European Regional Science Association
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European Regional Science Association
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The abstract for paper number 297:
Carlos Rodrigues
University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal, Artur Rosa Pires, Department of Environment and Planning
University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
University-Industry Relationships in Less Favoured Regions: Building up Trust and Mutual Learning Processes
It is unanimously recognised that university-industry relationships play an important role in promoting regional development. The paper acknowledges the perception that when trying to design a model for successful implementation of university-industry cooperative initiatives, there is the need to consider the territorial and institutional contexts. In fact, the intensity of the cultural divide between academia and industry, as well as the prejudices rooted in both spheres, depends to a large extent of territorial and institutional specificities.
It will be argued that in less favoured regions (LFRs), within the framework of a (global) trend to increase the formal character of university-industry relations, the design and implementation of policies aimed at the creation or reinforcement of cooperative platforms should take into account their specificities, namely, the relative weakness of the institutional fabric, the unfavourable policy context as well as the characteristics of the productive system (often with low-tech content and based on traditional sectors and small firms).
The challenge, in LFRs, is related to the apparent paradox resulting from the perception that universities, on the one hand, are the main locus of knowledge creation and, on the other hand, are regarded (solely) as a means to improve local economic material indicators (e.g. local consumption) and/or to revert demographic decline. Accordingly, the paper will stress that, in LFRs, policy efforts directed to the successful promotion of university-industry interaction should acknowledge the need to build up trust and foster mutual learning processes. It will be argued that those policy efforts should be mainly aimed i) to raise social awareness in relation to the need for the design of shared development trajectories, ii) to ensure that those development trajectories value the access and use of science and knowledge and iii) to bring knowledge to qualify and legitimate development options.
The case of the Portuguese region of Aveiro will be explored in order to illustrate how the promotion of university-industry linkages can be addressed in the context of a relatively less favoured region.
Unfortunately full paper has not been submitted.