Rob Raven is designated chair in the UU strategic theme Institutions and full professor ‘Institutions and Societal Transitions’ at the Innovation studies department of Utrecht University. His interest is in sustainability transitions and socio-technical innovation. Raven made major contributions to multi-level theories of transformative change, the notion of socio-technical experimentation and to the governance perspective of strategic niche management. His empirical work has covered energy and mobility transition processes in both Europe and Asia. He published over 40 scientific articles on these topics and was editor of special issues in Research Policy, Technological Forecasting & Social Change and Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. He won the EASST Chris Freeman award for a significant collective contribution to the interaction of science and technology studies with the study of innovation. His current research agenda is focussed on analysis of transformative change in urban context such as eco-cities and smart cities. A key question is how socio-technical experimentation, institutional change and path-dependant urban regimes co-produce the future of cities world-wide. Oratie: 'Transities in de experimentele stad' (in Dutch)

Innovation studies