Innovation – Networks and Urban Systems Centre (NUSC)

Learning Under Fire: How NATO Militaries—and Others—Can Adapt Faster

On 3 December 2025 By Natasha Lawlor-Morrison In Change Management, Innovation, Organisational Learning, Research Spotlight

The map room hums with servers and low voices. Coffee rings stain the edges of a thick after action report, its spine cracked from travel. “We captured the lesson,” the lieutenant says, “but it never became practice.” Heads nod around the table.

The lesson is there—buried in a PDF, referenced in a PowerPoint, archived in a SharePoint folder named after last year’s exercise. The official process is immaculate, but the next patrol leaves with what fits the tempo of the day: a briefing, a map, a hope not to repeat the mistake.

Why do high-stakes organisations struggle to learn from their mistakes?

The Architecture of Innovation: Lessons from a Football Academy

On 29 October 2025 By Natasha Lawlor-Morrison In Innovation, Research Spotlight, SMEs, Social Network Analysis

In the heart of Belgium, a football academy – KRC Genk – buzzes with quiet intensity. Coaches huddle over data sheets, young players lace up boots with dreams of stardom, and behind the scenes, a task force assembles — not just to talk tactics, but to ensure that the academy stays at the forefront of developing talent. This task force is composed of individuals selected from within the academy- taking a bottom-up approach that leverages their expertise. By including external knowledge, this task force can also challenge the status quo and promote innovative thinking.

Leading the Change: How Corporate Leadership Drives Eco-Innovation

On 8 October 2025 By Natasha Lawlor-Morrison In Eco-Innovation, Environmental, Green, Innovation, Machine Learning, Research Spotlight, Sustainable Development, Systems Dynamics, Systems Thinking

Imagine a startup that creates edible packaging made from seaweed. You buy a takeaway coffee, and instead of a plastic lid, it’s sealed with a biodegradable, tasteless seaweed film (Product innovation). You can toss it in the compost—or eat it.

Now scale that up: this packaging replaces millions of plastic wrappers in supermarkets. It dissolves in water, leaves no microplastics, and is made from a fast-growing, carbon-sequestering marine plant (Process innovation). The company partners with coastal communities to harvest seaweed sustainably, creating jobs and restoring marine ecosystems (Social impact).

This is eco-innovation in action.

It’s not just clever—it’s transformative.