This the offer is linked to the SustainGov program, which is part of the joint effort of the Swedish Energy Agency, Forma and Vinnova. Impact Innovation.
Need for a graduate school for the public sector of the future
The public sector faces many societal challenges. The public sector's capacity for innovation and change is a large and growing interdisciplinary research field that has aroused great interest both within and outside academia. How the public sector's capacity for innovation and change can be measured, which methods work or not, and how the ability to collaborate can be developed are examples of important research areas.
For SustainGov, it is clear that new governance models, mindsets, tools and policies are needed that promote a holistic perspective, manage uncertainties, enable experimentation and focus on learning, co-creation and actual impacts of the interventions. With such a starting point, it is inevitable that there will be gaps in the knowledge base that need to be filled to make the public sector an active enabler of the sustainability transition and achieve the program's mission.
This means that many different actors need to reflect on, reassess and question how the public sector works today. However, this should be done with the greatest thought and care. Changes in the common and public are, for important reasons, something that is done slowly and vigilance is required about how and why transformation occurs. Here, scientific working methods have a clear role, both to create a deeper understanding of the current situation, identify the challenges, understand and challenge resistance, but also to experiment and develop new ways of thinking and working. This also means that academia also needs to be challenged and review its organizations, structures and forms of governance where traditional disciplinary boundaries and administrative constraints do not always support the possibilities of contributing to SustainGov's mission.
Aim with the call for proposals
The purpose of the call for proposals is to promote research through a national research school to better understand the dynamics of public sector organization, identify best practices and develop knowledge, methods and data for informed decision-making. The purpose is also to create and support a critical mass of researchers who, together with stakeholders in the public sector, can and want to conduct interdisciplinary research for the benefit of society and share results with other researchers both in Sweden and abroad. In this way, knowledge is increased to enable sustainable transition and reform the public sector through a co-creative approach driven by a common mission.
The offer to which this call for proposals refers is therefore a transdisciplinary and co-creative research school where the following coincide:
- the public sector's need for knowledge and data for well-founded decision-making,
- the ability of academia to challenge and question but at the same time deepen and ensure knowledge needs, and
- a form where academia and stakeholders together create mission-driven knowledge and challenge each other.
The graduate school should continuously reflect on the approaches and theoretical frameworks that are used and need to be developed, as well as what lessons can be learned and how this can lead to learning for research on society's sustainability transition.
The graduate school should create opportunities for new researchers (doctoral students) to be transdisciplinary, that is, to acquire skills in conducting high-quality research, on the edge of usual disciplinary and methodological drains, together with actors in the public sector. There therefore needs to be objective in the graduate school that explicitly highlights the importance of breaking norms and traditional structures in academic work. In addition, there is a need for in-depth co-creation with stakeholders around understanding needs and the development of new knowledge and reform proposals. The graduate school also needs to be constructed so that the insights into the challenges that the doctoral students face are handled, so that they dare and have the strength to work in new and innovative ways.
The graduate school is intended to be implemented in three phases (A, B and C) which are described in more detail in section 4. This offer applies to the implementation of the first phase of the graduate school (Pilotfas A) with funding for a coordination function and at least ten full-time doctoral students. Only one project, corresponding to phase A of the graduate school, may be granted funding within this call for proposals.
Requirements for graduate school
The special characteristics and conditions of the graduate school include the following:
- A broad mobilization of stakeholders that provides direct insight into problems and issues relevant to innovation and change processes in the public sector.
- Participation of stakeholders throughout the research process to enable data collection, participatory research, knowledge dissemination, implementation and follow-up in the public sector.
- The willingness and commitment of stakeholders to make room for innovative research in collaboration between public activities and academia, as well as their readiness and courage to implement change processes based on new knowledge.
- Stakeholders' commitment to opening up participatory research within existing organizations.
- Promotion of interdisciplinary approaches through the participation of several universities and university colleges and the implementation of many joint activities (doctoral courses, supervisor training, joint transdisciplinary and cross-sectoral project in the public sector).
- Openness and transparency, including the opportunity for other doctoral students and supervisors with related research areas to participate in some of the graduate school's activities (for example, courses, seminars, workshops and meetings).
- Reflection on and willingness to contribute to the relocation of universities and university colleges, including a plan to learn from the work of the graduate school.
- Commitment to continuously share lessons learned with relevant actors, both directly and via the program.
What is important in Impact Innovation?
Below are listed some points that are important for the Impact Innovation initiative as a whole.
