Maria is Associate Professor for Innovation and Regional Development at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences in Bergen. She holds a PhD in Local Development and Global Dynamics from the University of Trento and has been a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oslo and Lund University. She received the RSA Early Career Grant (2019) and currently coordinates the Horizon Europe project SkillResilience4EU. Her research explores the links between geography, innovation, and sustainability—focusing on spatial aspects of innovation, the twin transition, green and digital regional development, and knowledge transfer in Europe. Methodologically, she works with quantitative analysis, related diversification, and social network analysis. She also serves as RSA territorial representative for Norway and is on the editorial board of Review of Regional Research.

Project Manager. Works in the Division of Research at HVL. Masters degree in Political Science from the University of Bergen. Marthe has many years experience with international projects - she works since 2013 with international education and research projects as an advisor/coordinator.

Nora G. Bækkelund is Associate Professor in innovation and regional development at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. She holds a PhD in Innovation and Regional Development and has a background in economic geography. Her research focuses on regional industry development, with particular attention towards the role of agency in shaping this developmet. She employs qualitative methods to explore the dynamics of place- and industry development and transition procesess. Bækkelund combines approaches from Evolutionary Economic Geography, Human Geography more broadly, and Neo-Institutional Theory to analyse place-specific procesess in conjunction with broder industrial and political developments.

Ridvan Cinar is Associate Professor of Innovation and Regional Development at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. He holds a PhD in Innovation and Regional Development and has background in regional studies and organisation studies. His research focuses on the role of universities in regional sustainable transformations and skills policies. Empirically, he has explored universities and regional sustainable transformation across different types of regions in Portugal, the Netherlands and Norway with particular attention to institutional and organisational dynamics shaping regional development processes.

Simon Norheim Colclough is an Associate Professor in Innovation and Strategy at HVL Business School. He holds a master's degree in Industrial Economics and Technology Management from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and received his PhD in Technology and Innovation Management from Zhejiang University in China. His research in China was focused on the dynamic capabilities and innovation strategies of high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises in China.

He draws from both systemic and firm-based views of innovation in his work, and presently he is working on incorporating insights from economic geography into his research to delve deeper into how innovation systems evolve across time and space.