top of page

Frans Hermans Innovation Consultancy
Facilitating transformative change  from local to global scales

As a freelance consultant, I offer international expertise in agriculture, bioeconomy, and sustainable regional development. I am dedicated to fostering collaboration and facilitating ambitious, sustainability-oriented innovation projects that unite a diverse set of stakeholders from both the public and private sector. Through my expertise and global network, I strive to empower these stakeholders to drive positive impact and cultivate a more sustainable future. ​

Consultancy 

My specialisation lies in transformative innovation projects aiming for sustainability. ​These projects are characterised by:

  • A high level of ambition, aiming for regional or sector-wide changes in the direction of sustainability.

  • Heterogeneous networks that contain a group of participants with different backgrounds, experiences and knowledge.  

  • A focus on joint learning process: by exchanging knowledge and different, possibly conflicting, viewpoints, participants learn form each other work on a shared vision. 

​

To support collaborative innovation projects from  ideation and initialization, strategic network building, project management, responsible scaling strategies and monitoring and evaluation. These methods can help individual projects partners, project or cluster managers and sponsors and government agencies. 

Research

In my research I have investigated the question of how sustainable innovations develop over time from small groups of pioneers to broad societal impact.  I have investigated different types of collaborative innovation projects: from the local level of environmental farmer cooperatives, to the regional level of industrial bioclusters and the national level of innovation platforms and agricultural innovation systems. These experiences have given me a wide experience that I can also apply in new settings. 

​​

I have published over 30 peer-reviewed publications in leading scientific journals on environmental innovation, scaling, sustainability transitions, network analysis, agricultural knowledge and innovation systems, and regional development.

Education & Training

I offer a range of tailored education and training services designed to foster knowledge, skills, and innovation. These include:

  • Academic Writing and Publishing Workshops: Develop your skills in crafting high-quality research papers and navigating the publishing process.

  • Summer School Organization: From concept development to program design and execution, I provide full support for hosting impactful academic summer schools.

  • Corporate Training: Equip your team with scientific thinking skills to enhance problem-solving, creativity, and innovation, tailored specifically for start-ups and forward-thinking organizations.

​

All these courses can be taylored to specific circumstances and needs and can be given in person or online.

bottom of page