Why solely rely on governmental action, private sector management or science as the principal providers of solutions to societal problems, if most citizens could become fully self-reliant troubleshooters and problem solvers for the complex challenges and crises our societies face? Even though in times of acute crisis, top-down interventions may be necessary to keep a societal system viable, citizen-driven innovation policy could be a better long-term approach to society's challenges. We, as a society, should focus on the collaborative capabilities and creativity of ourselves; civic change processes should be based on a broad system understanding, strong values and citizen participation. To foster a climate inspiring collaboration across various levels of society, changes within governmental, political and private sector management policies must accompany this approach. Further, to equip citizens with the particular competences needed to successfully participate in citizen-driven innovation when dealing with crises, educational programs from kindergarten to graduate school should include training in social responsibility and sustainable development. Combinations of both top-down interventions and citizen-driven innovations will likely lead to more sustainable crises resolution than either approach alone.

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If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to present how the Regional Centres of Expertise (RCE) Graz-Styria as well as RCEs as instruments can contribute to regional development. The RCE Graz-Styria is representing a case study of Central European RCEs. Design/methodology/approach -The paper describes the development process of RCE Graz-Styria. Regional challenges to strengthen sustainable regional development have been investigated by literature review and interviews with regional actors. Findings -The paper discusses challenges of establishing an RCE and describes how an RCE can face regional and global challenges by innovative actions. Practical implications -The paper provides an insight of the establishment of the RCE Graz-Styria. Readers who would like to establish an RCE in their own region can learn from the process of RCE Graz-Styria. The reader has to take into account that the regional challenges might be different, and thus the RCE Graz-Styria is a role model regarding its management structure for RCEs based at universities. Originality/value -By 2008 and since 2006, every year more than ten new RCEs have been officially acknowledged by the United Nations University. Specially for those new RCEs coming in the next years, which can learn from reading about different management structures and different challenges experienced by different RCEs. For already established RCEs, RCE case studies are useful not only for learning from other RCEs but also for getting in contact with RCEs with common interests and initiating common projects.

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