*4.1. The Role of Actors*

Based on the interviews, it seems that the objectives of the program and the expectations of the actors did not intersect. The problem appears to be with the incompatibility of the defined program goals and the expected results. This can also be influenced by the structural basis of the program. The clusters have been primarily created by publicly funded organisations, making the role of HEIs even more crucial:

*"In this case, the enterprises are mostly not participating in the clusters, as we have built up the background for their participation. There are more civil servants and researchers and sympathisers of these clusters. This situation has been necessary, and it has taken a lot of time to reach. The clusters' development stage varies a lot."*

*—*representative of the developer's organisation, female.

The cluster work with companies is still at an early stage in Arctic Smart Specialisation. Based on the data acquired for this paper, the engagement of companies may vary and their intention to belong to a specific cluster is still unpredictable. It seems that some companies do not find international funding to be attractive. For example, tourism entrepreneurs and forestry operators have an identifiable threshold for launching or participating in EU projects. It is still unclear which decision-making companies engage in clusters and what rights and obligations attached to the network will follow:

*"* ... *most of the micro enterprises are not interested in . In these kinds of projects, it should be able to demonstrate the measures much more clearly directly to those enterprises you want to make results* ... *must show the resources that are either financial or human resources to help enterprises to the internationalisation and growth."*

*—*representative of developer's organisation, male.

The knowledge brokers' role can be seen as being innovative leaders of the regional innovation system. The work involves formal and informal meetings with local and international stakeholders, especially making connections with thematic platforms, finding new projects, funding or partners, or finding new technological or market opportunities, which also refers to the idea of higher education as a postmodern profession [26]:

*"There have been education activities and there has been knowledge dissemination on funding programs. We give advice and make comments, for example, on how certain ideas of organisation fit with specific funding programs."*

*—*representative of developer's organisation, female.

The above quotation is an example that shows that the knowledge broker's role is to discover and produce interactive and new information about the activities which will empower actors from various sectors. The quotation emphasises recent scholarly findings that show the importance of public institutions as connectors in regional innovation systems [1]. Knowledge brokers develop funding proposals and connect partners from a range of levels and areas. Knowledge brokers' interactive role can be found as communicators and supporters for the regional and international needs of stakeholders:

*"* ... *there are also actors without previous experience of working in international projects but get an opportunity as a member of the cluster. They finally were part of a very large network for this purpose."*

*—*representative of developer's organisation, female.

This is a core task of knowledge brokers, and as supposed, many companies willing to grow need connectors from regional networks to link local and global knowledge sources [5].

Based on the interviews, the overlapping roles of actors have led management and decision-makers to become confused. The members of the steering group and the members of the project leaders' group have overlapping roles that have an impact on project dynamics. The different roles undertaken by the same actors are caused by tasks and mandates based on the division of work between the member organisations of the consortium, and from various communication practices.

#### *4.2. Network Cooperation Model*

The knowledge broker's role in social networks is quite valuable regarding social capital effects rather than empirical indicators [23]. To differentiate between the HEIs, the authority structure should work well and in a proactive fashion [44]. This is not always the case, and external actors are needed to ensure fairness and the predictability of performance. This looks like a task for knowledge brokers.

There is a clear need for the clusters to form a dynamic network mode of action. This perspective also allows for a more active communication of information, for example, through the location of information, and thus becomes part of the actual knowledge broker's role [29,45]:

*"* ... *If they are to receive public support, then their clusters must be so closely coupled that it would not matter if I contacted any cluster member or guide (any of them) down the path towards direct European funding."*

*—*civil servant, male.

Large- and medium-sized enterprises are broadly socially networked, and their needs are more evident than small- and micro-sized enterprises. Interviewees from these enterprises discussed the need to develop a role in the regional innovation system that is related to the pursuit of non-international efforts, such as access to valuable information on markets and investments.

Discussion about knowledge brokering emphasises the natural, embedded role in the innovation system which makes it possible to organise and connect new and old connections to regional needs. [21]. Overall, participants indicated that the solution for the management and decision-making processes would be strong and committed management that coordinates the processes of all the clusters and adapt information:

*"* ... *the management system of all the clusters should be professionalised for the organisation with a longstanding experience about international operating environments."*

*—*representative of developer's organisation, male.

From this perspective, the knowledge broker's role is an opportunity for HEIs to enhance smart specialisation program goals and regional development [25].

Universities offer a lot for the smart specialisation program as knowledge brokers in cluster building. Many of the problems of organised cluster activities have connections to an unclear governance model. For example, cooperation in clusters varies widely. None of the cluster businesses have information about smart specialisation and belonging to the cluster, which raises a problem about how to transfer benefits to the region and companies:

*"* ... *there are multiple needs for internationalisation for example sharing the costs and support. It would be important for someone to be able to search networks in advance and matchmake companies* ...

*Unfortunately, the information about cluster work and possibilities has not reached our business."*

*—*entrepreneur, male.

The above quotation emphasises the role of knowledge brokers. The implementation of programs should work as an interactive process between entrepreneurs, organisations and policy-makers based on their needs. It is notable that the task of a knowledge broker seems to include mapping and experimenting with opportunities and risks as well as needs.
