Revisiting Mode 2 at Noors Slott

Abstract

In November 2009, at Noors Slott in Sweden, a small group of distinguished individuals from academia and government met to reflect on the ideas developed in the New Production of Knowledge (Gibbons et al., 1994) and Re-thinking Science (Nowotny et al., 2001). The aim was less to determine the impact of these works on science and policy than to identify what, if anything, the authors had overlooked or, indeed, what developments had occurred during the past 25 years that might alter the conclusions reached in these two books. The purpose of this introduction is not to provide a summary of each paper, but rather to present some of the key elements that emerged in the discussion, configured to point to future questions which science policy researchers might address. Five areas have been identified within the overall Mode 2 theme: bibliometrics; regime change; the role of laboratory spaces; open innovation; and the politics of innovation.