Abstract
Achieving a sustainable development is a very difficult task, for its relation with the concept of “wicked problem”. Mediterranean food systems, in particular, are under strong pressure due to climate change, unsustainable agricultural practices, changes in dietary habits and a huge coastal urbanisation. To deal with such crisis, technological innovation is crucial. Addressing sustainability challenges means for Universities to be engaged in place-based, multi-stakeholder partnerships to solve real-world issues. A major policy approach that the EU implemented to boost sustainable development through Multi-stakeholders Partnerships is the Smart Specialization Strategy. The core idea of such strategy is that a limited number of promising priorities has to be selected to stimulate regional growth, job creation and collaboration among research and knowledge institutions, businesses, and the investors.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
The search for these keywords “Our Common Future” on scholasr.google.com retrieves 77.900 results (beginning of January 2017)
- 2.
The Agenda for Change, adopted in 2011, is the basis for the EU’s development policy. The primary objective of the Agenda for Change is to significantly increase the impact and effectiveness of EU development policy and, to this end, a series of key changes in the way assistance is delivered have been introduced. These key orientations have changed EU development policy significantly and have informed the programming process for the current 2014–2020 period (https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/policies/european-development-policy/agenda-change_en)
- 3.
Launched in March 2016, the HESS project focuses on how higher education and HEIs can contribute to the successful implementation of S3. It has two broad aims: (a) To help build innovation capabilities by strengthening the role of HEIs in regional partnerships, (b) To promote the integration of higher education with research, innovation and regional development in S3 policy mixes, particularly in the use of European Structural and Investment Funds (http://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/hess)
- 4.
Algeria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey (http://ec.europa.eu/research/environment/index.cfm?pg=prima)
References
Amaral, M., Ferreira, A., & Teodoro, P. (2011). Building an entrepreneurial university in Brazil: The role and potential of university-industry linkages in promoting regional economic development. Industry and Higher Education, 25(5), 383–395.
Batie, S. S. (2008). Wicked problems and applied economics. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 90(5), 1176–1191.
Cavicchi, A., & Stancova, K. C. (2016). Food and gastronomy as elements of regional innovation strategies. Sevilla: Institute for Prospective and Technological Studies, Joint Research Centre. [Links].
Cavicchi, A., Rinaldi, C., & Corsi, M. (2013). Higher education institutions as managers of wicked problems: Place branding and rural development in Marche Region, Italy. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 16(A), 51–68.
Dannreuther, R. (2006). Developing the alternative to enlargement: The European Neighborhood Policy. European Foreign Affairs Review, 11, 183.
Dentoni, D., & Bitzer, V. (2015). The role (s) of universities in dealing with global wicked problems through multi-stakeholder initiatives. Journal of Cleaner Production, 106, 68–78.
Dentoni, D., Bitzer, V., & Schouten, G. (2018). Harnessing wicked problems in multi-stakeholder partnerships. Journal of Business Ethics, 150, 333–356.
European Commission. (2010). Europe 2020. A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. COM (2010) 2020.
Ferraro, F., Etzion, D., & Gehman, J. (2015). Tackling grand challenges pragmatically: Robust action revisited. Organization Studies, 36(3), 363–390.
Foray, D., Goddard, J., Goenaga Beldarrain, X., Landabaso, M., McCann, P., Morgan, K., et al. (2012). Guide to research and innovation strategies for smart specialisation (RIS 3). Smart Specialisation Platform. Seville: IPTS.
Goddard, J., Kempton, L., Vallance, P. (2012). The civic university: Connecting the global and the local. In Capello, R., Olechnicka, A., & Gorzelak, G. (Eds.). Universities, Cities and Regions. Routledge (pp. 43–63). https://www.routledge.com/Universities-Cities-and-Regions-Loci-for-Knowledge-and-Innovation-Creation/Capello-Olechnicka-Gorzelak/p/book/9780415631082
Kempton, L. (2015). Delivering smart specialization in peripheral regions: The role of universities. Regional Studies, 2(1), 489–496.
Kempton, L., Goddard, J., Edwards, J., Hegyi, F. B., & Elena-Pérez, S. (2013). Universities and smart specialisation. S3 Policy Brief Series, p. 3.
Kreuter, M. W., De Rosa, C., Howze, E. H., & Baldwin, G. T. (2004). Understanding wicked problems: A key to advancing environmental health promotion. Health Education & Behavior, 31(4), 441–454.
Mazzucato, M. (2018). Mission-oriented innovation policies: Challenges and opportunities. Industrial and Corporate Change, 27(5), 803–815.
Pryshlakivsky, J., & Searcy, C. (2013). Sustainable development as a wicked problem. In Managing and engineering in complex situations (pp. 109–128). Dordrecht: Springer.
Radosevic, S., & Ciampi Stancova, K. (2015). Internationalising smart specialisation: Assessment and issues in the case of EU new member states. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 9, 263–293.
Rakhmatullin, R., Stanionyte, L., & Mariussen, Å. (2016). Transnational cooperation and value chains. In C. Gianelle, D. Kyriakou, C. Cohen, & M. Przeor (Eds.), Implementing smart specialisation: A handbook (Chap. IV, pp. 78–97). Brussels: European Commission.
Réquier-Desjardins, M., & Navarro, D. K. (2016). Chapitre 8-L’agenda 2030 pour le développement durable en Méditerranée. In Mediterra 2016: Zéro gaspillage en Méditerranée (pp. 181–196). Paris: Presses de Sciences Po (PFNSP).
Rinaldi, C., Cavicchi, A., Spigarelli, F., Lacchè, L., & Rubens, A. (2018). Universities and smart specialisation strategy: From third mission to sustainable development co-creation. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 19(1), 67–84.
Stančová, K. C., & Cavicchi, A. (2018). Smart specialisation and the agri-food system: A European perspective. New York: Springer.
Trencher, G., Yarime, M., McCormick, K. B., Doll, C. N., & Kraines, S. B. (2013). Beyond the third mission: Exploring the emerging university function of co-creation for sustainability. Science and Public Policy, 41(2), 151–179.
Trencher, G., Bai, X., Evans, J., McCormick, K., & Yarime, M. (2014). University partnerships for co-designing and co-producing urban sustainability. Global Environmental Change, 28, 153–165.
UNEP/MAP. (2016). Mediterranean strategy for sustainable development 2016-2025. Valbonne: Plan Bleu, Regional Activity Centre.
Van Winden, W., & Carvalho, L. (2015). Synergy management at knowledge locations. In Making 21st century knowledge complexes: Technopoles of the world revisited (pp. 62–81). Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Riccaboni, A., Cavicchi, A. (2019). Innovation for Sustainable Food Systems: Drivers and Challenges. In: Valentini, R., Sievenpiper, J., Antonelli, M., Dembska, K. (eds) Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals Through Sustainable Food Systems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23969-5_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23969-5_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-23968-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-23969-5
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)