Establishing the regional sustainable developmental role of universities—from the multilevel-perspective (Mlp) and beyond

This article establishes the multilevel perspective (MLP) as one of the main research approaches in transition research to study complex systemic change processes in socio-technical systems at different structural levels. The application of the MLP to the higher education system, especially to conceptualize the transition of universities towards a sustainable (regional) developmental role, is still in its infancy. Through using a descriptive narrative analysis of seminal articles, the results of the four-years cooperation within an expert working group, and own empirical findings, the present paper investigates the suitability of the MLP to study the transition of universities and university systems towards a sustainable developmental role in the regional context. Based on these investiga-tions, three further perspectives (which must be considered for establishing a more comprehensive understanding of the universities’ sustainable developmental role) are identified and conceptualized: (a) The target dimension of sustainable regional development, (b) the role of agency, and (c) the introduction of space and place to multiscalar regional transitions. Based on these perspectives, a future research agenda beyond the MLP is developed. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Governance-Formen des regionalen Wissenstransfers

Die wissensbasierte und -intensive Ökonomie hat eine neue Positionierung von Hochschulen im "knowledge triangle" bewirkt, wobei das regionale Umfeld als Aktionsraum an Bedeutung gewonnen hat. Ausgehend von einem allgemeinen Governance-Verständnis wird die regionale Governance von Wissensprozessen behandelt, in Bezug zu Ansätzen der "organisationalen Felder" gesetzt, auf Basis des Ansatzes regionaler Wissensbasen werden Regionstypen differenziert, Modelle regionsbezogener Hochschulgovernance diskutiert und die den Regionstypen zugeordneten Governance-Ansätze mit den Hochschulgovernance-Formen konfrontiert. Ergebnis: Da regionale Politik und Verwaltung gegenüber den Hochschulen kaum über Möglichkeiten direkter Einflussnahme verfügen, muss ein produktives Kooperationsverhältnis konsensual erfolgen. Eine Öffnung der Hochschulen setzt voraus, Transdisziplinarität als Denkweise und Forschungszugang zu etablieren. Netzwerke verschiedenster Art gelten hier als erfolgsträchtiger Weg.The knowledge-based and knowledge-intensive economy has brought about a new positioning of universities in the "knowledge triangle", whereby the regional environment has become more important as an area of action. Drawing on a general understanding of governance, the regional governance of knowledge processes is considered in relation to "organisational fields". Based on notions of regional knowledge bases, region types are differentiated, models of regional higher education governance are discussed, and the governance approaches assigned to the regional types compared with the forms of higher education governance. Findings: since regional politics and the administration have very limited ways of directly influencing universities, a productive relationship of cooperation must be consensual. Opening up the universities presupposes the establishment of transdisciplinarity as a way of thinking and an understanding of research. A wide variety of networks are regarded as promising paths to success here

Transformationsprozesse im Hochschulsystem in Richtung nachhaltige Regionalentwicklung ("Empirische Illustrationen")

Der Beitrag beleuchtet Transformationsprozesse in Richtung nachhaltige Regionalentwicklung an ausgewählten Hochschulen in Deutschland und Österreich. Mittels vier Fallstudien (Universität Augsburg, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Johannes Kepler Universität Linz und Hochschule Darmstadt) wird illustriert, welche organisatorisch-institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen die Hochschulen geprägt haben, wer sich mit welcher Motivation engagiert hat und worin die Beiträge der Hochschule für eine nachhaltige Regionalentwicklung bestehen. Während die Hochschule Darmstadt explizit als "change agent" auftritt, sind die Transformationsprozesse an den übrigen Hochschulen gebunden an "windows of opportunity", das hohe Engagement einzelner Hochschulangehöriger sowie die Bereitschaft und kognitive Basis für das Thema Nachhaltigkeit in der Region. Der regionale Transitionspfad lässt sich daher als fallspezifisches und einmaliges Wechselspiel der Hochschule mit dem zivilgesellschaftlich und politisch engagierten Umfeld verstehen.This chapter focuses on the transformation processes towards sustainable development of selected Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Germany and Austria. By means of four case studies (University Augsburg, University of Freiburg, Johannes Kepler University Linz and the University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt) it is illustrated which organizational-institutional framework conditions shape HEIs, what the different motivations are as well as what kind of contributions HEIs can make for sustainable regional development. The University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt is the only one, which appears as "change agent". In the other investigated HEIs the transformation processes are dependent on "windows of opportunity", the high engagement of individual employees as well as the readiness of the regional environment for sustainability issues. It is concluded that the regional transition path is case-specific and states a unique interplay of the HEIs and the societal and politically engaged environment

