معرفی
Jon Paschen Knudsen is a Professor in the Department of Management and Innovation at the University of Agder, where he contributes to research and teaching in urban and regional planning, innovation, and institutional economics. He holds a PhD in cultural geography from Lund University and a Master’s from the University of Oslo. He has previously served as Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Agder and currently chairs the Faculty Board of Landscape and Society at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). He is actively involved in EU Horizon 2020 projects GI-NI and Bridges and has led several Norwegian Research Council-funded initiatives.
His research focuses on the interplay between culture, politics, and economics, particularly the cultural foundations of economic behavior in regional Europe. He has published extensively in journals like European Planning Studies, Regional Studies, and Journal of the Knowledge Economy, and with major academic publishers including Routledge, Springer, and Cappelen Damm. His recent work explores smart specialization, regional learning, higher education’s role in regional development, and the socio-political impacts of regional reform.
The trend in his publications from 2019 to 2025 shows a consistent engagement with regional innovation policy, cultural geography, and governance. His articles increasingly integrate social dimensions into economic and innovation frameworks, emphasizing inclusive and sustainable regional development. He frequently collaborates with scholars across Scandinavia and contributes to both academic and public discourse through policy reports and media commentary.
- Member, Norwegian Committee on Skill Needs (2021–2023)
- Former Norwegian ESPON Contact Point to the EU (2015–2018)
- Member, Governmental Expert Committee on the Regional Reform (2017–2018)
- Chairman, Faculty Board of Landscape and Society, NMBU
Knudsen supervises master’s students and teaches courses in institutional economics, social science methods, innovation and entrepreneurship, and urban and regional planning. He is affiliated with the RIST research centre and the URPLAN research group, both focused on sustainable regional transitions. His work bridges academic research, public policy, and community engagement, reflecting a strong commitment to socially relevant scholarship.
