Papers by Birgitte Gregersen
Edward Elgar Publishing, 2004
The "Forum on Developing Agriculture and Agribusiness Innovation in Africa" takes place at a very... more The "Forum on Developing Agriculture and Agribusiness Innovation in Africa" takes place at a very opportune moment. The current world food situation has accentuated the need for increasing agricultural productivity and for further developing the food industry in Africa. Technology and innovation plays an important role in this process and the need for further enhancing linkages between the private sector, the research community and other stakeholders in the development process is therefore urgent. From the Danish side we appreciate to be partners in arranging this Forum-and to have the opportunity to share experiences and further develop partnerships with the participating countries. This publication gives a brief introduction to the Danish experience and competence within agriculture, higher education, research, and food industry innovation, followed by an introduction to Danish development policy within the area of development research and support for innovation and technology in Africa. Lastly, a collection of case-studies of projects within agriculture, higher education, research, and food industry innovation, that has been planned and implemented by Danish universities, is presented. The publication is a result of close cooperation between the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Danish Ministry for Science, Technology and Innovation and universities in Denmark. It is hoped that the outcome of the Forum will provide new insights and ideas that will contribute to spurring technology and innovation in the participating countries within agriculture and agribusiness development-and provide the opportunity to develop new partnerships in this sector.
Springer eBooks, Dec 7, 2011
D'un point de vue économique traditionnel, il pourrait sembler paradoxal qu&... more D'un point de vue économique traditionnel, il pourrait sembler paradoxal qu'un petit pays (5, 5 millions d'habitants) avec des salaires élevés, une forte fiscalité, un secteur public étendu, relativement peu d'activité de R&D, et une proportion relativement basse de personnes avec un haut niveau de qualification en science et technologies puisse, depuis des décennies, rester relativement compétitif et riche. Des études récentes du Système national d'innovation danois donnent deux explications interdépendantes (Lundvall 2002b; Christensen et al. ...
The paper takes its point of departure in three recent tendencies in development thinking: the in... more The paper takes its point of departure in three recent tendencies in development thinking: the increased focus on capabilities rather than resource endowments, the increased awareness of knowledge as crucial resource in development, and the increased emphasize on the importance of institutions as the 'root cause' of development. The paper emphasizes how different types of institutions may influence learning and innovation capabilities in relation to sustainable development: market driven and market supporting institutions, institutions supporting human resource development, and institutions supporting interaction and cooperation. Finally, two cases from Costa Rica are used to illustrate the comprehensive package of institutions involved in the process of creating new and maintaining existing interactive learning spaces related to sustainable development.
Routledge eBooks, Nov 15, 2021
Kenya and Ethiopia are frontrunners in the region when it comes to adding wind power to their pow... more Kenya and Ethiopia are frontrunners in the region when it comes to adding wind power to their power generation capacity and there is high interest from project developers. The chapter uses the lens of 'interactive learning spaces' to understand how interactions between different stakeholders in a megaproject can lead to the accumulation of technological and managerial capabilities. The two projects offer interesting and different examples of the types of learning spaces in which the transfer of both formalised and tacit knowledge can occur. The chapter argues that it is important to understand and deliberately create and nurture such interactive learning spaces in order to spur and sustain local skills upgrading and capability-building in connection to large infrastructure projects based on imported key technologies.
Routledge eBooks, Apr 2, 2021
Chapter 13 discusses how well does the Danish innovation system perform in relation to sustainabl... more Chapter 13 discusses how well does the Danish innovation system perform in relation to sustainable development, and how this performance is assessed. Using the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and related targets as overall performance measures for sustainable development the Danish innovation system is performing relatively well but still with major challenges before the 2030 targets are obtained-especially in relation to sustainable cities, consumption, production, climate action and 'life below water'. It is argued that although the 17 SDGs may serve as important guideposts and wake-up calls for policy action, the notion of the learning economy where learning and capability building are at the centre provides a relevant supplementary starting point for formulating policies for a transition to a more sustainable development path. The chapter turns finally to a wider perspective on sustainable development and raises the question if the meaning of sustainable development needs to be rethought in the Anthropocene era with significant human impact on the Earth's ecosystem.
The paper argues that a narrow conceptualization of institutions as more or less similar to 'good... more The paper argues that a narrow conceptualization of institutions as more or less similar to 'good governance' is not conductive for an understanding of the institutional underpinnings of the learning economy. In stead an explicit focus on a broad set of institutions that support learning is needed. Improving learning and innovation capabilities is not only a question of more resources for education and research (more and better schools and universities) but also of better institutions supporting interactive learning and innovation in all parts of society. A key issue is to create institutions that support utilization of indigenous knowledge and develop new ways to combine indigenous knowledge with science and technology based knowledge. It is to a large extent also a question of improving the coordination and coherence between different policy areas. Policy learning has to be institutionalized as an ongoing process of minor as well as major institutional adaptations and innovations.
International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, 2009
A number of attempts have been made in the North to assist in the formation of independent resear... more A number of attempts have been made in the North to assist in the formation of independent research capacities in the South by establishing knowledge sharing through North-South research collaboration. One such attempt was initiated by Danida through its programme for Enhancement of Research Capacity (ENRECA). Aalborg University was approached by the National University of Costa Rica to make a joint research venture within the field of sustainable development. The project got a Central American (CA) regional perspective by including participants from Nicaragua and El Salvador. The project was titled Sustainable Development Strategies for Central America (SUDESCA) and aimed at support of relevant CA research activities, including the formation of adequate organizational setups that would eventually sustain forthwith. The project focused on two theoretical themes, i.e. the National Systems of Innovation and the Social Construction of Technology approaches. In this paper the CA universities are viewed as important subsystems of the respective national systems of innovation. Thus, the following is an analysis of the institutional sustainability of the research capacity of universities perceived as parts of the national systems of innovation. To what extent did the knowledge transfer and exchange as well as the organizational capacity building efforts succeed? What were the main pitfalls and opportunities experienced? What did the Aalborg team learn about its own research capacity set-up? Our overall conclusion is that it is a mistake to assume that research capacity may be more or less directly transferred from the North to the South. Research capacity existing in the North has to be carefully adapted to the specific conditions where it may be expected to be useful.
Policy learning is together with technological, organisational and institutional learning an inte... more Policy learning is together with technological, organisational and institutional learning an integrated part of the learning economy. It implies that policy-making itself is a process of learning and that this process more and more takes learning and competence building in many parts of the economy into account. The Danish Wind Power Innovation System is used as reference case to illustrate the mutual relations between industrial dynamics and policy learning. Focus is on central factors and actors shaping the path of learning and innovation. The paper further discusses opportunities and conditions for applying policy lessons learned from the Danish wind energy case to other renewable technology areas. Although the empirical basis is the specific Danish context, lessons learned are relevant in a broader policy context as well.
The innovation system concept was developed in the 1980's (Freeman 1... more The innovation system concept was developed in the 1980's (Freeman 1982/2004, Lundvall 1985; Freeman 1987; Freeman and Lundvall 1988; Freeman 1988; Freeman 1988: Nelson 1988). In this paper we start by some notes on how the concept emerged. In the rest of the paper we present what regard as progress in understanding it and we do so while relating it to economic development, and, finally, on how it might be further developed in the future.
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Papers by Birgitte Gregersen