The aim of the project is to understand if innovation is contingent to the competitive or collaborative setting in bio-based sectors, including nature-based tourism, in the context of border regions. The project focuses on understanding, and comparing, to which degree do institutions, rules and norms, constrain and/or drive innovation in different cross-border areas.
The seed funding will support employing an early stage researcher to conduct a systematic review and a pre-scoping study at the Finnish-Russian border region, which is an important gateway between EU and non-EU trade of bio-based products, as well as for conservation efforts, including the European Green Belt initiative. The funding will also support the build-up of an inter-disciplinary consortium for a larger international funding call with HELSUS and other relevant partners.
The seed funding stage will be jointly lead by two post-docs and one doctoral student from the Department of Forest Sciences. Dr. Jaana Korhonen will be responsible for overall coordination and developing research part connected to private actors. Dr. Natalya Yakusheva will focus on developing a framework for policy analysis, and is in charge of coordinating the research activities on the Russian side. MSc Arttu Malkamäki will focus on network approach bridging innovation and policy analysis in border regions.
The funding was granted to applications especially aimed at advancing the development of the newly established Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS).