The project consortium consists of the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER) - as coordinator of the overall project - as well as the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences(TRAWOS Institute, headed by Prof. Dr. Raj Kollmorgen), the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography (IfL) in Leipzig, the Institute for Social Innovation e. V. (ISInova Berlin), the Institute for Cooperatives e. V. and the Seminar for Rural Development (SLE) of the Albrecht Daniel Thaer Institute for Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences. V. (ISInova) Berlin, the Institut für Genossenschaftswesen e.V. and the Seminar for Rural Development (SLE) of the Albrecht Daniel Thaer Institute for Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences at the Humboldt University in Berlin.
Innovations are important drivers of social change and set the pace for apparent progress in human development. However, in view of crises such as climate change, species extinction and resource scarcity, the negative consequences of this progress are also becoming apparent. It has long been clear that a transformation to more sustainable ways of living and doing business is necessary. How can this transformative change be achieved in cities and regions? How can they increase their ability to adapt, their "transformative capacities", and thus initiate and accelerate processes such as the energy transition? What role do innovations play in this? The project "ATRAKTIV - Building transformative capacities to activate regional innovation systems", which started work in November 2022, is dedicated to these questions.
The project aims to question the traditional understanding of innovation, which is primarily geared towards technological progress and economic growth. In addition to technological and economic innovations, the ATRAKTIV project therefore also focuses on social innovations that are linked to sustainable and public welfare-oriented ways of thinking, trading and organizing.
The originality of the research idea in the project lies in the conception of an extended frame of reference for recording and evaluating regional innovation systems. To this end, the project introduces the concept of transformative innovation systems, which entails new requirements for innovation policy that are to be worked out in the course of the project. In our view, innovation systems are transformative if the innovations they produce can contribute to fundamental social change in the direction of sustainable development. Here, we draw in particular on the models developed in transition research on "transformative social innovations" or "transformative innovations" in general, as well as the concept of "transformative capacities".
The project team is investigating how these diverse developments can be better used for transformative change at regional level in four rather peripheral and rural regions without a strong economic center, which are commonly classified as "structurally weak" districts: Görlitz (with the Oberlausitz region) in Saxony, Dithmarschen in Schleswig Holstein, Kyffhäuser and Saale-Holzland in Thuringia.
The project has three main objectives. Firstly, the project aims to move away from the traditional understanding of structural weakness and (economic) innovation capability and create a new, broader frame of reference based on the mission-oriented understanding of innovation systems. Secondly, it aims to empirically examine which innovation patterns and dynamics are present in these regions according to the developed framework and how they can be evaluated/measured on the basis of and in cooperation with four regions characterized as "structurally weak" . Thirdly, building on this, it aims to develop concrete governance approaches, methods and instruments that support regions in increasing their transformative capacities and activating and strengthening regional sustainability-oriented innovation systems.
What characteristics distinguish transformative from non-transformative innovation systems and how can the societal capacity for innovation to shape transformative change be determined? How do the characteristics of such systems differ in "structurally weak" regions? Which spatial and temporal innovation patterns and dynamics of transformative innovation systems can be identified and what role do endogenous and contextual factors play in the selected regions?
Introduction and development of the concept of the transformative regional innovation system. Integration of approaches from four areas: Transformation research, innovation geography, sociology and research on alternative engagement and business structures. Application and testing of the integrative approach to four peripheral regions in Germany using transformation research methods.
ATRAKTIV at the first status conference of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research on 31.08.+01.09.2023 in Berlin. Read more
The joint project ATRAKTIV is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for a period of 3 years as part of the funding line "REGION.innovativ. Researching regional factors for innovation and change - strengthening society's capacity for innovation".
