SPARK – Societal Partnerships for Action, Research & Knowledge
SPARK is a research group dedicated to advancing innovation management for sustainable societal transformation
About SPARK
Societies across the world are facing profound and interlinked challenges, including climate change, unsustainable energy systems, social and economic inequalities, segregation, and increasing pressure on public health systems. These wicked problems cannot be addressed through isolated, monocultural solutions. Instead, they require holistic, systemic, and collaborative approaches that connect knowledge, practice, and action across sectors and levels of society.
Responding to this need, SPARK – Societal Partnerships for Action, Research & Knowledge is a research initiative dedicated to advancing innovation management for sustainable societal transformation. Our research focuses on how socio-technical systems evolve and how innovation processes can be designed, governed, and implemented to support more just, inclusive, and sustainable futures.
Research Focus
At SPARK, we study processes of societal change across multiple levels — from everyday operational practices within organizations to political decision-making and policy development. We are particularly interested in how public organizations and other societal actors navigate complex transformation processes and how innovation can contribute to sustainability, justice, and long-term societal value.
Key research themes:
- Socio-technical systems and societal transitions
- Innovation processes in public and societal contexts
- Sustainability, inclusion, justice, and power in transformation processes
- Multi-level change involving organizations, institutions, and policy frameworks
Research Approach
SPARK’s research is grounded in a systemic design perspective that combines insights from design thinking, systems analysis, and action research. This approach enables us to better understand the complex interactions between technology, organizations, institutions, and societal values, while also actively contributing to change processes in practice.
Our research is characterized by:
- Focus on innovative efforts that drive sustainability
- Intersectoral projects in health care, energy, tourism, and digitalization
- Long-term collaboration with public organizations and societal actors
- Co-production of knowledge with practitioners through action research
- Mixed method approaches: interviews, document analysis, vignettes, and quantitative data
- A reflexive and critical examination of dominant concepts, models, and tools in societal innovation
Ongoing research projects & programs
- Technology and Society program
- Just Energy Communities
- Implementation of a step care model for psychosocial interventions in mental health
- System design in societal development
- IoT World – National Collaboration Platform for IoT and Digital Transformation
- Energy sharing in Morgongåva
- Persimmon: Smart patches for future IoT in sports and health care
- CommUnity Power – Energy Communities for a Sustainable and Inclusive Energy Transition
Contact us!
Welcome to contact Klas Palm if you want to know more about the initiative or any of the research projects.