Swedish Platform for System Innovation Research in Interaction
2026 Symposium
Transformative innovation policy – adapting to new challenges
On 8 October 2026, the third SIRI symposium will be held in at A House Hagastaden, Solnavägen 3H, Stockholm.
Preliminary programme
8:45–9:15 Arrival coffee
9:15–9:30 Introduction to the day
9:30–9:40 Opening words by Harald Rohracher (Chairman of the Board of SIRI)
9:40–10:00 Keynote speech by Paula Kivimaa (Research Professor, Finnish Environment Institute SYKE)
10:00–10:30 Panel discussion – Transformative innovation policy in the face of new challenges
Moderator: Mart Laatsit (Associate senior lecturer, Lund University)
Panelists:
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Aivar Hiio (Head of Innovation, State Chancellery of Estonia)
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Paula Kivimaa (Research Professor, Finnish Environment Institute SYKE)
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Linda Bell (Member of the Management Group at Formas)
10:30–11:00 Coffee break
11:00–12:00 Policy dialogues in parallel sessions I
Session 1: Designing for transformation – what are the core elements of transformative practice?
Interactive workshop with session participants.
Workshop moderator: Jenny Engström (Team Leader Impact Innovation, VINNOVA)
Framing the discussion: Hans Hellsmark (Associate Professor, Chalmers University of Technology)
Session 2: Transformative innovation policy for defence and security
Moderator: TBA
Panelists:
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Maria-Theresa Norn (Associate Professor, Deputy Head of Department, Danish Technical University)
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Rickard Stridh (Director of Center for Capability Development and Innovation, Swedish Defence University)
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Inger Gustafsson (Innovation and International Collaboration, Vinnova)
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Robert Limmergård (Secreteray General, Swedish Security and Defence Industry Association, SOFF)
12:00–13:00 Lunch
13:00–14:15 Policy dialogues in parallel sessions II
Session 3: Evaluating transformative innovation policy
Moderators:
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Emily Wise (Senior Strategist, LU Collaboration and Affiliated Researcher, CIRCLE, Lund University)
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Magnus Johansson (Research leader, RISE)
Presenters:
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Michał Miedziński (Policy and Economic Analyst, European Commission, Joint Research Centre)
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Martina Arnell (Innovation Strategist, City of Stockholm)
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Harald Rohracher (Professor, Linköping University)
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Magnus Johansson (Research Leader, RISE)
Session 4: Sustainability and defence
Moderator: Wisdom Kanda (Senior Associate Professor, Linköping University)
Panelists:
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Paula Kivimaa (Research Professor, Finnish Environment Institute SYKE)
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Björn-Ola Linnér (Professor, Linköping University)
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TBA
14:15–14:45 Coffee break
14:45–15:45 Panel discussion moderated by Joanna Franzén (VINNOVA)
15:45–16:00 Concluding the day
16:00–17:30 Farewell drinks
About the speakers
Paula Kivimaa, PhD, is Research Professor in Climate and Society at the Finnish Environment Institute Syke, Associate at SPRU, University of Sussex, and Associate Editor of Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. She is an internationally renowned sustainability transitions scholar with over 20 years of research experience in innovation, public policy, climate change, energy and mobility. Kivimaa’s recent work focuses on how security and geopolitics intersect with innovation policy and energy transitions. She has held several national and international expert positions. Currently, Kivimaa is a member of the Finnish Climate Change Panel and co-chair of EASAC’s energy steering panel. Recently, she was a member of the Joint Research Centre’s Expert Group on Fair and Sustainable Economy and DG GROW Fellow 2025 for the European Commission. In 2024, Kivimaa co-authored the DG RTD-commissioned expert report “Addressing European research and innovation challenges for system transitions in energy and mobility.”
Linda Bell is a Head of Department and Member of the Management Group at Formas, the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development. Together with two heads of unit, she leads a team of more than 20 experts working with research funding, communication, analytics, and systematic reviews. Her department funds research and innovation, conducts evidence-based syntheses, performs analyses of the R&I system, and communicates results and insights. The department focuses on research and innovation in forestry, the bioeconomy, food systems, animal health and wellbeing, land use, and agriculture.
Aivar Hiio is the Head of the Innovation Unit at the Government Office of Estonia. In this role, he leads cross-ministerial initiatives, public sector innovation projects, and manages the national Public Sector Innovation Fund to build capacity for testing and implementing cutting-edge public solutions. With an extensive background in digital governance and public administration, Aivar previously served as a Strategic Advisor for the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, where he focused on educational personalization and innovation. He was also the founder of the Practus Digital Governance Center, through which he delivered specialized public service development and training programs both in Estonia and internationally.
Jenny Engström is a Senior Innovation Strategist at Vinnova, Sweden's Innovation Agency, where she leads the Impact Innovation Accelerator's capacity-building efforts for mission-oriented and systems innovation. Her work focuses on the governance, capabilities and learning processes needed to enable transformative innovation and system transformation. Drawing on extensive experience from public sector leadership and cross-sector innovation, she works across missions, systems innovation, foresight, innovation procurement and transformative innovation policy, with a particular interest in how organisations and systems can build transformation readiness in the face of complex societal challenges.
