About the project:
The PhD project looks at research and innovation policy for transformative change in response to “wicked” societal problems. Specifically, the project focusses on climate mitigation in the agri-food system, and on the role of mission-oriented innovation policies – coordinated packages of research, innovation and sectoral policy instruments, mobilising a broad range of stakeholders in tackling a specific societal problem. The project examines empirical cases from Denmark, New Zealand and Norway, including trailing research following the ongoing design process of the Norwegian mission-oriented innovation policy on sustainable fodder. It addresses three central research questions:
- How does “wickedness” manifest empirically in policy processes, and how can this explain intractability in climate mitigation of the agri-food system?
- How has transformative directionality been incorporated in agri-food mission-orientated innovation policy?
- How are dilemmas managed in the goal-setting and scoping process of mission-orientated innovation policy design?
Thesis supervisors:
Professor Taran Mari Thune (TIK - Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo)
Assistant Professor Iris Wanzenböck (Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University)
Commentators:
Professor Tomas Moe Skjølsvold (Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Håkon Endresen Normann (Senior Researcher, Deputy Head of Research, Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education)
About Benjamin Donald Smith
Benjamin Donald Smith is a PhD candidate at the TIK Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture at the University of Oslo. He has been employed at the Research Council of Norway for the last 7 years and before that, he worked at Nordic Energy Research for 8 years, a Nordic research funding organisation. He has a master’s degree in environmental policy and management from Lund University.
How to participate
The seminar is open to everyone and will be a hybrid event. Please register by sending an email to Lara Kristiansen l.b.l.kristiansen@tik.uio.no stating whether you would like to participate in person or digitally by 16 August 2023.
The manuscript is available upon request. Please send the request to Lara Kristiansen l.b.l.kristiansen@tik.uio.no.
Welcome!