Exploring the spaces and places for co-innovation

This paper discusses the importance of governance mechanisms for coordinating R&D and innovation (R&D&I) activities through collaborative arrangements within various shared spaces and places. The paper presents three innovation ecosystem cases and discusses how governance mechanisms have been conducted in each case. Furthermore, it presents how the cases utilize shared spaces and places in collaborative R&D&I work. The paper sheds on light what kind of collaboration practices were used in innovation ecosystem cases and also reports the first experiences on the kind of effects that the Covid19 pandemic had on cooperation. The results indicate that well-defined commonly agreed practices and responsibilities on the steering, coordination, and production levels serve the entire multi-actor community and its stakeholders throughout the R&D&I process.