Innovation Evolution and Governance in Helical Frameworks
Entrepreneurial University, Academic Firm and Knowledge Democracies
This talk traces how innovation has evolved from linear models toward non-linear, networked and co-evolutionary ecosystems. Quadruple and Quintuple Helix frameworks extend innovation toward society, democracy and the environment, while Mode 3, Third Mission and Third Space translate this complexity into new institutional forms. Innovation thus becomes less a problem of producing novelty than a problem of governing complexity, and sustainable development further links innovation governance with democratic quality and long-term societal outcomes.
Against this background, the talk examines how the Entrepreneurial University and the Academic Firm increasingly co-evolve within interconnected knowledge ecosystems, with Epistemic Governance acting as a synthesis that connects diverse modes of knowledge and innovation. This points toward Knowledge Democracies, in which innovation, democracy and sustainability become mutually constitutive. The provocative implication is that universities and democracies alike may increasingly be judged by their capacity to govern difference without destroying it.
| Host | Professor Yuzhuo Cai
Professor, The Education University of Hong Kong Tampere University, Finland
Yuzhuo Cai is Professor in the Department of Education Policy and Leadership and Co Director of the Global Research Institute for Finnish Education at The Education University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on higher education policy and governance, universities’ societal engagement, the Triple Helix model of innovation, and innovation ecosystems. He is Co Editor in Chief of Triple Helix and Co Editor of the Journal of Studies in International Education, and has been listed in Stanford University’s Top 2% Scientist Rankings in education since 2022. He served as Principal Investigator of the Horizon Europe project NEXT UP (2025–2028), which examines youth education–employment transitions in post COVID 19 Europe and was awarded a €2.9 million grant.
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| Speaker | Dr David F. J. Campbell
Associate Professor, University of Vienna Senior Scientist, University for Continuing Education Krems
David F. J. Campbell is Associate Professor for Comparative Political Science at the University of Vienna, and Senior Scientist and Founding Head of the Center for Higher Education Governance and Transformation at the Department for Higher Education Research, University for Continuing Education Krems. He also serves as Publication Strategist and Quality Researcher at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Together with Elias G. Carayannis, he co-created the concept and theory of Quadruple and Quintuple Helix innovation systems and the related notions of Mode 3 knowledge production and the Academic Firm. His books include Self-Different Fractals and Innovation: Academic Firm and the Entrepreneurial University in Epistemic Governance (Taylor & Francis, 2026), Global Quality of Democracy as Innovation Enabler (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), Smart Quintuple Helix Innovation Systems (Springer, 2019) and Epistemic Governance in Higher Education (Springer, 2013). He is Senior Associate Editor of the Journal of the Knowledge Economy and the Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Springer book series Arts, Research, Innovation, and Society. | |
| Date and Time | September 14th 2026 2 PM CET
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| Zoom | To be provided | |
| Regitration | https://fia-edu-br.zoom.us/meeting/register/DoS3ERdkRmunnavVinDBzQ#/ |
