Collective System Building
Entrepreneurs who want to commercialize an innovative sustainability technology, can actively build-up a supportive business-ecosystem (or innovation system) around their innovative technology. This enhances the chances of successful implementation of their innovation in society. Collective system building takes place in networks. To find out how these network coordinate and manage their system-building activities, I conducted a case-study in the Dutch Smart Grids field. 18 key actors of the 6 most important networks in this sector were interviewed. I will present you my preliminary results, hoping to receive constructive feedback from you.
Ciudad Politécnica de la Innovación
Edificio 8E, Acceso J, Planta 5ª (Sala común. Cubo Rojo)
Universidad Politécnica de Valencia | Camino de Vera s/n
Julia Planko works as researcher and lecturer at HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht.
As lecturer in the ‘International Business Management Studies’ program, she teaches the following subjects: Business Ethics, Sustainable Innovative Marketing, Economics and Marketing. Furthermore, she is the HU responsible for the innovative collaborative minor ‘Circular Economy’. This minor had been designed based on advice from the Ellen McArthur foundation. Students of this minor consult companies how to make the transition towards the Circular Economy business models, after acquiring theoretical knowledge on the Circular Economy concept.
As researcher, Julia is part of the HU research group ‘Cooperative Entrepreneurship’. Her research is focused on strategic collaboration of companies which implement sustainability innovations. The implementation of innovative sustainability technologies often requires far reaching changes of the macro environment in which the innovating firms operate. Firms who want to commercialize an innovative technology can collaborate in networks or industry clusters to build up a favorable environment for their technology. This increases the chances of successful diffusion and adoption of the technology in society. Julia researches on how firms can collaborate to strategically build up this supportive external environment.
She conducts this research as PhD Candidate at Utrecht University, where she is part of the Innovation Studies group at the Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development. She is supervised by Prof. Marko Hekkert and Prof. Jacqueline Cramer, director of the Utrecht Sustainability Institute.
Furthermore, Julia is passionate about the integration of Sustainable Development and Circular Economy principles into Business Management education. She believes that businesses can and should be the drivers of sustainable development. Therefore, the education of business students as future business leaders plays a crucial role for sustainable development. To inspire students beyond the classroom to strive for sustainable development, she initiated the ‘HU Sustainability Club’, an association for students interested in sustainability.