The next HEInnovate webinar will take place on Thursday, the 1st February at 5pm CET and will discuss the role of HEIs in place-based transformative innovation. The webinar will benefit from contributions of five speakers, who will first provide a short background and then engage in a panel discussion with questions from the audience as well. The webinar, held as a Zoom meeting, will be opened by Rebecca Allinson, Managing Partner at Technopolis Group. Our speakers are:

• Karel Haegeman, who has been working as scientific officer at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre for over 15 years in the area of research and innovation, with particular interest in R&I governance and funding models and stakeholder engagement, transformative place-based innovation, the territorial impacts of higher education, transnational R&I cooperation, innovation in less favoured regions, and anticipatory intelligence. He is currently coordinating the smart specialisation platform at JRC. He holds degrees in Economics and Marketing, published widely on innovation, has been reviewer in several international peer-reviewed journals, and a speaker at high level events and conferences. Before joining the European Commission he worked in local economic development and innovation, market research and advertising. Karel will provide an introduction to place-based transformative innovation in Europe
• Ellen Hazelkorn is Joint Managing Partner, BH Associates education consultants. She is Professor Emeritus, Technological University Dublin (Ireland), and Joint Editor, Policy Reviews in Higher Education. She is a member of the CGHE Advisory Board and Research Management Committee (RMC), and Research Fellow, Centre for International Higher Education, Boston College. Ellen is, inter alia, a member of the Quality Board for Icelandic Higher Education, the EU Higher Education for Smart Specialisation (HESS) Advisory Group, and the Committee for Strategic Advice, EURASHE – the European Association of Institutions in Higher Education. She was a member of the Commission for the College of the Future (UK) and the Tertiary Education Future Initiative (Royal Society of Edinburgh & Young Academy of Scotland). Ellen will highlight the key issues to consider for higher education and place-based transformation
• Henning Kroll majored in economic geography at the University of Hanover's Institute of Economic and Cultural Geography. In 2005 he was awarded his doctorate on the subject of university spin-off activities in China. After continued employment at the university he joined the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI in Karlsruhe in 2006, becoming senior researcher in 2010. Since 2019 he is the coordinator of the research group Innovation Trends and Science Studies. Henning teaches as adjunct professor at the now Leibniz Universität Hannover. He has consulted in a personal capacity for the European Commission, the German Agency for International Cooperation, the World Bank and reported to OECD TIP. His research interests include innovation policy in Germany, Europe, and Asia; technological sovereignty and strategic autonomy; science industry collaboration, innovation indicators and impact studies. In his contribution, Henning will focus on the organisational challenges for HEIs in a context of place-based transformation
• Alessio Cavicchi (MSc, PhD), is Full Professor of Agribusiness, Rural Development and Branding at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment of the University of Pisa (Italy). He is currently the Rector’s Delegate for the Promotion of Entrepreneurial Culture and Innovation. He has been an external expert, evaluator, consultant, trainer, and invited speaker in the fields of Food, Rural and Regional Development, Innovation, Sustainable Tourism, Smart Specialisation Strategy and University-Business Collaboration for both public and private sectors: several DGs of the European Commission (RTD, JRC, EAC, Regio), the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, the Italian Ministry of University and Research and the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage. His work has been published in several international books and journals, and he has participated and coordinated several EU funded projects. Alessio will focus on the ways regional authorities engaging in multi-sector, multi-level and multi-funding partnerships, activities, and learning pathways
• John Edwards is Secretary General of EURASHE, the European Association of Applied Higher Education Institutions. In this role he acts as an interface between European policy makers and EURASHE members in the fields of higher education, employment, research, enterprise, and regional policy. John previously worked for the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre between 2011 and 2020, managing projects on the role of higher education and vocational excellence in Smart Specialisation. John holds degrees from the University of St Andrews, the College of Europe in Bruges, and Newcastle University, where he completed his PhD in economic geography. John will chair the discussion of the panel after their initial contributions

Participation in the webinar requires registration. Please click here to register.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

We look forward to welcoming you at the webinar!

The HEInnovate Team