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The purpose of this paper is to examine the future prospects of innovative services linked to sustainable energy systems.

Service perspective is examined in the context of socio-technical transition and linked to the bottom-up and top-down social processes that foster sustainability. The foresight method applied is trend analysis.

Two groups of trends were identified: the trends driven by technological development and the trends focussing on societal, managerial and consumer issues. The former consists of renewable energy sources, hybrid solutions, smart grids and smart energy markets. The latter involves distributed energy production, demand response, optimisation of sustainability and the role of energy as an opportunity and as service. The study reveals that energy is increasingly understood as a comprehensive and tailor-made service solution for communities and individual households. Consumers will enter the energy market as active participants; it raises the need for many types of services.

Deepening of understanding is required in several topics of this study, and more formal methods of foresight are needed to test the generalisability of its qualitative results.

More effective policy measures are needed for fostering new services and social and system innovations in the area of sustainable energy. Innovation management practices should be developed in these areas.

The paper aims to narrow the research gap linked to foresight in services by examining services in the area of sustainable energy systems – one of the “grand challenges” today.

This paper seeks to explore arguments for the importance of disruptive innovation to China's low‐carbon transition, while such innovation is generally overlooked and/or belittled.

The paper builds on the multi‐level perspective (MLP) of systems transitions being developed by interdisciplinary scholars regarding low‐carbon innovation to explore the multiple opportunities regarding disruptive innovation in the case of China.

This exploration details that at the levels of business strategy, national economic development and governance of a transition to ecological sustainability, there is a strong prima facie case that disruptive innovation offers singular opportunities in China regarding low‐carbon innovation, while a focus on hi‐tech innovation alone is unlikely to effect the radical systems transition needed.

Acknowledging and incorporating such opportunities is thus to be encouraged, both in China and elsewhere, including in the formulation of low‐carbon innovation policy. A concerted research programme for ongoing and iterative “second‐order” learning about concrete examples of disruptive low‐carbon innovation is advocated.

The increased opportunities for dispersed social involvement in a low‐carbon transition through disruptive innovation are discussed.

The paper offers a novel synthesis of diverse literatures to advocate a significantly different approach to low‐carbon innovation than is evidenced in current policy and policy discourse.

Problem specification is a key front-end step in the innovation process. This paper aims to introduce ‘purpose-context’ – a conceptual framework to systematically explore problem-specification across mapped contexts. The framework’s logic is operationalized by the inherent structure of language – its syntax/grammar, which enables the systematic exploration of problem-specification. The method showcases two approaches to structurally explore the vast textual databases available to us today for problem-specification in innovation science, thereby furthering the pursuit of innovation through its foundational elements.

The conceptualization of the purpose-context framework was guided by logic and the scholarship of integration applied to bodies of work including innovation, design and linguistics. Further, the key elements of the conceptual framework were unpacked and structured using the syntax of language. Two approaches to operationalize the method were developed to illustrate the systematicity of the process. The construct was then validated by using it to systematically specify problems in the technical context of Raman spectroscopy and in the socio-technical context of international development. Overall, this paper is a work of relational scholarship of integration that bridges academic-practitioner gaps.

The purpose-context framework is well-suited for application in the innovation process with applicability across several abstraction levels. One key contribution is the recognition that a broader problem-specification exercise covering one-one, one-many, many-one, many-many problem-context mappings expands the range of potential solutions (innovations) to address the problem-space. Additionally, the work finds that it is possible to provide structure to the cognitive elements of the innovation process by drawing inspiration from the structure inherent in other cognitive processes such as language (e.g., parts-of-speech, phrase composition). Drawing from language is particularly appropriate as language mediates communication in any collective pursuit of the innovation process and furthermore because a large amount of information exists in textual form. Finally, this paper finds that there is merit in approaching innovation science from its foundational elements – i.e. data, information and knowledge.

While the purpose-context framework is broadly applicable, the methodical approach to provide structure to the front-end cognitive process is ‘one’ fruitful approach. We suspect other approaches exist.