Rickard Stridh is a Colonel in the Swedish Air Force and Director of the Centre for Capability Development and Innovation at the Swedish Defence University. From 2016 to 2025, he served as Chief Scientist of the Swedish Armed Forces, after three years as Military Adviser at the Swedish Ministry of Defence. As Chief Scientist, he initiated civil and military innovation programs and R&D in AI, autonomy and other emerging technologies. Earlier, he held senior positions focusing on C4ISR, information infrastructure and capability development. Stridh holds an MSc in Electrical Engineering from Lund University and a PhD in Signal Processing from the Royal Institute of Technology. His work spans defence technology, innovation, systems science and military capability development. He has been a fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences since 2022.
Maria-Theresa Norn is Deputy Director and Associate Professor at DTU Entrepreneurship at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), and affiliated researcher at Aarhus University. Her research focuses on science-based entrepreneurship and innovation, including how universities can create societal value from public research investments. She studies technology transfer, deep tech commercialisation, and how knowledge moves from laboratories to markets. With experience from science and innovation policy, consultancy, and academia, she combines research with practical perspectives on innovation policy design. She advises public and private organisations on research and innovation strategies. Her work is especially relevant to transformative innovation, mission-oriented policies, and how universities and public research can accelerate deep tech solutions in areas such as defence and societal challenges.
Robert Limmergård is the Secretary General of the Swedish Security and Defence Industry Association (SOFF). In addition he also serves at the board of the AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD), the organisation that represents the aeronautics, space, defence, cyber security and security industries in Europe. Robert Limmergård holds a Master in Public Administration and a Master in International Trade and Economics from University of Gothenburg.
Inger Gustafsson works at Vinnova, Sweden's innovation agency, with a focus on defense innovation and transatlantic collaboration. She spent eight years as Head of Vinnova Silicon Valley and Visiting Scholar at Stanford University, building ties with the region's deep-tech ecosystem. She leads the Wallenberg Vinnova Fellowship program, fostering long-term collaboration between Swedish and Silicon Valley innovators. Her expertise spans driving innovation, building partnerships across industry, academia, and government, and developing international programs across thematic areas including sustainability, mobility, and emerging technologies.
Michał Miedziński is an expert in policy analysis, foresight, and evaluation, specialising in innovation and sustainable development. As a policy and economic analyst at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, he works on challenge-oriented innovation strategies and leads research on methodologies and metrics for evaluating transformative innovation policies. Previously, he worked at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources and led the Green Economy team at Technopolis Group. He also co-founded and coordinated the European Eco-Innovation Observatory. Michał holds a PhD in Planning from the University of Manchester and a Master’s in Regional Economic Planning from Warsaw University.
Martina Arnell is an innovation strategist and leader of STOLT (Stockholm Local Transitions) at the City of Stockholm’s Transport Department. With more than a decade of experience in innovation management, organisation and leadership in the healthcare sector, she now works to strengthen the capacity to innovate and navigate complex system change within the City of Stockholm. Through STOLT – the City’s platform for accelerating the transition towards more effective and emission-free transportation – Martina leads a multi-actor initiative exploring how experimentation, portfolio management and systemic learning can support system transformation. A particular focus of her work is how learning and valuable results from innovation initiatives can be translated into organisational learning, governance and changes in practice.
Björn-Ola Linnér is Professor of Environmental Change at Linköping University and Director of the Mistra Geopolitics research programme. His research examines the intersections between geopolitics, human security, climate change and sustainability transformations. He has extensive experience engaging with governments, international organisations, businesses and civil society, and is co-editor of the 2026 Handbook on the Geopolitics of Sustainability. His expertise provides an important perspective on the evolving relationship between defence, security and sustainability.
Harald Rohracher is Professor of Technology and Social Change at Linköping University and has a background in sociology, science & technology studies and innovation research. Earlier, he has been co-founder and director of the Inter-University Research Centre for Technology, Work and Culture (IFZ), Austria, and Joseph A. Schumpeter Fellow at Harvard University. In his research he is has a particular interest in the dynamics and governance of socio-technical transformations which he studies from different angles, such as transformative innovation policies, learning-oriented evaluation, urban low-carbon transitions or the role of users and civil society in shaping transformative change.
Wisdom Kanda is a Senior Associate Professor and Head of Unit at Linköping University, Sweden. His research focuses on innovation and entrepreneurship for sustainability transitions, with particular attention to intermediation, circular economy, and the societal embedding of innovation. He is also active in the sustainability transitions research community through editorial work at the Journal of Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions.
Emily Wise is a senior strategist and affiliated researcher at Lund University and an independent consultant in the field of innovation and territorial development policy. Her research focuses on strategy, governance and evaluation of clusters and other collaborative ecosystems, as well as evaluation strategies for transformative innovation policies. For more than 20 years, Emily has leveraged an interactive research approach to develop knowledge and provide expert support to ongoing collaborative initiatives or to innovation policy actors (currently including Vinnova, Viable Cities and system demonstrator initiatives in Lund and Stockholm), as well as mobilizing and participating in interactive knowledge-for-policy activities (e.g. EU and OECD expert groups, JRC-led research projects).
