New Approaches to Sustainable Development in Clusters and Regional Innovation Systems

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue sets itself within the field of studies on economic-, social-, and environmentally-sustainable regional development facing a set of contemporary multi-scale and interrelated global challenges. Such challenges include those posed to ecosystems by resource overuse, territorial disaggregation and pollution, and biodiversity decline, but also extending to technological and globalization disruptions of productive and societal contexts, as well as more broadly to the threats to sustainable individual and collective well-being such as those prompted by the recent pandemic event.

The collection of papers will bring new evidence and interpretations on supporting and hindering factors to paths towards sustainability within and between traditional or emergent localized clusters of productive activities (local production systems). Specifically, the papers will look at cases embedded or anchored in the different places (cities, industrial districts, rural areas, etc.) and ecosystems that may constitute a regional context of territorial development (sub-national areas such as NUTS 2 regions in the EU, metropolitan statistical areas in the USA, prefectures and large cities in China, etc.).

Case-studies related to parts of the theme can already be found. These intertwine with a plurality of theoretical lenses and perspectives of research on regional sustainability including, among others, models of sustainable regional innovation systems, bio-regions, competitiveness poles, and innovative milieux; green investments and greening transitions in industrial districts, business clusters, agricultural and natural-resource innovation systems, and other models of territorial development; models of knowledge creation and institutional interrelation in social and productive systems sensible to limits and impacts of the natural environment, such as the quintuple helix, the innovation ecosystems, and the sustainability transition theories with their multi-level frames.

For more details and examples, see the Streams of Research and recommended References below.

In this context, the increasing strength of societal, technological, and environmental challenges (and prospective multiplicative impacts of the current pandemic) has generated the increased number and variety of paths pointing to sustainability transitions in local productive clusters. These must be assessed through a timely collective effort that is able to insert the cases within frames of multi-level ecosystems and social, institutional, production, and knowledge networks. Therefore, the Guest Editors welcome the submission of drafts and papers (details below) contributing novel evidence and interpretations on the theme highlighted above in Italics, under one or more of the abovementioned lens and streams of research. Specific attention will be given to papers proposing original analyses of new or evolving approaches and practices in the governance of such local paths towards sustainable development related to regional innovation systems, supportive factors, or barriers; in addition, signs of success or failure should also be considered.

The authors strongly encourage potential contributors to first submit a long abstract online within 6 months after the publication of the call. This should contain a summary of the aim, approach, methodology, and expected results of the proposed contribution. The Guest Editors will provide feedback on the submitted abstracts so as to confirm that the proposals fit within the scope of the Special Issue and to support the submission process. The fully-written manuscripts should then be submitted by the end of the submission deadline (31 January 2022).

An open set of Streams of Research

(references are illustrative, not exhaustive)

- The transformative dynamics (path renewal, creation, exhaustion) of local clusters of productive activities and their places when meeting threats and opportunities of territorial development related to sustainability challenges [1–10].

- The need to combine social and material innovation within digital (e.g., Industry 4.0) and green productive investments for fueling circular solutions and sustainability transitions played out at the local level [11–13].

- The support to sustainable transitions given by regional innovation systems (RIS) able to favor trans-local, cross-cluster, and multi-scalar resource and knowledge fertilization through networks of relevant actors [14–20].

- The creation and upscaling of multi actor, cross sectoral innovation niches capable to foster sustainable transitions [21–23].

- The relation of sustainable RIS with models of polycentric partnerships centered in helical initiatives (triple, quadruple) of hybridized agencies and innovative milieux [24–28].

- The role adopted in sustainable regional development by corporate social responsibility and shared value strategies played by local and trans-local business actors under new types and hybrid domains of business models and processes of value creation and capture [29,30].

- The role in sustainable regional development played by entrepreneurial and engaged universities (and other educational, research, and knowledge exchange institutions adopting similar or related approaches) within innovation networks [31–35].

- The role in sustainable regional development played by local and non-local civic and cultural actors intermediating the constitution of new place-based identities and stocks of social and cultural capital around local productive clusters while promoting creative communities of sustainable practices [36–41].