The purpose-context framework is simple in its framing yet provides innovators, scholars and thought leaders, the ability to specify the problem space with greater coverage and precision. Further, in the solution-space, it provides them the ability to choose the breadth of solution scope (e.g. targeted solution addressing a single problem, targeted solution addressing a set of problems, the combination of solutions addressing a single problem and combination of solutions addressing a combination of problems). In addition, by pairing the creative front-end innovation process with machine power, this study provides a formal method to scale-up the coverage of creativity (and potentially that of solutions to those problems) and reduces the chances of missed/blind-spots in problem-specification. Finally, evaluating purpose-contexts leads to ‘capability-contexts’ – a capability-oriented viewpoint informing capability development decisions such as the focus of R&D programs and related resource allocation decisions.

The paper uses logic to connect multiple bodies of research with a goal to provide systematicity to problem-specification – problem-specification, which is an under-addressed part of the innovation process. The use of data to systematically explore problem-space lends it systematicity (repeatability and measurability) and is therefore, valuable to innovation science. The proof-of-concept demonstrates the conversion of concept into a method for practical application.

Fighting the drought. Based on this idea, for almost two centuries now the Brazilian State has elaborated policies and programmes intended to stimulate rural development in the semiarid region of the country. It is this idea which has nourished the illusion that immense infrastructures need to be built to capture, store and transport large volumes of water in order to supply production activities in the region. Associated with this proposal is the attempt to reproduce the same pattern of development adopted in other Brazilian biomes, the main characteristic of which is the use of monoculture practices on large properties managed according to entrepreneurial modes of production. However the rich social experience promoted by rural worker organizations in the region has challenged this model by proposing living with the semiarid (Convivência com o Semiárido) as the guiding principle for alternative trajectories of development. Inspired by the experience of territorial development under way in the Agreste da Borborema region of Paraíba state, the chapter shows that the evolution of these new paths of development depends on revitalizing and mobilizing locally available resources, such as ecological potentials, social mechanisms for organizing labour and for producing and sharing knowledge, local forms of connecting food production to consumption and so on. The text concludes by emphasizing the need to design and implant institutional frameworks that enable a more balanced distribution of power between the State and civil society organizations, thereby allowing the latter to assume a more substantial role in identifying and managing endogenous resources that underpin self-centred development strategies.

Whilst plastic packaging has recently been critiqued for its detrimental effects on the environment, it is largely overlooked in histories of food retailing. This paper presents a historical perspective on plastic packaging, highlighting its role in transforming UK food retailing throughout the middle to late twentieth century.

This paper is based on an analysis of the Marks & Spencer Company Archive, supplemented by company histories and biographical sources. Three examples were purposively selected based on their technologically innovative role in maintaining and enhancing Marks & Spencer's core values.

The analysis highlights plastic packaging's significance in enabling Marks & Spencer's product development process whilst maintaining and enhancing the company's core values of standards, quality, safety, freshness, hygiene and convenience. The examples demonstrate the role of plastics in technological innovation, achieving key commercial objectives in product development and contributing to the transformation of food retailing.

The research focuses on three specific examples of packaging innovation, drawing out their wider implications for socio-technical change in UK food retailing.

This historical research suggests that greater attention should be paid to plastic packaging including its material properties and the services it provides, moving beyond a blanket condemnation by acknowledging its multiple affordances in the food sector. These historical insights are instructive when thinking about the future of retailing and shopping in the context of the need for better environmental outcomes.

The aim of this paper is to understand how systemic change agents influence the twin digital and green transitions. The authors build on agency-based theories to argue that transition pathways are influenced by a combination of place-based characteristics, the mobilisation and preferences of systemic change agents (such as local clusters), and the institutional and economic context. The conceptual framework defines the different steps of the twin transition, and it identifies how systemic change agents and geographic characteristics determine the direction and speed of the transition pathway.

This paper starts with a literature review to identify the different schools of thoughts on transition pathways and the twin transition, before developing a conceptual framework and deriving policy implications.