Hochschulen als Agenten des Wandels für eine nachhaltige Regionalentwicklung? Hochschulen und nachhaltige Regionalentwicklung aus der Transition-Perspektive

In diesem Beitrag werden Hochschulen als Agenten des Wandels für eine nachhaltige Regionalentwicklung konzeptionell aus Perspektive der Transition-Forschung und der Multi-Level-Perspektive gefasst. Der Beitrag setzt sich zunächst mit der Zieldimension der nachhaltigen Regionalentwicklung in Bezug auf Hochschulen und ihre Teilsysteme auseinander. Danach wird die Frage behandelt, was die Transition-Forschung zum Verständnis von Wandlungsprozessen in Hochschulen und Hochschulsystemen beitragen kann. Schließlich werden hochschulbezogene Herausforderungen bei der Unterstützung von nachhaltigen regionalen Entwicklungsprozessen mit Fokus auf der Third Mission diskutiert. Der Beitrag kommt zum Fazit, dass die Nachhaltigkeitstransformation in Wechselwirkung mit dem jeweils spezifischen regionalen Kontext der Hochschule gestaltet werden sollte. Regionale Strategien zur Einbindung von Hochschulen sollten diese daher sowohl als Agenten des Wandels als auch als Objekt der Transformation betrachten.In this article, universities are conceptualized as agents of change for sustainable regional development from the perspective of transition research and the multi-level perspective. The contribution first deals with the target dimension of sustainable regional development in relation to universities and their subsystems. It then addresses the question of what transition research can contribute to understanding change processes in universities and higher education systems. Finally, university-related challenges in supporting sustainable regional development processes with a focus on the Third Mission will be discussed. The paper concludes that sustainability transformation should be designed in interaction with the specific regional context of the university. Regional strategies for integrating higher education institutions should therefore regard them both as agents of change and as objects of transformation

Hochschulen als Agenten des Wandels für eine nachhaltige Regionalentwicklung? Hochschulen und nachhaltige Regionalentwicklung aus der Transition-Perspektive

In diesem Beitrag werden Hochschulen als Agenten des Wandels für eine nachhaltige Regionalentwicklung konzeptionell aus Perspektive der Transition-Forschung und der Multi-Level-Perspektive gefasst. Der Beitrag setzt sich zunächst mit der Zieldimension der nachhaltigen Regionalentwicklung in Bezug auf Hochschulen und ihre Teilsysteme auseinander. Danach wird die Frage behandelt, was die Transition-Forschung zum Verständnis von Wandlungsprozessen in Hochschulen und Hochschulsystemen beitragen kann. Schließlich werden hochschulbezogene Herausforderungen bei der Unterstützung von nachhaltigen regionalen Entwicklungsprozessen mit Fokus auf der Third Mission diskutiert. Der Beitrag kommt zum Fazit, dass die Nachhaltigkeitstransformation in Wechselwirkung mit dem jeweils spezifischen regionalen Kontext der Hochschule gestaltet werden sollte. Regionale Strategien zur Einbindung von Hochschulen sollten diese daher sowohl als Agenten des Wandels als auch als Objekt der Transformation betrachten.In this article, universities are conceptualized as agents of change for sustainable regional development from the perspective of transition research and the multi-level perspective. The contribution first deals with the target dimension of sustainable regional development in relation to universities and their subsystems. It then addresses the question of what transition research can contribute to understanding change processes in universities and higher education systems. Finally, university-related challenges in supporting sustainable regional development processes with a focus on the Third Mission will be discussed. The paper concludes that sustainability transformation should be designed in interaction with the specific regional context of the university. Regional strategies for integrating higher education institutions should therefore regard them both as agents of change and as objects of transformation

Selbstermächtigung und Selbstorganisation als Schlüssel für nachhaltige Lern- und Transformationsprozesse in der Region Römerland Carnuntum

