The Centre for Innovation, Research and Competence in the Learning Economy (CIRCLE) is
an interdisciplinary research centre situated in Lund

Lund

-Main sights:During the 12th and 13th centuries, when the town was the seat of the archbishop, many churches and monasteries were built. At its peak, Lund had 27 churches, but most of them were demolished as result of the Reformation in 1536. Several medieval buildings remain, including Lund...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

. It is spanning several faculties at Lund University

Lund University

Lund University , located in the city of Lund in the province of Scania, Sweden, is one of northern Europe's most prestigious universities and one of Scandinavia's largest institutions for education and research, frequently ranked among the world's top 100 universities...

 and
Blekinge Institute of Technology

Blekinge Institute of Technology

The Blekinge Institute of Technology is a public, state funded Swedish Institute of technology in Blekinge with more than 8,000 students and offers 350 courses in 40 educational programmes in five schools at two campuses located in Karlskrona and Karlshamn.The institute focuses on applied...

. The activities cover the field of innovation

Innovation

Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...

, entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur, which can be defined as "one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods". This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response...

, knowledge creation

Knowledge

Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...

 and economic growth

Economic growth

In economics, economic growth is defined as the increasing capacity of the economy to satisfy the wants of goods and services of the members of society. Economic growth is enabled by increases in productivity, which lowers the inputs for a given amount of output. Lowered costs increase demand...

.

History

CIRCLE was initiated in July 2004 with long-term funding by VINNOVA

Vinnova

Vinnova is the Swedish government agency that administers state funding for research and development. The agency's mission as defined by the government is to promote development of efficient and innovative Swedish systems within the areas of technology, transportation, communication and labour...

 (Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems), Lund University and Blekinge Institute of Technology. It is today the largest of the four national research Centres of Excellence funded by VINNOVA. It has established connections with renowned research environments in the fields of innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth. Guest researchers and visiting scholars are regularly invited to enhance the exciting international research and teaching milieu through presentations and seminars.

Research

CIRCLE’s research is organized into the four main research areas addressing different aspects of innovation and knowledge creation. They are:

• learning in innovation systems and the consequences of R&D and innovation for productivity growth
• international comparison of regional innovation systems
• the entrepreneurial university and the creation of research-based firms
• public policy in the field of innovation, R&D and competence building in a comparative perspective.

The research focus lies on the socioeconomic and policy aspects of three kinds of learning:

• Innovation
  Innovation
  Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...
  
   (in new products as well as processes) which takes place mainly in firms.
• Research and Development (R&D)
  Research and development
  The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
  
   which is carried out in universities and research organizations as well as in firms.
• Competence Building (e.g., training and education), which is done in schools and universities (schooling, education) as well as in firms (in the form of training, learning-by-doing, learning-by-using and individual learning, often throughout life). Competence building is the same as enhancement of human capital.