- The role in sustainable regional development played by place leaders favoring the translation of emergent collective demand for sustainability and health into collective action and participatory practices for the provision of specific public goods and new commons [42–45].

- The need to consider both human agency and natural life processes as drivers of local and regional sustainable development as exemplified in quintuple helix, innovation ecosystems, and place-based sustainability transitions approaches [21,25,46–48].

- Conversely, the hindering role against sustainable development played by socio-cultural, territorial, and institutional lock-in, specialization traps, thin social capital, weak or unbalanced compositions of innovation partnerships, rent-seeking and rent-preserving coalitions, power struggles within and between multi-level governance structures, and the difficulties of place-based policies, monopolistic power within productive and innovation systems, and the specific difficulties in the global South [7,9,49–57].

References

1. Becattini G.; Bellandi M; De Propris L. (eds.) A Handbook of Industrial Districts; Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, 2009.
2. Mazzanti, M.; Zoboli, R. Embedding environmental innovation in local production systems: SME strategies, networking and industrial relations: evidence on innovation drivers in industrial districts. Rev. Appl. Econ. 2009, 23(2), 169–195
3. Cainelli, G.; Mazzanti, M.; Montresor, S. Environmental innovations, local networks and internationalization. Innov. 2012, 19(8), 697–734.
4. Da Ronch, B.; Di Maria, E.; Micelli, S. Clusters go green: drivers of environmental sustainability in local networks of SMEs. J. Inf. Syst. Soc. Change 2013, 4(1), 37–52.
5. Cooke, P. Green governance and green clusters: regional & national policies for the climate change challenge of Central & Eastern Europe. Open Innov. 2015, 1(1), 1.
6. Lin, H.-P.; Hu, T.-S. Knowledge Interaction and Spatial Dynamics in Industrial Districts. Sustainability 2017, 9, 1421.
7. Pecquer, B., & Nadou, F. (eds.), Dynamiques territoriales et mutations économiques. Transition, intermediation, innovation. L'Harmattan, Paris, 2018.
8. Oliveira, M. D. F.; Gomes da Silva, F.; Ferreira, S.; Teixeira, M.; Damásio, H.; Dinis Ferreira, A.; Gonçalves, J. M. Innovations in sustainable agriculture: Case study of Lis Valley irrigation district, Portugal. Sustainability 2019, 11(2), 331.
9. Torre A. Territorial Development and Proximity Relationships. In: Handbook of Regional and Development Theories, 2nd edition; Capello, R.; Nijkamp, P.; Edward Elgar Publishers, Cheltenham, UK, 2019; pp. 326–343.
10. Gravagnuolo, A.; Angrisano, M.; Fusco Girard, L. Circular Economy Strategies in Eight Historic Port Cities: Criteria and Indicators Towards a Circular City Assessment Framework. Sustainability 2019, 11, 3512.
11. Morales, M.E.; Diemer, A. Industrial Symbiosis Dynamics, a Strategy to Accomplish Complex Analysis: The Dunkirk Case Study. Sustainability 2019, 11, 1971.
12. De Propris L.; Bailey D. (eds.) Industry 4.0 and regional transformations; Routledge, London, UK, 2020.
13. Wittmayer JM.; de Geus, T.; Pel, B.; Avelino, F, et al. Beyond instrumentalism: Broadening the understanding of social innovation in socio-technical energy systems. Energy Res. Soc. Sci. 2020, 70, 1–10.
14. Cooke, P. Regional Innovation Systems, Clean Technology & Jacobian Cluster‐Platform Policies. Sci. Policy Pract. 2008, 1, 23–45.
15. Asheim, B.; Isaksen A.; Tripple M. Advanced Introduction to Regional Innovation Systems; Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, UK, 2019.
16. Gerstlberger, W. Regional innovation systems and sustainability—selected examples of international discussion. Technovation 2004, 24(9), 749–758.
