Institutional innovation in university-based experimental spaces : the case of Oulu Game Lab

Abstract

<div lang="en" class="abs"><p class="abs_header">Abstract</p><p>This article explores preconditions and developmental dynamics of institutional innovation in higher education organizations as an outcome of a collaborative educational initiative — a university-based experimental space. Such collaborative learning configurations are often designed to stimulate local economic development after a downturn in regional industrial landscapes. The experimental space studied here had a twofold mission: providing re-skilling and re-education opportunities for unemployed ICT professionals and equipping them with business and employment bonds with regional game industry companies. To imbue a static outcome of institutional innovation with dynamic features, and to further develop the concept of Triple Helix spaces, we incorporated three sequential forms of institutional work in our analysis: boundary work, distancing work, and anchoring work.</p></div>