Kyriaki Papageorgiou

About

Kyriaki Papageorgiou has a PhD in Cultural Anthropology and is currently researching the future of education and academic work. She is the author of the book "Envisioning the Future of Learning for Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship" and “Labs for Social Innovation." Her research has employed anthropological theories and ethnographic methods to critically examine social, technological and business innovation side-by-side. She has been particularly interested in the discourses and practices of innovation in tackling big societal challenges, and the emergent role of robotics and AI in transforming work and our daily lives.

Kyriaki has led a collaborative research program on prototyping the future of education at Fusion Point, an initiative between ESADE, the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) in Barcelona. She has been a Visiting Research Fellow with the Program on Science, Technology & Society at the Harvard Kennedy School, a Research & Innovation Coordinator at the Delegation of the European Union in Egypt and a Fulbright Scholar. She is the recipient of numerous research grants from competitive funding agencies such as the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the EU Framework Program for Research and Innovation (FP7, H2020), the Wenner-Gren Foundation and UNESCO. She has served as an independent expert to the EC Directorate for Research and Innovation, Egypt's Ministry of Scientific Research and the Canadian International Development Research Center.

Publications

Labs for Social Innovation: A Review

Social innovation labs use experimental, human-centered methods to tackle complex societal challenges. This report explores their rise, methods, and impact, offering insights and inspiration for systemic change across sectors.

Envisioning the Future of Learning for Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Education is evolving, and this book helps educators and stakeholders navigate change in creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Drawing on insights from 250+ experts, it maps key shifts and offers guidance for shaping the future of learning.

The Future of Learning Playbook

This playbook provides a rich set of easy-to-use canvases, specific examples, and invites readers to begin a journey of reflection to design their own futures, building their capacity to design an innovative and creative learning landscape.

^{Recent Publications (since 2020)}

2025 Sensemaking with AI: How Trust Influences Human-AI Collaboration in Health and Creative Industries. With Sarah Daly and Greg Hearn. Social Sciences and Humanities Open. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.101346

2025 Inscribing impact: Measurement practices in the making of moral markets. With Lisa Hehenberger and Guillermo Casanovas. Journal of Management Studies. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.13184

2025 Social innovation in action: Building ecosystems for real-life challenges. With Laura Espiau Guarner, Karina Maldonado-Mariscal, and Louise Pulford. SocArXiv. Pre-print OSF, https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/y35hp_v2

2024 Integration of social innovation ecosystems in four European countries. With Karina Maldonado-Mariscal. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/j4qb3

2023 The Future of Learning Playbook. With John Bessant and Olga Kokshagina. Berlin: De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110767360

2023 Historical orientations and evolving responsibilities of technological universities. With Diana Adela Martin, Gunter Bombaerts, Maja Horst, Gianluigi Viscusi. Science and Engineering Ethics. 40:29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-023-00460-2

2022 Three European experiences of co-creating ethical solutions to real-world problems through challenge-based learning. With Diana Adela Martin, Christian Herzog, Gunter Bombaerts. The Emerald Handbook of Challenge Based Learning. Emerald Publishing Limited, Bingley, pp. 251-279. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80117-490-920221011

2022 Envisioning the Future of Learning for Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. With Olga Kokshagina. Berlin: De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110752205

2021 Innovating with creative machines: On creative AI, trust and human-machine collaborations. With Sarah J. Daly. https://www.proquest.com/conference-papers-proceedings/innovating-with-creative-machines-on-ai-trust/docview/2561107482/se-2

2021 A new vision for teaching and learning. HEI Innovate news. With Olga Kokshagina. https://heinnovate.eu/en/news/knowledge-alliance-vision

2021 The politics of scaling. Social Studies of Science. With Sebastian Pfotenhauer, Brice Laurent, and Jack Stilgoe. https://doi.org/10.1177/03063127211048945

2021 Prototyping the future of learning: reflections after seven iterations of Challenge-Based Innovation (2014-2020). CERN IdeaSquare Journal of Experimental Innovation. 5(1): 5-10. With Lotta Hassi, Ramon Bragos, Guido Charosky, and Luciana Liveratto. https://doi.org/10.23726/cij.2021.1290

2021 The Future of education in the real world: Five shifts to consider for building a better learning environment. Times Higher Education (July 5). https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/future-education-real-world-five-shifts-consider-building-better-learning-environment

2021 Developing innovation competences in engineering students: Two approaches comparison. European Journal of Engineering Education. 47(2): 353-372. With Guido Charosky, Lotta Hassi, Ramon Bragos. https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2021.1968347

2021 What is wrong with co-creation? SCALINGS project blog (July 12) https://scalings.eu/what-is-wrong-with-co-creation/

2020 Multivocality and calculability in field emergence: The case of impact investing in Spain. With Guillermo Casasnovas and Lisa Hehenberger. Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings. 2020(1):18985. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2020.157