Browse the Latest Blog

Most of the posts will examine innovation and its delivery systems, the role of regions as sites of change, and the function of intermediary institutions as platforms for innovation. Focusing on Canada while highlighting examples from around the world. I will challenge the often-negative assessments of innovation policy delivery in the country based on traditional scorecards, and offer instead a more nuanced and dynamic picture of how intermediaries engage within their respective ecosystem and work with a range of stakeholders, such as new and growing businesses, post-secondary institutions, regional and local economic development offices, and others.  The picture will not always be rosy. We will encounter the triumphs and challenges of navigating the shifting landscape of innovation in the face of rapid technological advancements and global market changes. Most of the examples will explore the intersections between agriculture, agrifood, and advanced manufacturing in select local and regional municipalities as they adapt their economies to seismic shifts in technology, markets, and the environment.

In summary, the major takeaways from the blog posts will consist of three core themes: first, spotlighting intermediary institutions as conduits of innovation and economic reinvention at the strategic interface between the state, markets, and society.  Second, understanding regions as complex and dynamic innovation ecosystems consisting of constellations of actors from the public, private and non-profit sectors attempting to pursue joint ventures of economic transformation in the face of breakneck changes in technology, markets and demographics. Third, the socioeconomic destinies of regions across the country are shaped by the forces of Canadian federalism, and dynamic regions learn how to navigate the shifting contours of multilevel governance to their advantage.