Designing Collaborative Governance and Innovation Trajectories for Urban and Regional Transitions: The Role of Boundary Objects, Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, and Grassroots Institutionalisation Koostööpõhise valitsemise ja innovatsiooniradade kujundamine linnaliste ja piirkondlike üleminekute kontekstis: piiriobjektid, ettevõtlusökosüsteemid ja rohujuuretasandi institutsionaliseerimine

This PhD thesis is motivated by the urgent need to understand how governance systems can support inclusive and sustainable urban transitions in the face of complex challenges, such as digital transformation, climate adaptation, and socio-economic inequality. While collaborative governance and innovation have gained prominence in policy and academic discourse, limited attention has been paid to the dynamic interplay between collaborative tools, institutional structures, and value frameworks across multiple levels of governance. This thesis seeks to address this gap. The central research problem focuses on how collaborative mechanisms—such as boundary objects, entrepreneurial ecosystems, and grassroots innovations—can shape adaptive, inclusive, and value-driven governance. Three cross-cutting research questions guide the inquiry: (1) How do collaborative artefacts facilitate participatory governance and stakeholder engagement? (2) How do institutional frameworks and governance arrangements evolve in response to bottom-up and digitally enabled innovation? (3) How are normative values operationalised and institutionalised across diverse governance settings? Methodologically, this is a paper-based dissertation that employs a multi-method and cross-disciplinary approach. The first paper is a systematic literature review that examines the role of boundary objects in people-centred Cities. The second paper introduces the Nested-Cyclical Model (NeCyM) to conceptualise the co-evolution of governance, innovation, and entrepreneurship in digital ecosystems. The third paper provides empirical insights through a multi-case study of New European Bauhaus grassroots projects, exploring the translation of aspirational values into actionable knowledge. The findings demonstrate that collaborative artefacts and entrepreneurial agency can foster institutional adaptability, while value tensions in grassroots innovation highlight the need for ongoing negotiation and support structures. Together, the three studies contribute an integrated understanding of how governance can evolve as a flexible, participatory, and value-sensitive system. The thesis offers three key contributions: (1) a theoretical advancement through the NeCyM framework; (2) methodological pluralism through synthesis, conceptualisation, and case-based inquiry; and (3) practical guidance for urban policymakers and EU-level initiatives, including the New European Bauhaus and Cities Mission, to design more inclusive, resilient, and innovation-driven governance models.