Enabling Regional Growth in Peripheral Non-University Regions: The Impact of a Quadruple Helix Intermediate Organisation

The concept of Smart Specialization (S3) of the European Union suggests that the heterogeneity of European regions should be the basis of innovation rather than the promotion of R&D intensive industries. This strategy entails that even peripheral regions are able to generate regionally based growth. The article discusses theoretical concepts such as Mode 3 Knowledge Production System, Quadruple Helix Innovation system and related variety, and with the aid of these concepts attempts at depicting the possibilities for peripheral non-university regions to engage in innovative development. The article argues that certain alterations in the fourth helix have the potential of opening the actors in the triple helix towards each other for the purpose of innovation development. The case study of the technology center KETEK situated in the Kokkola– Jakobstad region in Finland illustrates the manner in which an increasingly dynamic innovation environment is enabled in a peripheral region through a differentiation of both the knowledge and the political systems, and where the setting up of the intermediate organisation has been central to development. The concept of Smart Specialization (S3) of the European Union suggests that the heterogeneity of European regions should be the basis of innovation rather than the promotion of R&D intensive industries. This strategy entails that even peripheral regions are able to generate regionally based growth. The article discusses theoretical concepts such as Mode 3 Knowledge Production System, Quadruple Helix Innovation system and related variety, and with the aid of these concepts attempts at depicting the possibilities for peripheral non-university regions to engage in innovative development. The article argues that certain alterations in the fourth helix have the potential of opening the actors in the triple helix towards each other for the purpose of innovation development. The case study of the technology center KETEK situated in the Kokkola– Jakobstad region in Finland illustrates the manner in which an increasingly dynamic innovation environment is enabled in a peripheral region through a differentiation of both the knowledge and the political systems, and where the setting up of the intermediate organisation has been central to development.