Bjørn-Tore Flåten

Bjørn-Tore Flåten is an Associate Professor at the University of Agder (UiA), Norway, affiliated with the Department of Management and Innovation within the School of Business and Law. He holds a PhD in International Management and an MSc in Economics and Business Administration from NHH Norwegian School of Economics. He previously served in non-profit management and as a consultant in organizational restructuring and compensation design.

His research focuses on strategic management of knowledge work, innovation, and entrepreneurship, with emphasis on knowledge sharing and digital collaboration. He contributes to journals like Technological Forecasting and Social Change and Journal of Design Thinking, and has co-authored works on crowdfunding and entrepreneurship education.

Flåten leads the university’s Centre for Entrepreneurship, overseeing initiatives like UiA Innovation and UiA CoLAB to promote student startups and research commercialization. He is also Head of Department and Vice Dean, playing key roles in strategic leadership and academic governance. His projects include the EU-funded BlueRev initiative, aiming to revitalize communities through bio-based innovations, and the FORTHEM alliance’s entrepreneurship programs.

He has secured grants, including a NOK 5 million award from the Norwegian Research Council for innovation initiatives. His work bridges academic research, practical entrepreneurship, and regional development, fostering innovation ecosystems and collaborative education models.