Magnus Johansson works as a senior researcher and research leader at the Unit for Foresight and Strategy at Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE). He holds a PhD in Education from Lund University. Before joining RISE, Magnus spent more than twenty years teaching and conducting research at the Department of Urban Studies at Malmö University, focusing on sustainable urban development. He also developed and led a master's program in management and organization of sustainable urban development in close collaboration with SLU Alnarp.
At RISE, Magnus has worked with innovation processes in the public sector, including as an action researcher for Umeå Municipality and Region Värmland, as well as with social sustainability in urban areas.
He currently works within the Impact Innovation program Water Wise Society, focusing on learning and evaluation of transformation processes. Magnus also collaborates closely with the City of Malmö on transformative urban processes in the Geographical Transition Lab Nyhamnen, funded by the Impact Innovation program Shift Sweden.
Hans Hellsmark, Associate Professor at Chalmers and coordinator of Chalmers Initiative for Innovation and Sustainability Transitions
2025 Symposium
Design and Implementation of Transformative Innovation Policy
On 8 October 2025, SIRI held its second symposium in Gothenburg, bringing together colleagues from research, policy, and practice to discuss how we can design and implement transformative innovation policy in meaningful and practical ways.
Insights and reflections
The symposium opened with a warm welcome from Joanna Franzén (Vinnova) and a thoughtful keynote by Mats Benner (Lund University), who reminded us how transformation requires both courage and humility.
The panel discussions that followed raised important questions about how to translate ideas of transformative innovation into policy practice — and how to measure change in ways that truly matter.
In the afternoon, we gathered in four parallel sessions:
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Building Transformative Capacity – moderated by Markus Grillitsch
How do we strengthen institutions, capabilities, and collaboration for long-term systemic change? -
Directionality & Evaluation – moderated by Magnus Johansson
How do we guide transformative change – and know if it’s working? -
Transforming Business & Economy – moderated by Derek Diener
How can business and economic models support sustainable change? -
Design & Engagement for Transformative Change – moderated by Carl Mossfeldt
How can design and engagement approaches shape better policies for transformation?
Looking Ahead
A sincere thank you to keynotes, panelists, session moderators, and all participants who contributed to the discussions throughout the day. Your insights and experiences are what make SIRI a living, evolving community. It’s this collective spirit that gives energy to our shared work on transformation.
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2024 Symposium
SIRI’s Inaugural Symposium: Building a Shared Vision of the Platform
On 24 October 2024, SIRI held its first annual meeting in Lund, bringing together a core group of researchers and practitioners to help chart the platform’s strategic direction and priorities. This full-day event served as an interactive forum for sharing ongoing work, exploring key themes to refine SIRI’s mission, and identifying opportunities for impactful contributions.
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Insights and Reflections on “Research in Interaction”
The day started with an inspirational address by Per Mickwitz, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Lund University. Per highlighted the unique opportunities and challenges associated with research in interaction—research conducted in close partnership between academia and practice. He stressed the importance of integrity, mutual understanding, and adaptability in research that aims to address complex societal challenges and influence real-world systems.
“Doing research in interaction between academia and practice has challenges, but doing it without interactions is far more challenging,” Per noted, underlining the imperative of collaborative structures that bridge sectoral boundaries to drive meaningful, actionable outcomes.
Following Per’s opening remarks, interactive panels and group discussions delved into the varying perceptions of “Research in Interaction” within academia and practice. Participants explored the conditions and structures needed to facilitate and normalize this approach and reflected on the vital role SIRI can play in supporting collaboration and fostering mutual trust.
The symposium also featured presentations on several projects with a “Research in Interaction” approach aimed at generating actionable insights that can drive sustainable and inclusive change. While still in an early stage, the showcased projects highlighted different areas and intervention points where close collaboration between academia and practice can take place, demonstrating the relevance of “Research in Interaction” across varied contexts.
Shaping SIRI’s Research Agenda
A key part of the symposium was a strategic review of SIRI's research agenda.
This agenda is structured around four themes:
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Theme 1: Disruptive Times / Transformative Landscape
Addressing system innovation and the dynamics of new industrial policies in an era of rapid global change. -
Theme 2: Entrepreneurial Experimentation and Transformation
Emphasizing the role of entrepreneurial ecosystems, policy experimentation, and global value chains in driving sustainable change. -
Theme 3: Transformative Innovation Policy
Focusing on policy design, instruments, and evaluation approaches that foster place-based, challenge-oriented innovations. -
Theme 4: Transformative Capabilities
Investigating the capabilities needed across various sectors and actors to serve as transformative forces for systemic change.
Participants critically engaged with these themes, considering how ongoing projects align with them, identifying gaps, and offering ideas on how to refine the agenda in ways that are both flexible and impactful.
Looking Ahead
We extend our thanks to all participants for their insights and contributions. As SIRI looks ahead, these discussions will be crucial in shaping upcoming initiatives and expanding the platform’s reach. We look forward to hosting more events, broadening our community, and enhancing our collective potential to foster systems innovation for sustainable change.