Legitimation processes for innovation policies in peripheral regions in Norway

The Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) has become a popular innovation policy for facilitating green transition. The literature has argued that S3 has an urban bias, making it challenging for peripheral regions to implement due to weak structural preconditions. Hence, scholars have questioned the legitimacy of S3 and suggested adjustments to a more context-sensitive approach. However, there is little knowledge regarding how to coordinate and implement innovation policies to achieve green transition in peripheral regions. This study investigates legitimation processes of S3 among regional actors in the peripheral regions of Norway. This is achieved by examining the ‘Inland Portfolio’, the current strategy for green transition in Inland County. The study demonstrates two main findings. First, several tensions arise between the firm, intermediary and system actors in the legitimation processes because their goals differ. Second, the intermediary actors play an important role in the legitimation of S3 because they are able to ‘bridge’ and reconcile the various concerns and rationales among the local firm and regional system actors. Hence, this study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of legitimation processes and innovation policies for green transition in peripheral regions.