Connecting Urban and Regional Innovation Ecosystems to Enhance Competitiveness

This paper explores why an increasing number of European regions and cities in close cooperation with quadruple helix partners, such as clusters, firms, universities, non-governmental organizations and member states combine place-based innovation strategies with cross-border networks of innovation. Such collaborations may result in a rich variety of organizational solutions and approaches, which allow actors and stakeholders to overcome different barriers and concerns of innovation. The chapter outlines a conceptual framework of how cooperation between urban and regional innovation eco-systems may strengthen regional place-based development strategies and improve regional innovation capabilities. Key analytical concepts are proximity, knowledge complexity, entrepreneurial discovery processes, and stakeholder analysis.