Positive reviews for Future by Lund when evaluating
Future by Lund is one of originally six Vinno funded innovation platforms in Sweden. One of the goals was to find a way for the platforms to remain even after the end of the project financing, and after ten years as a project, Future by Lund in 2023 formed an independent organization in the form of an economic association. The association has about 40 members, such as Lund University, Lund Municipality, as well as small and large companies and organizations.
Now the first three years of association have passed, and with that, according to the statutes, an evaluation is being made. This has been done by the two external evaluators Emma Frost, Director of Fern Consulting (a specialist consultancy in innovation and economic development) and Chair of the Innovations District Group (a network of leading innovation districts in the UK), and Göran Andersson, who has worked with Sweden's innovation platforms at Vinnova, among others.
But what does Future by Lund actually do? Collected experiences of innovation work where many stakeholders work with common challenges have led to the work in Future by Lund being based on portfolio methodology. In Future by Lund's innovation portfolios, members and other partners come together to transform an area, a larger and longer-lasting work than a project. The portfolios can include several projects and a range of other activities. In addition, a package of models, methods and tools has been merged into the LIEPT model, which is the basis for portfolio work and which has also enabled many project applications and international collaborations. For participating partners, the innovation portfolios become an opportunity to develop their own business opportunities in collaboration with others to meet different societal challenges. Future by Lund has a model for how such cooperation can take place and how the parties can then pick up knowledge and the start of innovations for their own operations.
- There is a force in the facilitating role that Future by Lund has played, says Emma Frost. When you see that something works, when something can go on longer, it is given away because Future by Lund is there to provide for Lund and the wider economy.
It is an unusual role that was shaped in the early years as an innovation platform.
- One reason why we have taken this role may be that while other innovation actors have emerged by supporting a startup, a researcher or an initiative, Future by Lund is the entrepreneur who builds the concepts together with others, explains CEO Charlotte Lorentz Hjorth. We curate these types of spaces, look for certain concepts or ideas and create the birthplace of many things. It's a unique role that you don't normally see because we pull together entrepreneurship from many actors and people to co-create.
In the evaluation, Emma Frost and Göran Andersson have looked at topics such as Purpose and Governance, Change and Resilience, Operations and Processes, Impact and Evaluation, International Profile and Collaborations, and Communication and Engagement.
- Future by Lund's special magic lies in how we work between the different conversation streams, between different sectors and between different organisations and people, continues Emma Frost.
The evaluators have worked by reviewing key strategy and documents but also through interviews and conversations with Future by Lund's staff team, with the association's board of directors and with some members who have worked with Future by Lund for a long time, also during the project.
The evaluators give Future by Lund an overall good grade for the first three years:
- You at Future by Lund have lived up to expectations, says Göran Andersson. You are highly valued as an organization. You have managed to create a team and organization that can create a platform for future delivery. Future by Lund is perceived as a highly entrepreneurial organisation, pushing hard in many ways and is described as a unique link. You have created a unique position in the ecosystem here in Lund and your creativity and openness to new ideas are part of the organization's DNA and lay the foundation for collaboration in the portfolios.
Conclusions on the first three years
The members see Future by Lund as a very valuable and credible platform that has a clearer purpose now than three years ago, and with real impetus behind the missions.
There is great appreciation for Future by Lund's energetic innovation spirit, dedicated team and ability to launch ambitious and experimental projects with limited resources.
The Board members value Future by Lund as a unique link between the city, academia, industry and civil society.
The interviewees praised the diversity and quality of Future by Lund's collaborations and portfolios, and saw them as an important engine for sustainable transition and a source of inspiration for both Lund and other places.
There is a general perception that Future by Lund has achieved a lot and lived up to expectations, especially when it comes to developing a strategy focused on how to work with the highly complex task of system innovation.
Future by Lund is widely recognized for its creativity and openness to new ideas, with stakeholders pointing out that “things can start” within Future by Lund that would have difficulty finding a place elsewhere in the system.
There was strong support for Future by Lund's work to build international contacts and an international profile. There is a growing belief that Future by Lund, with the right next step, can take a more proactive and visible role both nationally and internationally regarding sustainable urban systems and for Lund's cross-border Research and Development economy.
At the same time, many interviewees felt that Future by Lund now needs a sharper, more clearly communicated strategy and value proposition.
Future by Lund has undergone a major change in the last three years and now feels like the right time to take stock and adapt, in order to be able to scale up and develop the role for the next three years and beyond.
Governance, prioritisation and working methods were identified as key areas for improvement, with calls for clearer roles, stronger board governance and portfolio-based decision-making.
Members and broader stakeholders would welcome more predictable, streamlined collaborative processes and stronger impact storytelling -- including clearer results, data and narratives that connect individual projects with system-level change.
Finally, everyone sees an opportunity to crystallize Future by Lund's purpose and communication (including location brand hierarchy, stakeholder maps and practical communication tools) so that board members and members can clearly “sell into” Future by Lund within their own organizations.