The TIPPING Wheel – boosting innovation strategies for islands

The TIPPING approach and wheel have been designed in the framework of the EU Interreg Islands of Innovation project. Its aim is to be used as a tool for improving innovation policy or governance. This guide supports facilitators with the use of the TIPPING Wheel, in order to stimulate bottom-up, advanced innovation strategies and projects for islands’ local and regional governments.

The TIPPING Wheel can be used for the assessment of an islands’ innovation policy aimed at:

1. An overall benchmark between islands or parts of an island;
2. Comparison between the status quo and a desired future: ‘the dream’;
3. A challenge, sector, or aspect benchmark (energy, materials, water, transport, agriculture, circular economy, tourism, emerging technology sectors, etc.);
4. The creation of a basis and inspiration for a comprehensive new -or to be renewed- policy program with a special thematic focus and engaging-oriented projects;
5. Functioning as a supportive tool for policy innovation brainstorms.

Innovations in the wheel can be: (a) realized ones to learn from; (b) starting projects on novel issues, (c) future dreams/ambitions.

Many definitions of innovation do exist. They vary from specific technological novums to broad societal changes. Here we follow Celik (2018) and refer to innovation as a new social-cultural practice, including possible technical and economic changes, aimed at realizing one or more of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN, 2017). The innovative practice can adopt various shapes, like a new technique or technical process, a new service, a new market, a new business, a new socio-technical system, or a combination of these concepts.

With respect to the notion “policy” we assume a broad concept, better expressed by the notion “governance”, which stipulates the insight that usually government policies include/require cooperation, sharing, and partnerships with other actors and stakeholders in society, such as industry, other governments, inhabitants, service users (various consumers), knowledge institutes, NGOs, etc.

TIPPING as creative tool strives to contribute to governance innovation on islands and similar (more or less) isolated areas following the Islands of Innovation Model (see Figure 1). This model has been developed to define the common issues and methodology for all partners in the EU Islands of Innovation project, to be used in regional action plan development.