INTERVIEW WITH LILIYA PULLMANN – FRAUNHOFER ISI

“There must be an atmosphere that encourages free thinking and open exchange of ideas. Tolerance for mistakes and failures is essential to support learning and encourage people to think ambitiously, freely and creatively”
Liliya Pullmann from Fraunhofer ISI explains in this interview how to support the creation of an inclusive innovation culture in the BEAMING project.

Q: How does the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI contribute to fostering an inclusive innovation culture within the BEAMING project?

A: We at Fraunhofer Institute for System and Innovation Research have broad and interdisciplinary expertise in R&D and innovation support in different fields, including Bioeconomy. For scientists to be innovative, it is essential to create a setting that allows them to be innovative, productive and motivated. In order to innovate, there must be an atmosphere that encourages free thinking and open exchange of ideas. Tolerance for mistakes and failures is essential to support learning and encourage people to think ambitiously, freely and creatively. Diversity is another essential component of such culture: teams that consist of skilled persons with a diversity of backgrounds and approaches are more likely to generate original “out-of-the-box” ideas. We not only study this topic from the innovation research perspective, but we also embed practices and strategies in our daily work to foster an inclusive innovation culture. In the BEAMING project we are therefore going to share our expertise and experience on how to effectively develop and establish a supportive innovation environment.

Q: What specific strategies or initiatives are being employed to ensure equitable participation of diverse stakeholders in the bioeconomy?

A:Fraunhofer ISI collaborates with policymakers at regional, national and EU level to perform different evaluations in the area of Bioeconomy for a better alignment of policies and strategies. Moreover, Fraunhofer ISI has been commissioned to analyse the state of the art and perspectives of scientific-technological developments in selected bioeconomy fields, and to derive recommendations for policy how to better exploit these potentials. Results of these evaluations and derived recommendations are disseminated by reports, presentations and discussions with the responsible policy officers. These evaluations formed the information base for the responsible policy officers to improve existing research programmes and design new programmes. Recent examples are the evaluation of the research projects funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research within the framework of the German Bioeconomy Research Strategy 2030, or the evaluation of the funding programme GO-Bio which supports the founding of life science spin-off companies out of academic research results. Another example is the ongoing Horizon Europe CSA ShapingBio, coordinated by Fraunhofer ISI, which aims to provide evidence-based information and recommendations for better policy alignment and stakeholder actions to realise the cross-sectoral potential of the bioeconomy and to reduce the fragmentation across bio-based sectors and policies across regions, domains and governance levels in the EU.

Q: What role does Fraunhofer ISI play in the development and implementation of the “BEAMING Toolbox” within the project? How is this tool expected to enhance knowledge and technology transfer between higher education institutions, industry, and civil society in the field of bioeconomy?

A: We will support partners in developing a research assessment concept to make sure that research at Higher Education Institutions not only contributes to knowledge advancement and scientific excellence, but also helps achieve important societal and economic goals. This assessment tool should be used by partners after the project completion to regularly evaluate the performance of HEIs as well as to use feedback in order to improve and refine their research strategies and objectives in the future. Apart from these activities, we are going to support our BEAMING partners to achieve major goals in areas dedicated to Bioeconomy Research, technology transfer and socio-economic impacts. We will particularly focus on strategies and activities aligned to the needs and requirements of HEIs to elevate their scientific excellence while improving framework conditions for technology transfer and increased socio-economic impact. By doing so, we will rely on our longstanding expertise and know-how in these areas.