Situated gender equality in regional research and innovation: Collaborative knowledge production

Abstract

Research and innovation (RI) policies in Europe aim to promote gender equality in the field of RI. However, gender equality at the regional level of RI has received little attention and has remained under-researched. This article draws on a process of collaborative knowledge production between regional developers and researchers in Finland, aiming to further gender equality in regional RI (2019-20). It examines negotiations about gender equality that occurred in the course of the process through the notion of situated gender equality. The developers initially stated that gender equality was needed as 'a solution' in regional development but did not know how to implement it. The process of collaborative knowledge production, a dialogue between the practices of regional development and the research-based conceptions of gender and participative methods, shows that gender equality in regional RI needs to be closely integrated into the practices of regional developers' main development work.