Turning challenges into opportunities? Implementing transformative innovation policies in Nordic industrial regions

It remains unclear how transformative innovation policies can be implemented across various regional contexts. Through policy review, interviews and focus group interviews with key actors, this paper investigates industrial regions’ design and implementation of transformative innovation policies in three Nordic countries. We find that the characteristics of the regional innovation system, unique to industrial regions, along with their national context, impact the governance tasks required for designing and implementing transformative innovation policy in the three regions. The ambition to turn global challenges into regional opportunities is a core incentive for mobilising stakeholders, resolving conflicts, and creating legitimacy.