The Photovoltaic Industry in Western Switzerland : The Emergence of a Multi-Local Valuation Milieu

Various territorial innovation models have been developed since the 1980s, offering a new perspective on how certain regional production systems have grown out of the innovation and training processes specific to certain local milieus. These models reflect a process of economic globalisation characterised by the increased mobility of goods and services but limited by those production factors which underpin innovation such as knowledge and innovation capital. This article reconsiders this approach, taking into account the new equally increased mobility of those cognitive and financial resources. It also seeks to understand how innovation embeds in a broader valuation system. Taking as its case study western Switzerland’s photovoltaic industry, the concept of the ‘innovative milieu’ is re-examined in the context of ever-increasing economic, political and social interest in sustainable development. Finally, in this revisited approach to territorial innovations, the use of the term ‘multi-local valuation milieu’ is proposed.