Contemporary economical problems require new innovative solutions. The potential role of higher education (HE) as a change agent for regional sustainable development is investigated. Stakeholders from firms, education and government within an R&D Campus form Innovation Teams and Communities of Practices (CoPs) in the domains of building, moving, powering and maintenance. However how to contribute to a safer, cleaner and attractive living environment? Productive, unproductive factors and future needs are analysed from the perspective of HE to enhance regional sustainable development. Several research and data collection methods converged into five main factors that Innovation Teams and CoPs have to tackle in the next period. The followed method for joint problem analysis guarantees highly involved stakeholders.
Paper presented at IS2012 – Is Your Responsibility – Innovation for Sustainability, 27-28 September 2012, Universidade Lusíada, Porto, Portugal. http://www.ulusiada.pt/is2012/