Technological change is moving fast. For small and medium-sized enterprises, this creates both opportunities and pressure. New knowledge, tools and ideas are widely available, yet turning them into everyday practice often proves difficult. Many organisations struggle not with access to knowledge, but with deciding what to trust, how to experiment, and when to change existing routines.

This research explores how Universities of Applied Sciences and SMEs work together to improve learning and innovation under these conditions of uncertainty. It focuses on practice-based collaborations in which students, educators and professionals jointly explore real-world challenges. These collaborations create innovation spaces where ideas can be tested, adapted and translated into workable solutions.

​

Using a combination of interviews, observations and surveys, the study examines how knowledge is taken up in daily work. The findings show that learning is shaped by tension: between established ways of working and the need to adapt, between practical demands and more abstract forms of knowledge. Students often play a key role in this process by introducing fresh perspectives and questioning taken-for-granted assumptions.

Rather than treating knowledge transfer as a linear process, this research approaches learning as something that develops through experience, reflection and choice. It highlights how awareness, trust and experimentation determine whether new knowledge is actually used.

​

The study offers insights for organisations, educators and policymakers who work in practice-oriented innovation contexts. It shows how learning under uncertainty can strengthen adaptability, without losing connection to everyday work.