16th edition Regional Innovation Policies Conference 2022
Radical and sustainable innovation in clusters and multi specialized regions

Department of Economics and Management, University of Padova
September 22-24, 2022

For more than a decade the Regional Innovation Policies Conference has been an essential date in the diaries of researchers, policymakers, and practitioners with an interest in the field of regional innovation, regional development, and innovation policy.  We are pleased to continue this tradition and welcome you this year to Padova, during the celebrations for the 800 years of the University of Padua.

The theme of the conference is RADICAL AND SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION IN CLUSTERS AND MULTI-SPECIALIZED REGIONS. The literature on regional innovation has been paying increasing attention to improving the quality and sustainability of innovation rather than its intensity. The global challenges raised by the objective of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals ask for an investigation of the drivers of a responsible and sustainable innovation process in clusters and regions. Policymakers are called to develop new guidelines, which are rooted in the smart specialization framework, but able to inspire radically new technological trajectories addressing environmental and social issues. From this perspective, collaboration and networking activities between advanced, emerging, and developing regions can play a critical role.

We encourage submissions from scholars, practitioners, innovators, and leaders who are forging ahead with strategies to shift towards sustainability and technological change in regions. We welcome contributions that develop innovative approaches in concepts, theory, methods, or analysis, and have deep or broad implications to inform place-sensitive strategies for sustainable and technological transitions in clusters and multi-specialized regions.

We are honored to have Philip Cooke (Mohn Center for Innovation & Regional Development, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences) as a keynote speaker and to host a lively roundtable with prestigious scholars (Bjorn Asheim - University of Stavanger; Andrea Ganzaroli - University of Milan; Davide Parrilli - Bournemouth University; Silvia Rita Sedita - University of Padua). 

Key dates:

Submission deadline: June 15, 2022
Notification of acceptance: June 30, 2022
Registration Opening: June 16, 2022
Early registration and presenters deadline: July 10, 2022
Final programme: 1 September 2022
Closing Registrations: 14 September 2022