Living Labs Global

What currently attracts multi-nationals to invest in research in a particular location? What can regional actors do to make their regions more attractive? A two-day conference addressing these topics will take place in Hamburg 5-6 June 2007. This conference builds on extensive interviews with more than 40 global R&D directors carried out by the Regions of Knowledge Project “LOCOMOTIVE”

Speakers include Carlos Orzoco, Global R&D director of Dow Chemicals, Francisco Escarti Europe R&D Director of Boeing, Andrew Dearing General Secretary of the European Industrial Research Managers Association as well as directors of clusters, regional development directors and researchers.

The aim of this conference is to disseminate some of the findings of the project in order to support the development of better regional policies to make Europe more attractive as a research base. It should be of interest to regional policy makers, those involved in developing clusters, knowledge transfer professionals and university staff.

Further details can be found on www.locomotive-project.org or by mailing locomotive@tutech.de.

NOTE: Potential delegates are advised to book hotels early as Hamburg’s hotels are likely to be in heavy demand around this time. The venue is the Hotel Elysee in Hamburg and this can be booked via the conference web site. A contingency of rooms has been reserved until 12 May 2007.

I am writing from our second workshop on ‘Urbanised Innovation Environments’ in Shanghai, organised around the Fenglin Biomedical Centre , a project we have been working on together with HPP International for the Xuhui District Authority since 2004. Forming part of the Hubs & Regions research activities, the workshop is conducted jointly with two world-class academic institutions, the Architectural Association Housing & Urbanism department and Diploma Unit 10 (London) and Tongji University’s Urban Planning Department in Shanghai. It involves 15 professors from Europe and China, as well as more than 40 post-graduate students from both institutions. After the final review, it is worth reflecting on a number of issues related to the urbanisation of innovation environments which have emerged from projects and discussions in 5 groups. A core question emerging is the issue of leadership and the changing discipline of urbanism in the light of economic transformations. User-centric innovaton environments – be they biomedical, health or mobile solutions related – have a communality their need for successful leadership structures. Whilst urbanism as a discipline is primarily pre-occupied with the spatial and infrastructural (as well as socio-technical) facilitation of economic and social development and accessibility, it cannot be disassociated from the need of institutional transformation. Unless cities, related agencies, universities and companies acquire the managerial capacity to manage an innovation environment, urban transformation and regeneration will not only be without effect, but will also remain reduced to traditional instruments which add at most limited value to innovation processes. Such leadership relies on prioritisation and continuity. Prioritisation as to set the sectorial specificities (in this case Biomedical) and giving priority in all decisions to activities conducive to this cluster. In the implementation, continuity in such prioritisation is critical – often this is the point where short-term interests lead to a break with continuity – i.e. when housing developments or generic office types promise quicker response from the market. This points us to a second issue, the ability of urban development strategies to evolve and absorb change over time. Here, our latest observations in Shanghai as well as Singapore and Barcelona have shown that in all cases governance has (or is) gradually shifting from centralised (public) leadership to inclusive stakeholder models. In our global comparative review of biomedical centres, we have identified 4 primary governance models – with differing degrees of ability to evolve strategy. Such transformation is now underway at Singapore’s One North – working towards a model that is more closely resembling that of the Orestad Group (Copenhagen) or the Life Sciences Cluster ‘ Medicon Valley Academy ’ (Oresund).Living Labs form part of these discussions, as their stakeholder, end-user and urban development focus provide an important reference to future management models for urban change. Independent sectorial platforms to brand, strategically manage and vision the cluster are ideally placed to provide continuity (especially independent of election cycles) and dedicated focus to the needs of emerging innovative industries. Where changes happen fast and commitment from a variety of stakeholders is required, non-institutionalised governance models seem to have a leading edge.