Orchestrating Regional Innovation Ecosystems is a comprehensive publication documenting the successes, challenges and practices of Finland’s Espoo Innovation Garden. It presents the results of many months of transnational and interdisciplinary teamwork, telling the story of the region’s journey from research to practice, from project to ecosystem, and from ecosystem to innovation.
The Helsinki-Uusimaa Region is among the prosperous and growing metropolitan areas in Northern Europe. Within this region, the Espoo Innovation Garden – an open network of residents, companies and communities – is one of Europe’s pioneering regional innovation ecosystems.
Editors Pia Lappalainen, Markku Markkula and Hank Kune have brought together 27 articles by more than 40 authors to describe the diverse facets of Espoo Innovation Garden as an orchestrated innovation ecosystem. The Book is divided into five parts: Framing the Regional Innovation Challenge, The Human Perspective on Innovation Ecosystems, Increasing Innovation Capital, Otaniemi in Transition, and Digitalising City Development Processes.
In the words of Carlos Moedas, EU Commissioner for Research Science and Innovation: “Regional Innovation Ecosystems – the theme of this book – is one of the key concepts of our time. Societies all around Europe need to get more innovation from research. This requires not just excellent science but also its effective integration with industrial leadership and societal challenges.
“Orchestrating regional innovation ecosystems is an emerging science – and an art. So it is important to research its secrets, learn how they work and why, and thus come to understand how to better maintain and improve them. That is what the many authors of this book – researchers, practitioners, businesspeople and politicians – have done. We must continue to learn how orchestrating these ecosystems creates opportunities for business, universities and local government, and enhances the quality of life of our citizens. The work accomplished here is exemplary and has much to offer to other regions in Europe.”
The book is available for digital downloading on the Urban Mill website (https://urbanmill.org/english/) and at the following link: https://urbanmillblog.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/eka_updated_hires.pdf