This report is intended as a policy overview that sheds light on the implementation and vertical co-ordination of mission-oriented innovation policies (MOIPs) in the Nordic context, with a particular focus on Sweden, Finland and Denmark. The study was carried out on behalf of the Nordic Thematic Group for Green, Innovative and Resilient Regions (2021–2024).
In Chapter I, Sigrid Jessen and Alberto Giacometti, researchers at Nordregio, introduce mission-oriented approaches and the emerging rationale for applying them in innovation policy. The subsequent chapters take a deep dive into the cases of Sweden, Finland and Denmark, focusing on how MOIPs are being implemented within the context of their distinct policy traditions and unique characteristics of their innovation systems. In Chapter II, Markus Grillitsch, Director of CIRCLE and Professor at Lund University, provides an overview of innovation policy developments in Sweden, including its pioneering attempts to implement mission-oriented research and innovation policies. In Chapter III, Professor Markku Sotarauta of Tampere University examines the evolution of Finnish innovation policy, outlining conceptual shifts and the more implicit ways in which the mission-oriented approach has added a new layer to the country’s policy repertoire. In Chapter IV, Professor Teis Hansen of the University of Copenhagen describes how MOIPs represent a new phenomenon in Danish innovation policy. The report concludes with a discussion and cross-country comparison of the extent to which MOIPs have penetrated the countries’ existing policy frameworks, governance and organisational approaches, as well as the implications in terms of further research and empirical studies aimed at evaluating the MOIPs’ effects and legitimacy.