Lund Innovation District presented in an international context
Global Institute on Innovation Districts (GIID) is a global not-for-profit organization that conducts independent, practice-oriented research on innovation districts and provides them with practical support. GIID was one of the first to capture the phenomenon of innovation districts.
- We want to learn from other cities' thinking and challenges and learn from their solutions, said Peter Kisch, operations manager at Future by Lund. One of the reasons why we wanted to work with Lund as an innovation district is that we felt that we in Lund would have to work in a new way. This has come a long way — we have now, among other things, come to a point where many more of the players realise that we need to start with the innovation engine and the location/district before we talk about our own organisation.
Historically, innovation districts around the world have grown organically, building unique location-based assets that attract others to participate, such as knowledge, networks, talent and infrastructure. Gradually, the increasingly complex playing field of actors, assets and ambitions has brought about a need for a more strategic approach to creating inclusive, vibrant and accessible districts. That's why GIID exists, and members are cities from all over the world. Innovation districts can be a way of leveraging the competitive advantages of the area to create advanced operations and to meet global challenges in areas such as climate and health sectors. Many also see innovation districts as a way to promote equitable growth.
During the meeting, Lund was able to talk about how the work with the Lund Innovation District has taken great strides over the past year. There is now a steering group in place, and for more than a year, strategic talks have been held where stakeholders can discuss a common agenda. In addition, an AI-based qualitative survey has been conducted with 500 people in the innnovation district.
- Among other things, it was found that many of the respondents saw it as an important task to facilitate cooperation between many different partners, pointed out Charlotte Lorentz Hjorth, CEO at Future by Lund. We saw that cross-cutting areas of innovation are a main interest for many in the district.
During the meeting, Future by Lund was able to talk about ongoing work on joint innovation in portfolios. Portfolios are a common place for cross-cutting innovation, where the intention is to solve a challenge by creating the movement of an entire subject area together. To achieve this, it is important to try to get many people to move towards the same goal and to make the portfolios investable, which refers not only to efforts in terms of money but also in terms of time.
- In Lund, there are actually more areas for cross-innovation than we can run on because we have a full-scale university, small and large companies, a municipality with high climate goals and many innovation actors, said Charlotte Lorentz Hjorth. Future by Lund curates and initiates processes and runs a space with small partnerships where the different parties find funding for their parts of an area so that we share the risk. There is energy in the portfolio but getting national, regional and local governments to understand the energy of cross-cutting innovation is a challenge. We hope that the common umbrella brings both togetherness and the opportunity for attention!
Read more about GIID at their website.
The purpose of the work in the Lund Innovation District is to jointly position and develop Lund as an international ID in the long term by:
Build a common understanding of what's in the district.
Create a common fact-based decision base.
Increase the investability of the district (for example for the EIB).
Increase the attractiveness of establishments, not least R&D nodes and hubs.
Increase the impact and results of being an ID in the form of, for example, sustainable scalable solutions, jobs and business growth.
Combine urban development with innovation development.
Facilitate internationalization.
Create conditions for individuals to shape their future and contribute to an attractive environment.
Previous conversations
Lund Innovation District with the vision “Global impact within walking distance”
The proximity makes Lund's innovation district unique
How can we present the innovation district's capabilities?
Human Rights Design as a Foundation for Innovation
Great interest in creating inspiring places
You can read the full report by Maria Gimenez Grau here.
How do we create exciting meeting places in the innovation district?
Great interest in the work with Lund Innovation District
Packaging, financing and critical mass key components of Lund Innovation District
Creative spaces in Lund provide unique opportunities
“We need to get better at packaging and making the innovation district visible”
What does it take to take Lund Innovation District to the next level?
What makes the talents choose Lund?
New policy changes the playing field in Lund Innovation District
More about Innovation Districts
Link to the page about Lund Innovation District
GIID analyzes how successful innovation districts are organized
How is work organised with innovation districts in Lund?
Lund in international cooperation for the development of innovation districts
Survey of Lund Innovation District
Lund Innovation District survey — 10 interesting results
An inclusive innovation environment is an advantage to develop for Lund Innovation District
Collaboration, meeting places and networks develop Lund Innovation District