Universities and smart specialisation strategy

Rinaldi, Chiara; Cavicchi, Alessio; Spigarelli, Francesca; Lacchè, Luigi; Rubens, Arthur

doi:10.1108/ijshe-04-2016-0070

Cited by 55 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(48 reference statements)

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“…The aspiration of integrating sustainable development (SD) into the structures and processes of higher education institutions (HEIs) while taking account of all their different fields of activity, such as research, teaching, outreach, and operations, has been recognized in practice and research alike as a complex and highly context-dependent task [1][2][3][4]. The definitions of sustainable development in the context of higher education institutions remain as rhetorically malleable and as fluid as those in public and political discourse [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interdependencies of Culture and Functions of Sustainability Governance at Higher Education Institutions

et al. 2020

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Sustainable development practices in higher education institutions are diverse, with regard not only to the types of challenges that have to be addressed, but also to the forms of sustainability governance adopted by individual higher education institutions. This paper aims to reflect on the aspects of organizational culture that are particularly crucial for the implementation of sustainable practices at higher education institutions. Specifically, it addresses the research question: how do different organizational cultures affect approaches to sustainability governance at higher education institutions (HEIs)? It reflects on data from multi-case studies at eleven German higher education institutions. Four of the cases are analyzed in this paper to draw out the insights they offer on how organizational culture shapes the institutions’ approach to sustainable development. A governance equalizer is used as a functional framework for evaluating and discussing the influence of different cultural orientations on sustainability governance. In addition to providing many insights and findings in relation to specific cases, comparison of the different institutions, their governance structures and their cultures of sustainable development helps to emphasize that there is no single cultural factor that can be identified as directly promoting particular governance structures. Rather, there is an active interplay between cultural orientations, which influence, and are also influenced by, the measures deployed. Such influence is not instantly apparent but needs time to develop, and it evolves in a variety of ways as illustrated by the case studies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interdependencies of Culture and Functions of Sustainability Governance at Higher Education Institutions

et al. 2020

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“…Actually, this need for sustainable learning approaches allowing multiple stakeholders such as universities, local government, economic players, communities and civil society, to co-create solutions able to address sustainability challenges, has contributed to the emergence of a proposed new function for universities; that of co-creation for sustainability (Trencher et al, 2013;2014a;2014b). There is still academic debate over whether co-creation for sustainability represents an extended version of third mission reaching beyond its economic/technological dimension, or if it should be considered as a fourth mission whose aim is to materialise sustainable development (Rinaldi et al, 2018). However, in this new function -gaining traction in academic literature (e.g.…”

Section: Moving Beyond the Third Mission: New 21 St Century Roles Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, the International Student Competitions on Place Branding and Mediterranean Diet represented the first international events, born of close cooperation between the LMD and the university. The university activated its international networks (Rinaldi et al, 2018) to identify relevant international keynote speakers and foreign universities interested in participating into this experiential learning event, while the LMD coordinated all field visits and practical administration of the event. The competitions' focus on social media and ICT potential for territorial promotion is also related to the inventor/innovator role: the diffusion of technologies and their potential to innovate the territorial offer, supported the LMD's social entrepreneurialism (Trencher et al, 2013).…”

Section: Second Round Of Interviewsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, many scholars do not orient research and teaching towards territorial needs. Studies show that university evaluation systems tend to value only technical outcomes and quantitative measures such as numbers of patents, spin-offs (Rinaldi et al, 2018) making it even less rewarding for academics to engage in long-term relational engagements with communities.…”

Section: Academic Staff Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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University contributions to co-creating sustainable tourism destinations

Rinaldi

Cavicchi

Robinson

2020

Journal of Sustainable Tourism

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A debate is emerging about the evolving functions and roles of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). New functions pivot on value-adding to the social, environmental and economic sustainability of communitiesor in tourism parlancedestinations. This paper extends knowledge with a case study of an Italian-based EU project, in which a local university took a prominent role in developing a city and its countryside into a sustainable gastronomy and food tourism destination, working with a variety of stakeholders. Synthesising the collaborative destination alliance and university 'third mission' co-creation for sustainability frameworks, the study extended across various collaborative activities, including two years beyond the life of the project. Results show the university performed numerous roles enacting the co-creation for the sustainability approach, and that these roles evolved through a communicative and outcomes-based cyclical process. Theoretically, this case study serves as a functional platform explaining the new ways in which tourism academic sector performance is reviewed and evaluated. Practically, this case informs sustainable academic and community collaborations in tourism destinations.

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“…Smart specialisation is the capacity of regions to devise structural alterations in their economies through innovation, the detection of opportunities and the absorption of resources [6]. Therefore, it is a model of regional development that is based on innovation, derived mainly from the efforts in R&D and the creation of companies in accordance with said discoveries [7][8][9]. This concept is broadly in line with the definition, creation, mission and objectives of the USO.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Spin-Off as an Instrument of Sustainable Development: Incentives for Creating an Academic USO

et al. 2018

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In recent years, universities and public authorities have increasingly focused on creating USOs (university spin-offs) as a method of transferring research results to society and of achieving the sustainable development sought by European institutions. However, the success of these policies depends on the appeal of creating a USO for academics. The aim of this research was to examine the relative importance of certain factors that may boost academic entrepreneurship and, therefore, to guide public policies. To do this, a qualitative study was carried out among 42 researchers from Spanish universities and research centres to understand their motivations for creating a USO. A quantitative study was then carried out, based on Conjoint Analysis and with a sample of 1726 academics, to identify the relative importance of six conditions that influence their predisposition to become entrepreneurs. This technique is seldom used in the field of entrepreneurship and, to the best of our knowledge, has never been used before to analyse academic entrepreneurship. The results of the study show that personal economic benefit is clearly the factor that heightens the intention to create a USO the most. Research benefit, CV benefit, support programmes, teaching reduction and personal cost are of lesser importance. The study also concludes that there are few differences according to the academic’s profile.

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Universities and smart specialisation strategy

Cited by 55 publications

References 41 publications

Interdependencies of Culture and Functions of Sustainability Governance at Higher Education Institutions

Interdependencies of Culture and Functions of Sustainability Governance at Higher Education Institutions

University contributions to co-creating sustainable tourism destinations

The Spin-Off as an Instrument of Sustainable Development: Incentives for Creating an Academic USO

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