the last year the GDP has fallen at dramatic rates, creating the conditions for the upsurge of unemployment, above all in areas characterized by specialization in mature industries. According to recent growth models and empirical evidence, innovation and knowledge creation represent the main factors able to improve the competitiveness and the long run perspectives of growth of countries. Yet, innovation and technology policies have mainly been designed by relying on a supply side perspective so as to affect the creation of knowledge by providing funds to carry out R&D activities and by enhancing education and training for researchers. However, a debate has recently emerged, about the need for grafting innovation and technology policies in a demand-oriented framework.
The aim of this project is to provide an original contribution to the ongoing debate, advancing the understanding of the mechanisms through which demand-based innovation policies may stimulate effective knowledge creation process, and eventually trigger competitiveness and productivity growth. To this purpose, the research activity will consist of both theoretical models and empirical analyses, the results of which should be able to inform the policy design process. We shall distinguish between public and private demand for both final and intermediate goods and services and will analyze their effects on the generation, diffusion and exploitation of technological knowledge by articulating the research activity on different dimensions (regional, sectoral and institutional). The research activity will be conducted by pursuing a great deal of multidisciplinarity and combining a number of diverse methodologies. The results of the analyses will in turn provide the basis upon which a taxonomy of demand-oriented technology policies may be elaborated.
Last and not least, my Dphil research project was the main input of the proposal for the study on Spanish wind energy sector included in PICK ME. Thus, the resulted project has provided an excellent academic environment to explore, validate and improve my research project.
Scientific outputs
Multi-level governance, policy mixes and wind energy in Spain
Mónica E. Edwards-Schachter, Cristian Matti, Enrique Alcántara
Review of Policy Research
Participative processes and citizens’ empowerment are crucial aspects of social innovation (SI), involving collaborative activities between the private, public, and third sectors. This article discusses the principal trends in the literature on SI, its aims and differential characteristics related to identifying people’s needs, citizen participation processes, and improved quality of life. We present an exploratory case study of SI focusing on the gap between elderly people’s needs and the generation of business opportunities, using a living lab (LL) methodology for collaborative placed-based innovation. Our results suggest that LLs are a helpful instrument to detect community needs, improve local development, and support and integrate technological and social innovations in policies and local governance processes
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1541-1338.2012.00588.x/abstract
Procesos innovativos y redes en dos municipios del conurbano bonaerense
Patricio Narodowski, Cristian Matti
This paper was based in my first work in research. It is part of a large study on the Petrochemical – Plastic value change and it base in a series of interviews to firms of two mayor industrial districts. I got big lesson on research methods and fieldworks by doing this job but I also start to explore the concept of networks from a much applied perspective.
Link to full document (in Spanish): http://www.ub.edu/geocrit/sn/sn-170-29.htm
The presentation aims to analyse the interaction experience of a multidisciplinary team in the formulation process of the renewable energy local normative. A set of different elements on the formulation process and the content of the normative will be analysed by exploring the concept of reflexive governance. For doing so, focus will be put in the search of agreement and consensus by considering different interpretation of innovation polices as public procurement for R&D and green procurement as well as more general concepts as governance, participation and decision making mechanisms. Finally key issues of action research approach will be described in term of the the role of local environments on the generation, exchange and knowledge transfer as key drivers for the design and implementation of environmental regulation.
The presentation is based in the participation of the authors in the project Mediterranean renewables energy ENERMED. The project seeks to bring coherence to Mediterranean regional policies on renewable energy for innovation and competitiveness. Our skills will contribute to understanding.
More info:
Cristian Matti & Rodrigo Martinez Novo
OLKC 2012 International conference on organizational learning, knowledge and capabilities
Valencia 25/27 April 2012
This Paper was developed as part of the PICK ME project. It was the first exercise on discourse analysis by using Atlas.ti software. We have explored the discussion bettwen scientist, entrepreneurs and government official coming from a debate on system of innovation.
Methodologically, we applied interpretative repertoire to track the connection between different ideas and value systems. The paper reveals some interesting insight on the culture of innovation and the rationale behind the use of policy instruments to foster innovation but especially at regional level
Link to conference program: http://www.olkc2012.com/detail-program/89.html
Some of the results from the consultancy on Transport sector for the Second comunicaction of Argentina for the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Chgue were introduced here as part of the 5th urban research symposium on cities and climate change responding to an urgent agenda, held in Marseille in June 2009
Ravella, O., Matti, C., Giacobbe, N., Aon, L., Frediani, J. (2011). Transport Systems, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Mitigation Measures: A Study in Argentina. In Gupta, R., Chandiwala, S. Cities and Climate Change. Responding to an Urgent Agenda. Urban Development Studies, World Bank, Appendix pp. 278.
CRISTIAN MATTI 