University of Vaasa’s new Professor of Innovation Policy Helka Kalliomäki explores the role of cities and regions in societal change
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Helka Kalliomäki has started as Professor of Innovation Policy at the University of Vaasa in March. Her professorship is situated in the discipline of Regional Studies and is closely connected to the interdisciplinary field of innovation policy studies at the interface of urban and regional development. She is particularly interested in the role that cities and regions play in societal change, and how diverse actors can work together in an impactful way towards a sustainable future.
– While different actors within regions need to be able to work together, without a functioning dialogue between the state and the local level many societal reforms remain incomplete. At worst, this may also increase spatial inequality and experiences of injustice, which in turn can fuel a range of undesirable developments, including those related to the weakening state of democracy, Kalliomäki notes.
Kalliomäki serves as Head of Administrative Sciences Performance Unit at the University of Vaasa and as the University’s representative in the Eu-SPRI network of leading European research centres in science and innovation policy. She has previously worked at the University of Vaasa as an Associate Professor of Innovation Policy at the School of Management, and prior to that as a Postdoctoral Researcher in Regional Studies. Kalliomäki completed her Master’s degree in Planning Geography at the University of Oulu in 2007 and her Doctorate in Human Geography at the University of Turku in 2012. She joined the University of Vaasa from Turku School of Economics in 2019, where she worked as a Senior Researcher in the Centre for Collaborative Research. In addition, she has held visiting researcher positions at universities in the United States and England.
Integrating perspectives from innovation policy and regional studies
Kalliomäki’s background is in regional development and planning studies. At the University of Vaasa, she moved more strongly towards innovation policy studies through a tenure track position connected to the InnoLab research platform.
– Becoming familiar with a new research field took time, but it is encouraging to see that I am now able to combine perspectives from innovation policy and regional studies in a way that reaches leading journals in these fields, she says.
Kalliomäki strongly believes that as the time windows for research impact narrow during an era of polycrisis, diverse interaction between researchers and practitioners is the only way to enhance the societal impact of research in addressing grand challenges.
– I often work in settings where the research design itself is developed together with knowledge users. They can contribute perspectives relevant to them and benefit from research insights and preliminary results already during the projects. I also learn enormously in these settings and feel I am a better researcher because I understand practice as well, she explains.
As a concrete example, Kalliomäki refers to the ongoing EU-funded Nordic Energy Capital project led by the City of Vaasa. The project includes evaluation research as part of an ecosystem initiative supporting the city’s energy transition, with the aim of strengthening systemic change capabilities already during the project.
Collaboration and interaction at the heart of impact
Reflecting on her career, Kalliomäki notes that key achievements in terms of career progression have been related to securing competitive research funding and publishing articles that are personally important to her. On a personal level, however, the most meaningful moments have often arisen in situations where she has been able to contribute to the success of others or of her wider community.
– I am a strongly collaboration-oriented scholar. I enjoy supporting the success of others behind the scenes and smiling from the corner as colleagues, students and research group members succeed, Kalliomäki says.
Looking ahead, Kalliomäki is keen to build and advance increasingly ambitious research initiatives together with her work community and partners.
– I genuinely believe that we can be forerunners in advancing societally impactful research in collaboration with our stakeholders. Through this work, we also communicate to students the value of cooperation as a driver of societal change. It is a privilege to be involved in that work, Kalliomäki concludes.
More information
Helka Kalliomäki, professor, University of Vaasa
p. +358 29 449 8411, email helka.kalliomaki (ät) uwasa.fi