Martijn Groenleer
I joined TNO part-time in February 2025 as a scientist in the Sustainability & Spatial Governance department at TNO Vector within the unit ISP. I am also a Professor of Public Governance, Academic Director of the Tilburg Center for Urban and Regional Governance, and Academic Lead for the Academic Collaborative Center on Climate and Energy, all at Tilburg University.
As a public governance researcher, lecturer, and advisor, I have worked for the past twenty years on the development and dissemination of scientific knowledge and practical solutions for the effective and legitimate governance of social innovation. I have been doing this at various universities (including Leiden University, Delft University of Technology, Harvard University, and the London School of Economics and Political Science) in close collaboration with colleagues from other disciplines and partners in practice. I do this from the conviction that such knowledge and solutions can contribute to smart, sustainable, and inclusive innovation and change, and to broad prosperity. But also from the realization that governance itself will have to change fundamentally to be effective and legitimate in a rapidly changing and increasingly complex world.
My expertise is in the field of multi-actor and multi-level regulation and governance of complex socio-technical systems (such as those for energy, security, and health). It also covers the (institutional) analysis and (re)design of such systems. I have distinguished myself as a specialist in qualitative, comparative research, and in the use of systematic and action-oriented methods and techniques of research, as well as problem-oriented and participant-centered forms of learning. I have published extensively in top-tier journals and have been awarded NWO, EU, and other grants and prizes. I have a wide network in academia and practice, and frequently give keynote speeches and make appearances in the media. My work is being used by decision-makers, and I have trained top managers in both the public and private sectors.
As a principal scientist, I will focus on addressing complex societal issues, such as the green and digital transitions, and their implications at the local and regional level from the perspective of the capabilities, instruments, and strategies that are needed to effectively and legitimately address these issues and implications. I will contribute to TNO’s knowledge position on the governance of societal innovation, among others by leveraging existing work on, for instance, adaptive decision-making and key enabling methodologies, and by setting up new projects on, for instance, regional collaboration for broad prosperity and competitiveness, as well as by attracting and supporting young talent. Based thereon, I will also help to strengthen TNO’s role in collaborative processes and partnerships, seeking to further increase its influence, both scientifically and societally.