INNO-ACT brings sociocultural anthropology and innovation studies together to tackle the following interrelated questions: (i) How did innovation arise to its current prominence, particularly in the European Union? (ii) What are the different meanings, discourses, and values used by different actors when referencing innovation? and (iii) Under which circumstances does innovation emerge and make a positive difference to society as a whole? My project engages systematic information search and retrieval, and employs ethnographic research methods to conduct fieldwork among innovators and innovation professionals in different settings. By interweaving the largely neglected anthropological literature and novel approaches for studying the contemporary, INNO-ACT expects to advance the current scholarship of innovation. Although my research takes a critical approach to innovation, its purpose is not to reprove its proponents and dismiss it as a fad, but to understand how and what it produces, and its impact in addressing the current complex societal challenges. Based on the epistemological and empirical material generated by the study, INNO-ACT aims to generate concrete recommendations in order to assist the design of future actions. The project will be hosted at ESADE Business School in Barcelona. Situating INNO-ACT in the stimulating, prestigious and international environment of ESADE's Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Management will be instrumental in acquiring new technical knowledge, enhancing my professional competencies and building my research capacities. In supporting the execution of this project, the Marie Curie fellowship gives me an opportunity to re-establish my research career and strengthen my qualifications in order to pursue a position from which to engage in intellectually rigorous and socially relevant international scholarship that addresses questions that matter.