17. Schwerdtner, W.; Siebert, R.; Busse, M.; Freisinger, U.B. Open Innovation Roadmapping: A New Framework for Innovation-Based Regional Development. Sustainability 2015, 7, 2301–2321.
18. Ponsiglione, C.; Quinto, I.; Zollo, G. Regional Innovation Systems as Complex Adaptive Systems: The Case of Lagging European Regions. Sustainability 2018, 10, 2862.
19. Chaminade, C.; Bellandi, M.; Plechero, M.; Santini, E. Understanding processes of path renewal and creation in thick specialized regional innovation systems. Evidence from two textile districts in Italy and Sweden. Plan. Stud. 2019, 27(10), 1978–1994.
20. Hassink, R.; Isaksen, A.; Trippl, M. Towards a comprehensive understanding of new regional industrial path development. Stud. 2019, 53(11), 1636–1645.
21. Pigford, A.A.E.; Hickey, G.M.; Klerkx, L. Beyond agricultural innovation systems? Exploring an agricultural innovation ecosystems approach for niche design and development in sustainability transitions. Syst. 2018, 164, 116–121.
22. Stefani, G.; Nocella, G.; Sacchi, G. Piloting a Meta-Database of Agroecological Transitions: An Example from Sustainable Cereal Food Systems. Agriculture 2020, 10(6), 219.
23. Hoppe, T.; Miedema, M.A. Governance Approach to Regional Energy Transition: Meaning, Conceptualization and Practice. Sustainability 2020, 12, 915.
24. Cai, Y.; Etzkowitz, H. Theorizing the Triple Helix model: Past, present, and future. Triple Helix 2020, 6(1), 1–38.
25. Carayannis, E.G.; Campbell, D.F. «Mode 3» and «Quadruple Helix»: Toward a 21st Century Fractal Innovation Ecosystem. J. Technol. Manag. 2009, 46(3–4), 201–234.
26. Lehmann, M.; Christensen, P.; Johnson, B. Partnerships and Sustainable Regional Innovation Systems: Special Roles for Universities? In Facilitating Sustainable Innovation through Collaboration; Sarkis, J., Cordeiro, J., Vazquez Brust, D.; Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 2010; pp. 41–58.
27. Kebir, L.; Crevoisier, O.; Costa, P.; Peyrache-Gadeau, V. (eds) Sustainable innovation and regional development: rethinking innovative milieus; Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, UK, 2017.
28. Yun, J.J.; Liu, Z. Micro- and Macro-Dynamics of Open Innovation with a Quadruple-Helix Model. Sustainability 2019, 11, 3301.
29. Porter, M.E.; Kramer, M.R. The big idea: Creating shared value. Bus. Rev. 2011, 89(1–2), pp. 3–17.
30. Aoyama, Y.; Parthasarathy, B. When both State and Market fail: Inclusive Development and Social Innovation in India. Area Dev. Pol. 2018, 3 (3), pp. 330–348.
31. Etzkowitz, H. The entrepreneurial university wave: from ivory tower to global economic engine. High. Educ. 2014, 28 (4), pp. 223–232.
32. Trencher, G.; Yarime, M.; McCormick, K.B.; Doll, C.N.H.; Kraines, S.B. Beyond the third mission: Exploring the emerging university function of co-creation for sustainability, Public Policy 2014, 41 (2), pp. 151–179.
33. Apostolopoulos, N.; Moon, C. J.; Walmsley A. The entrepreneurial university as an engine for sustainable development. J. Innov. Reg. Dev. 2018, 8(4), pp. 358–372.
34. Thomas, E.; Pugh, R. From ”entrepreneurial" to "engaged" universities: social innovation for regional development in the Global South. Stud. 2020, 54 (12), pp. 1631–1643.
35. Blix Germundsson, L.; Augustinsson, S.; Lidén, A. Collaboration in the Making—Towards a Practice-Based Approach to University Innovation Intermediary Organisations. Sustainability 2020, 12(12), 5142.
36. Sacco, P.; Ferilli, G.; Blessi, G. T. Culture as an Engine of Local Development Processes: System-wide Cultural districts II: Prototype Cases. Growth Change, 2013, 44, pp. 571–588.
37. Becattini, G. Beyond geo-sectoriality: The productive chorality of places. Reg. 2015, 32, pp. 31–41.
