Keynote Speakers

Lars Coenen

Western Norway University of Applied Sciences & University of Bergen

Lars Coenen is an interdisciplinary scholar cross-cutting the fields of innovation studies, economic geography and sustainability transitions. He is affiliated with HVL Business School, section for Innovation Studies at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and the Centre for Climate and Energy Transformation at the University of Bergen, Norway. His research interests converge around the drivers, consequences, dilemmas and policy implications of uneven spatial patterns of innovation and sustainability transitions. Previously, Lars was full professor at CIRCLE, the Centre for Innovation Research at Lund University, Sweden. From 2017-2020 he has been the inaugural ‘City of Melbourne Chair of Resilient Cities’, at the University of Melbourne, Australia. His work has been published in leading journals of innovation studies, economic geography and sustainability transition studies. He is Associate Editor for Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, Progress in Economic Geography and Economic Geography. Seeking to work on the interface of science, policy and practice Lars has regularly collaborated with DG Regio, OECD and various national innovation policy organizations such as VINNOVA, Sweden. His current research projects engage with a variety of topics such as mission-oriented innovation policy, circular cities and regions, urban innovation districts and regional reskilling and upskilling in the twin transition.
  • 28/01/2026
  • 9:15 am

Innovation Labs and Districts: Place-Based Experimentation for Challenge-Driven Innovation 

The turn toward mission-oriented innovation marks a profound shift in how societies seek to address environmental and social challenges. Across cities and regions, experimentation, through innovation labs, districts, and testbeds, has become a central policy tool, promising transformative change through place-based action. Yet as experimentation proliferates, so too do unresolved questions about its limits and unintended consequences. This keynote argues that the contemporary enthusiasm for experimentation risks outpacing our understanding of how such initiatives scale, whom they empower, and how they intersect with rising anti-establishment discontent. Drawing on empirical research from Australia, Sweden, and Norway, I examine how innovation labs and districts are organized and governed as platforms for challenge-driven innovation—and where they fall short of their democratic and transformative aspirations. By moving beyond the heroic narrative that small-scale, localized experiments can simply be “scaled up” to deliver systemic change, the presentation offers a more grounded account of experimentation shaped by institutional set-ups, social networks and actor capabilities. I conclude by outlining key lessons for mission-oriented innovation policy and place-based experimentation that is both transformative and democratically legitimate.