Relating inclusiveness and innovativeness in inclusive innovation

Abstract

The increasing interest in innovative solutions to societal challenges in policy and research has opened up the innovation area for a wider range of participants and beneficiaries than previously acknowledged, which in this article is studied in terms of inclusive innovation. In order to strengthen the conceptual connection between the dawning field of inclusive innovation studies and more established fields within innovation studies, the study scrutinises how innovativeness relates to inclusiveness and vice versa in the light of previous knowledge. The conceptual outline is applied in a comparative case study of two regional innovation processes in Sweden, that share the ambition to tackle societal challenges by cross-boundary interaction, guided by values of equality and sustainability, at the same time as differing in scope and beneficiaries, due to their industrial and societal orientations. The combined theoretical and practical insights help delineate six distinct links between innovativeness and inclusiveness in inclusive innovation.