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Regional Innovation Systems and Transformative Dynamics: Transitions in Coal Regions in Australia and Germany

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New Avenues for Regional Innovation Systems - Theoretical Advances, Empirical Cases and Policy Lessons

Abstract

This chapter aims to better understand the implications of transformative change for regional innovation systems (RIS) research and policy by looking more closely into processes of structural change within coal regions against a context of transitions to a low-carbon future. Case studies of Germany’s Ruhr and Australia’s Latrobe Valley are used to demonstrate the challenges in implementing regional innovation policies under conditions of fundamental uncertainty. In the absence of regional innovation system structures and institutions, there is first and foremost a need for organisational and institutional innovation to arrive at working configurations of actors, networks and institutions that could act as proto- or ‘pop-up’ innovation systems. This chapter aims to shed some light on how to approach such processes. It argues that policymakers and researchers should explicitly acknowledge the experimental nature of RIS policy and conceptualize RIS policy development and implementation as a series of governance experiments.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    These include the Latrobe Valley Ministerial Taskforce, established by the Victorian Government in 2000; The Latrobe Economic Development Strategy 2004–2008; Latrobe 2021—The Vision for Latrobe Valley, by the Latrobe City Council; and The Latrobe Valley Industry and Employment Roadmap in 2012 by the Victorian Government.

  2. 2.

    Beyond straightforward university-business-government interactions.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support provided by the project Coal Transitions: Research and Dialogue on the Future of Coal led by IDDRI (Paris) and Climate Strategies (London).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute (MSSI), University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

    Lars Coenen, Stephanie Campbell & John Wiseman

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  1. Lars Coenen
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Correspondence to Lars Coenen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business and Law, University of Agder, Grimstad, Norway

    Arne Isaksen

  2. School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Roman Martin

  3. Department of Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Michaela Trippl

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Coenen, L., Campbell, S., Wiseman, J. (2018). Regional Innovation Systems and Transformative Dynamics: Transitions in Coal Regions in Australia and Germany. In: Isaksen, A., Martin, R., Trippl, M. (eds) New Avenues for Regional Innovation Systems - Theoretical Advances, Empirical Cases and Policy Lessons. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71661-9_10

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