Collaboration for Green Impact

In this session, you will explore what it takes to create impact in green innovation. The focus is on the role of inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration and the interaction between technological and social innovation.

David Budtz Pedersen (Professor of Science Communication and Impact Studies, Aalborg University) will open with his keynote:

Society forward: Towards Mission Driven Universities for Sustainable Impact 
Research-performing organizations are increasingly expected not only to generate excellent research but to help societies navigate complex and interconnected challenges. Mission-driven universities connect research, education, innovation and partnerships around shared societal goals. This requires moving beyond traditional measures of excellence towards a broader understanding of impact, responsibility and long-term value creation. This talk explores how universities and funders can organize for missions without sacrificing academic rigor, curiosity and interdisciplinary diversity. And it asks what it would take to make societal impact a core institutional capability rather than an add-on.

This will be followed by a panel discussion with Marije Wassenaar (Senior Innovation & Partnership Manager, Erasmus University Rotterdam) and Dörte Peters (Co-Managing Director, Sustainability Innovation Campus Freiburg). Together, they will discuss what it takes to move from ideas to impact, sharing lessons learned from the innovation ecosystems of Aalborg, Rotterdam, and Freiburg.