The importance of a systems perspective and foresight
Problems with a clear solution are not in focus for Impact Innovation. The challenges of the programs are difficult to grasp, changeable over time, difficult to describe completely or visibly self-contradictory. Having a systems perspective is therefore important, that is, looking at the whole and not just the parts and the drainpipes but its interconnections. The systems perspective is a prerequisite for social impact.
In order to make the decisions required for system transformation, we need tools that can help us try to imagine what lies ahead. Foresight can prepare for possible events in the future, how to handle them and create a basis for strategic decisions. Interesting future images or future scenarios can, for example, concern changed behaviors, new business models or new services and technologies.
The importance of active participation, user involvement and policy development
In order to influence the whole of a system, actors with different perspectives and working in different sectors, industries and parts of the value chain need to be involved. The actors need to participate actively with both authority and responsibility. Not only are creators and enablers needed, but users must also be involved early on. This is to ensure that the right solutions are developed, but also to create sustainable financing models over time and governance structures for the solutions. In this way, they can be scaled up, distributed and utilized for the greatest effect in the system.
In addition, active work is required to remove any obstacles to the implementation of the solutions through policy development, for example to adapt laws and regulations. This means that it is important to involve, for example, system administrators and developers, problem owners, suppliers and users already in the formulation of the challenge.
The importance of having internationalisation as a starting point
The programs within Impact Innovation have a strong international perspective, in order to contribute to their missions and objectives. Solutions or contexts may exist internationally, or future new solutions may create international interest or competitiveness and the need to connect with international actors. The programs within Impact Innovation therefore work with an international perspective and active monitoring of the world around them.
The importance of sustainable system transformation
Impact Innovation will contribute to global competitiveness through transition to sustainable development. Through our efforts, we contribute to the global commitment to achieving the goals of Agenda 2030, where gender equality is a priority area. All efforts and project we finance are therefore assessed based on how they contribute to this perspective. We therefore always follow up and assess:
- If women and men participate in the project on an equal footing, receive contributions and have influence and power over the project.
- How well the project analyzes and takes a position on whether there are sex or gender aspects that are relevant to the project's problem formulation, solutions and effects.
Gender-equal innovation – what it means for those seeking funding from us
More information about SustainGov
The program's mission
SustainGov's mission is to achieve a reformed public sector by 2035 that holistically promotes and facilitates health and well-being for all residents regardless of geography and socio-economic status, and ensures society's sustainable transformation within the planet's boundaries.
Program explanation
The program has a ten-year horizon divided into two periods. To give SustainGov a clearer direction, a number of focus areas have been developed for the first period until 2028. These focus areas guide the work going forward within the program and in the calls for proposals for support that are aimed at various actors at local, regional, national and, in the long term, international level. Within each focus area, the systemic problems of the public sector are at the center. In this way, the conditions are created for actors to take on the task of designing and testing new working methods and solutions and to learn from each other in the direction of the mission.
SustainGov's focus areas for 2025–2028:
System-wide collaboration for complex care needs
Residents with complex care needs, which account for a large part of healthcare costs, are currently faced with fragmented systems and a lack of coordination. This creates quality deficiencies, inefficient use of resources and inequality. To meet the needs of the future, a renewed and collaborative public sector is required, where the individual's health, their own abilities and resources and long-term well-being are at the center.
An inclusive society for all
Many groups in society, such as people with functional variations, low education or those born abroad, face significant obstacles to fully participating in society. Structural problems, limited resources in municipalities and lack of coordination exacerbate exclusion. A more inclusive society requires joint efforts from the public sector that address root causes and strengthen individuals' opportunities for participation and co-creation.
Future-proof food supply for health and well-being
Sweden faces major challenges with a low level of self-sufficiency and a vulnerable food system, while climate change and unhealthy eating habits affect both the environment and public health. A future-proof food supply requires long-term and sustainable solutions that strengthen preparedness, reduce environmental impact and ensure access to nutritious and affordable food for all. Current fragmented governance and complex conflicts of objectives are challenging in this context.
The social contract of the future – renewed relationship between residents and the public sector
To address complex societal challenges, the public sector needs to redefine its own role and renew its relationship with residents, businesses and civil society in all its parts. A renewed social contract is based on the public sector enabling active interaction, around sustainable and shared solutions, together with residents and other actors in society. By actively starting from the needs of the target group, involving others in the delivery and steering on long-term effects, trust in the public sector, society's common resource, and by extension also democracy.
Read more about SustainGov on the program's website: SustainGov.
Free access to scientific publications and results
Results from research and innovation that are made freely available increase the opportunity for more people to contribute to solutions to societal challenges. This the call for proposals will contribute to making more results freely available to everyone. Therefore, all scientific publishing should be open access.