38. Stefani, G.; Lombardi, G. V.; Romano, D.; Cei, L. Grass root collective action for territorially integrated food supply chains: A case study from Tuscany. J. Food Syst. Dyn. 2017, 8(4), pp. 347–362.
39. Omobhude, C.; Chen, S.-H. Social Innovation for Sustainability: The Case of Oil Producing Communities in the Niger Delta region. Sustainability 2019, 11, 6767.
40. Roman, M.; Varga, H.; Cvijanovic, V.; Reid, A. Quadruple Helix Models for Sustainable Regional Innovation: Engaging and Facilitating Civil Society Participation. Economies 2020, 8, 48.
41. Filippini, R.; Marescotti, M. E.; Demartini, E.; Gaviglio, A. Social Networks as Drivers for Technology Adoption: A Study from a Rural Mountain Area in Italy. Sustainability 2020, 12(22), 9392
42. Crouch, C.; Le Galès, P.; Trigilia C.; Voelzkow, H. (eds) Changing Governance of Local Economies: Responses of European Local Production Systems; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2004.
43. Sőlvell, Ő. Construction of the Cluster Commons. In The Oxford Handbook of Local Competitiveness; Audretsch, D., Link, A., Lindestein Walshok, M., Eds.; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2015; pp. 84–101.
44. Sotarauta, M.; Suvinen, N. Institutional agency and path creation. In New avenues for regional innovation systems. Theoretical Advances, empirical cases and policy Lessons; Isaksen, A., Martin, R., Trippl, M., Eds.; Springer, Cham, Switzerland, 2018; pp. 85–104.
45. Ferrannini, A.; Barbieri, E.; Biggeri, M.; Di Tommaso, M.R. Industrial policy for sustainable human development in the post-Covid19 era, World Dev. in press.
46. Carayannis, E.G.; Barth, T.D.; Campbell, D.F. The Quintuple Helix innovation model: global warming as a challenge and driver for innovation. Innov. Entrep. 2012, 1(1), pp. 1–12.
47. Grundel I.; Dahlström M. A Quadruple and Quintuple Helix Approach to Regional Innovation Systems in the Transformation to a Forestry-Based Bioeconomy. Knowl. Econ. 2016, 7, pp. 963–983.
48. Truffer, B.; Coenen, L. Environmental Innovation and Sustainability Transitions. Stud., 2012, 46(1), pp. 1–21.
49. Young, R.F. “Free cities and regions”—Patrick Geddes’s theory of planning. Urb. Plan. 2017, 166, pp. 27–36.
50. Feldman, M.; Guy, F.; Iammarino, S. Regional Income Disparities, Monopoly & Finance. Working Paper, University of London, Birbeck, 43, October 2019
51. Randelli, F.; Martellozzo, F. Is rural tourism-induced built-up growth a threat for the sustainability of rural areas? The case study of Tuscany. Land Use Pol., 2019, 86, pp. 387–398.
52. Bellandi, M. & Santini, E. Place leadership in emerging product-service systems. J. Bus. Environ 2020, 11(3), pp. 321–335.
53. Eidt, C. M.; Pant, L. P.; Hickey, G. M. Platform, participation, and power: how dominant and minority stakeholders shape agricultural innovation. Sustainability 2020, 12(2), 461.
54. Sabatini-Marques, J.; Yigitcanlar, T.; Schreiner, T.; Wittmann, T.; Sotto, D.; Inkinen, T. Strategizing Smart, Sustainable, and Knowledge-Based Development of Cities: Insights from Florianópolis, Brazil. Sustainability 2020, 12,
55. Beer, A.; McKenzie, F.; Blazec, J.; Sotarauta, M.; Ayres, S. Every place matters: Towards effective place-based policy. Regional studies policy impact books. Taylor & Francis, Abingdon, UK, 2020
56. Booponoyeng Bayuo, B.; Chaminade, C.; Göransson, B. Unpacking the role of universities in the emergence, development and impact of social innovations—A systematic review of the literature. For. Soc. Ch, 2020, 155, in press
57. Cutolo, D.; Kenney, M. Platform-Dependent Entrepreneurs: Power Asymmetries, Risks, and Strategies in the Platform Economy. Man. Pers., forthcoming.

Prof. Marco Bellandi
Dr. Gianluca Stefani
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.