Mission-oriented Innovation Policy as Driver for Participative Governance

What is it about?

As a response to the grand societal challenges reflected in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the transition towards sustainability has gained momentum in recent years, as has the debate on mission-orientation in innovation policy. Harnessing the positive transformation potential for innovation, is about collaboratively exploring complex and uncertain pathways, especially when the goal is sustainable local economic development. Nevertheless, the demand for participatory approaches posed by the re-emergence of mission-orientated innovation policy, and the conditions for their successful implementation at the local level, particularly in the framework of economic development, are poorly understood and not yet in the focus of the current debate. This article conceptualises participation as a new mode of governance for sustainable local economic development, and links it to mission-orientation in innovation policy

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Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Why is it important?

We differentiate forms, degree of involvement, and target groups, as well as highlight the underlying rationales and modes of interactions. Based on action research carried out over three years in the city of Bottrop, Germany, we conceptualize an ideal-typical practice of participatory governance. This is of particular interest for local/regional decision-makers who envisage implementing mission-oriented innovations policies in their region.

Perspectives