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Exploring Contextual Barriers to Implementing Mission-Oriented Innovation Towards Achieving Bioeconomic Shifts : A Case Study of Uppsala Region

Tackling grand challenges such as anthropogenic climate change, urgently requires an increase in bio-based resource utilization in regard to offsetting fossil dependencies within industrial sectors, also known as bioeconomic shifts. Bioeconomic shifts can be achieved by implementing Mission-oriented innovation (MOI), which concerns facilitating and directing resources towards achieving predetermined missions. Public actors within Uppsala region have proposed a regional mission which communicates their approach towards achieving a bioeconomic shift. Therefore, this study explores the empirical and contextual barriers to MOI- implementation towards increasing local bio-based rest flow utilization, enabling an expansion biochar within Uppsala region. To satisfy the purpose and research question, an inductive qualitative interview-based case study was performed. This allowed for an understanding of contextual barriers regarding an implementation of MOI from the perceptions of the purposefully sampled interviewees. Thematic analysis was then applied to uncover codes and themes within the gathered data. Noteworthy, and a valuable takeaway for future studies regarding MOI-implementations, is that many of the observed barriers could be mitigated through further developing abilities that enable codification of tacit knowledge. Difficulties in facilitating necessary cooptation, uncertainty associated with innovation, and lengthy payback horizons contribute to MOI-implementation barriers within Uppsala region. A lack of structures that enable the synchronization of, and cooperation between, public and private actors has resulted in barriers for public actors to incentivize and facilitate activities towards achieving a regional expansion of biochar. Also, a lack of resource allocation to enable an MOI-implementation, results in barriers towards exploiting/counteracting contextual advantages/disadvantages towards achieving the regional mission. Contextual advantages include mobility of knowledgeable individuals, universities, and waste management facilities. Contextual disadvantages regard insufficient resource allocations, lack of public actor involvement, and policy which is currently unable of facilitating necessary activities. The results and associated theory support the notion that innovation policy should communicate routes and directions, and better organize actors and activities towards specific missions. Increasing the ability to assess previous and future MOI-implementations, while incentivizing cooperation through shared risks and rewards. Increased communication and assessments of MOI-implementations could also increase the ability to further develop contextual advantages. Contributing and expanding upon existing MOI-literature, this study emphasizes codification of knowledge as to increase the transferability of MOI-related policies and activities between, and within domains. Increased transferability could entail positive spillover effects, regarding the ability of actors to learn from successful, and non-successful MOI-related activities. This knowledge could increase the success rate of MOI-implementations, thus increasing the ability to further develop MOI-implementation frameworks.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-503894
Date January 2023
CreatorsStrömqvist, Julian
PublisherUppsala universitet, Institutionen för samhällsbyggnad och industriell teknik
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
RelationSAMINT-MILI ; 23012, Julian Strömqvist

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