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Read the report
The report is available at Akademisk Kvarter, Tromsø, and can be ordered from the MOST CCPP secretariat. It is also available in pdf-format at NORDEGIO's homepages:
www.nordregio.se
Summary
The aim of the project has been to study the relationship between the municipal institution and recent innovations in the Nordic periphery. The reasons for undertaking such a study are fairly obvious: nowadays, it has become the norm to highlight a region?s innovative capacities as a crucial element in strategies for its development. In the Nordic periphery, local government has acquired a strong position in society, so there is a definite interest in studying the relation between innovative processes and the operation of the municipal institution.
A total of 21 Nordic municipalities have been studied. In many respects, the area covered by the municipalities in this study may be characterized as part of the extreme periphery of Finland, Sweden, Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland, respectively. The six research teams completed a first round of data gathering, mapping successful innovations that had sprung up during the last ten years within the municipalities. This mapping was done in a dialogue with the municipal leadership.
311 innovations were mapped, and 66 of these were selected for follow up studies. Focus was put on initiative (whose idea was this?), process (support, barriers, implementation, continuity), networking aspects of the innovation, the role of the municipality in the process and direct and indirect local effects of the innovation.
In the concluding chapter, the contribution of the six research sub-teams (Chapters 2-7) have been summarized and analyzed. Attempts are made to see whether any distinct patterns emerge when taking a comparative view of the material.
Firstly, a discussion is made on what may be learned from an overview of the selected innovation processes. This overview analysis deals with the three types of innovations, outlined in Chapter 1: business innovations, public sector innovations and civil society-type innovations.
The next step is to see, from the reports of the sub-teams, what we can learn about the role of the municipality in these processes, and to what extent the projects conceptual scheme, presented in Chapter 1, captures the roles of the municipalities as actually performed in the innovation processes studied.
Thirdly, effects of the innovation processes are identified, with respect to substantial outcomes, learning and identity formation, and the transformative potential of the innovations for the municipalities and localities involved.
Finally, three questions are addressed: to what extent do we see the contours of a ?new? periphery in the post-industrial age? What are the implications of this study for regional policy development? What concrete recommendations can be made?
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