The region Römerland Carnuntum (Lower Austria) is located between the metropolitan areas of Vienna andBratislava and benefits from dynamic demographic and economic development. However, these processes ofgrowth and rapid change are accompanied by specific challenges that are controversial and much-discussed within the region. The question comes up, how a high level of quality of life can be secured in the future and how a transformation towards sustainability can be initiated and established. Since traditional instruments of spatial planning, structural policy, and regional development increasingly show deficits in the face of such complex, multidimensional challenges, the region has set itself the goal of breaking new ground in cooperation, self-organisation, and self-empowerment, within the framework of which the actors in the region become self-organized, collaborative and long-term carriers of sustainable learning and transformation processes in the region. This article describes the structure of the project and highlights, in particular,challenges related to the committee 'Zukunftsrat Römerland Carnuntum', as a basis for self-empowerment, self-organisation and transformative learning as well as to the start-up phase of the transdisciplinary collaboration.First insights after almost one year of project runtime show, that therepresentative composition of the Zukunftsrat, and especially the random selection of citizens proved to be difficult. Nevertheless, the projekt benefits from outstanding commitment and a high willingness to participate on the part of the regional population

What influences universities’ regional engagement? A multi-stakeholder perspective applying a Q-methodological approach

This paper argues that rather than being a process that can be objectively planned or predicted, regional engagement on the part of universities is a learning activity featuring characteristics of a subjective deliberation process. This subjective deliberation process is simultaneously influenced by factors operating at the intra-organizational and regional level, as well as the field in which the university is located. A model that takes this multilevel environment into account is applied to a single case study region: Kaiserslautern (Germany). A Q-methodological approach is employed to reveal and analyze the aforementioned subjective perspectives regarding drivers of universities’ regional engagement. Two key viewpoints emerge from this analysis: one perspective reflects a highly institutionalized reading of regional engagement, and can be traced to the strong policy push to create universities as drivers of regional development in the Palatinate. The second perspective recognizes greater diversity among the various engagement activities pursued by universities beyond this narrow institutional engagement, driven through individual interaction with regional partners. These insights question the widespread pipeline-dominated perspective on universities’ regional engagement and argue for a more systemic understanding of the role of higher education institutions within their region

Developing Boundary-Spanning Capacity for Regional Sustainability Transitions—A Comparative Case Study of the Universities of Augsburg (Germany) and Linz (Austria)

The potential of universities to become ‘change agents’ for sustainability has increasingly been highlighted in the literature. Some largely open questions are how universities get involved in regional sustainability transitions and how that affects their role in these processes. This paper argues that universities need to develop a boundary-spanning capacity, which enables them to transcend disciplinary as well as sectoral boundaries in order to adopt a developmental role in regional sustainability transitions. It is investigated how universities develop this capacity within a particular regional context, using the method of a transition topology. Comparing how the relationships of universities with their surrounding regions developed in Augsburg (Germany) and Linz (Austria), the paper shows why these processes are place-specific. A university’s boundary-spanning capacity develops over time and differs according to the actors involved. The primarily bottom-up driven process in Augsburg was thematically quite broad and involved diverse actors. In Linz, the top-down initiated process was fragmented and more narrowly focused. Individual value-driven actors that made use of their personal networks played an important role in both regions

Introduction: The Role of Universities in Regional Transitions towards Sustainability

The transition of sociotechnical systems towards sustainability has been studied comprehensively based on the multilevel perspective [...

Towards Implementing Transdisciplinarity in Post-Soviet Academic Systems: An Investigation of the Societal Role of Universities in Armenia

The concept of transdisciplinarity (TD) has been introduced to find solutions for complex sustainability challenges via knowledge co-production by scientists and societal actors. The understanding of the societal role of universities is a critical factor when implementing transdisciplinarity in the academic systems of Post-Soviet countries, given their historic development. Using Armenia as a case, we adopted a qualitative research approach by analyzing legal documents, conducting semi-structured expert interviews and focus group discussions with a range of stakeholders. We identified discrepancies of expectations between stakeholders as challenges for a joint understanding of the societal role of universities, as well as differently perceived competences and motivations, which can lead to trust deficits. The results are discussed according to four main features of transdisciplinarity: focusing on real-life problems, transcending and integrating disciplinary paradigms, ensuring participatory research and teaching, and searching for unity of knowledge beyond disciplines. Findings show that no formal obstacles exist for implementing transdisciplinarity in two Armenian universities and that the societal understanding of the role of universities could be expanded. Yet, while society is in principle ready for collaboration, the initiative is expected to come from academia. A particular responsibility will lie with teachers from the younger generation to become key-agents for change