The goal of the course is to form competences and skills, which allow performing innovation policy analysis and design to foster inclusivity and to enable innovative potential of citizens and organizations for generating solutions to local problems and/or to global grand challenges.

Upon completion of the course, the students will be able and equipped to:
- understand the practices and dynamics of inclusive, open and frugal processes in innovation environments in contexts of both developed and less developed economies
- identify relevant stakeholders involved in innovation processes on local/regional level.
- perform stakeholder analysis as well as a complex analysis of the innovation landscape on local/regional level.
- participate into processes of policy design, implementation and analysis fostering an inclusive innovation policy in various local and regional (and national) contexts.

This course introduces a bottom-up approach to innovation, socio-economic development and inclusiveness from the perspective of the innovation system theory and through the exploration of existing and emerging inclusive practices in local innovation contexts.

The first part of this course is devoted to the investigation of the key theories and concepts of territorial innovation models. These discussions offer students an in-depth understanding of spatial aspect of regional development and the debate revolving around the importance of physical and relational proximities for the innovation, learning and economic development.

The second part of the course links regional and spatial approach to current discussion concerning, for example, frugal innovations, openness and inclusiveness as a part of the knowledge-based economic development. Through literature, discussions and workshops, students will explore how inclusiveness redefines the requirements for the institutions fostering the interaction and learning in the region.

COURSE INFORMATION AND STRUCTURE

The course includes lectures, tutorials and workshops. In the frame of the lectures, students are introduced to the key theoretical concepts and approaches relevant to the understanding of territorial innovation models. During tutorials, students participate in discussions, explain their point of view, compare cases and synthesize different ideas. This contributes to enhanced understanding of the course material and develop presentation and communication skills. Workshops are aimed at development of students’ practical skills in the field of regional innovation research and analysis.

Lecture. Innovation as a context-dependent phenomenon (2 h)

Lecture. Systems of innovation: regional and spatial perspectives (2 h + 2 h)

Tutorial. Clusters and ecosystems (2 h)

Tutorial. Sectors and regimes of innovation (2 h)

Lecture. Wider societal challenges and Sustainable Development Goals (2 h)

Tutorial. Expanding range of heterogeneous innovators and stakeholders. Stakeholder analysis. (2 h + 2 h)

Workshop. Participation practices and mechanisms of user engagement in innovation activity on local and regional level (living labs, fab labs, etc.) (2 h)

Lecture. New perspectives on innovation processes (2 h)

Examination consists of two assignments:

• Class participation during the semester – 50%
• Written essay – 50%

At the end of the course each student should submit a written analytical essay devoted to one societal challenge (including but not limited to Sustainable Development Goals) with a focus on a selected locality. The requirements to the essay: problem statement and description, identification of the key stakeholders and their relations to the problem, local practices and measures of solving a challenge.

The course is suitable for any UTA student that wishes to understand the specific context of innovation both in developing and developed countries. The course is designed for those who are currently or plan to work in academia or policy-making fields as an expert in innovation policy analysis and design. The course will also be useful for those who plan to work in innovative business as practitioners as knowledge obtained from this course can be used for finding new niches and innovative solutions of high social impact and responsibility.