First, this paper argues that each transition involves three steps: framing, piloting and scaling. Each of these steps is driven by systemic change agents who engage local actors in trust-based collaboration, pool resources, create network effects and exchange information to source solutions for industry-level challenges. Second, the combination of place-based characteristics and the actions of local systemic change agents define the path of the transition and the new (post-transition) equilibrium. Finally, this paper sets out implications for policymakers who are interested in using systemic change agents to shape transition pathways in their local area.

Further research is needed to provide robust empirical evidence from a range of territorial realities for the hypotheses in this paper. Specifically, the role of systemic change agents, such as trade associations, regional organisations, clusters or research groupings, needs to be investigated more closely. These agents can play a key role in progressing the transition because they already focus on sourcing solutions to joint challenges and opportunities by exchanging information, engaging local actors in trust-based collaboration, pooling resources and fostering network effects and critical mass. Future research should investigate how policymakers can best leverage on these crucial actors to progress or steer transitions and how this varies depending on place-based characteristics. This could include, for instance, training activities, networking and collaboration (e.g. through the European Cluster Collaboration Platform) or clearer sign-posting the key next steps required for the transition.

This paper identifies specific ways in which local actors can influence the direction and speed of transitions at each stage of the transition: at the framing stage, political entrepreneurship can be fostered through collaboration and smooth information flows between different levels of governance, at the piloting stage, commercial and social entrepreneurship require effective knowledge sharing and a wide and open search for solutions which, in turn, may require capacity building at the local level and coordination across stakeholder groups and levels of governance and effective scaling up can be fostered through network effects, joint commitment from a broad range of stakeholders and pooling of resources to achieve economies of scale.

An important implication of the framework is that, if several places are undergoing a parallel or joint transition, the result may not be convergence between these places. Instead, different places may choose different end points and they may proceed at different speeds. For instance, in the context of the European Union’s green and digital transitions, it is unlikely that every region will transition to a similar level of digitisation or make steps in the same direction when it comes to sustainability.

This paper plugs a gap in understanding how systemic transitions unfold and how their speed and direction are influenced by different stakeholder groups. This paper develops a conceptual framework to define twin transition pathways and it analyses prominent place-based factors affecting these pathways.

Recently, social innovation (SI) has captured the imagination of a range of actors globally, including in the higher education (HE) sector. This study explores the conceptual domain of SI leadership in HE. Drawing on the insights of 22 experienced practitioners in Canada, it provides a concept map to help guide leadership practice and research.

The study adopted Group Concept Mapping (GCM), a mixed methods approach that provides a structured way to map the “conceptual domain” of a topic from the perspectives of those with close knowledge of it. Using online GCM software, one group of participants generated statements in response to a prompting question about SI leadership. Another group sorted statements into conceptual groups, rating them for importance. The authors then produced a preliminary map using cluster analysis. A third group interpreted that map. The authors analyzed interpretation data to produce a final concept map, which is discussed in light of relevant literature.

GCM methodology resulted in 108 statements about SI leadership, with the vast majority ranked as highly important. The analysis produced a map consisting of nine “clusters” of conceptually related ideas about SI leadership, encapsulated under three interacting areas of focus: individual, relational, institutional/system. Participants confirmed the map reflected key dimensions of practice, noting it indicated important tensions and paradoxes core to their practice. Their interpretations highlighted how the map represented iterative dynamics of leadership over time and across levels; and how different theoretical and practice traditions in SI communities affect conceptualizations of leadership.

The study suggests that an area ripe for study is the navigation of micro-level systems in pursuit of meso-level and macro-level systems change. The map provides an empirically derived set of dimensions for instrument development in future SI leadership studies. The context of conventional academic institutions bounds the results but helps to surface key considerations for researching SI processes in other mature institutions. Comparison of findings with extant leadership theories suggests that, to advance theoretical research on the topic of leadership in SI, bricolage or new theory development will be needed.

The map paints broad themes with concrete, practice-level ideas. It can serve as a touchstone for reflection by experienced practitioners and offers a reference point to orient those new to leading SI.

The scholarly knowledge base about SI has been growing rapidly, but it is still an emerging field of study. There are only a handful of published studies offering perspectives on SI in HE, and none with respect to SI leadership in HE. This study offers original conceptual insights grounded in empirical data gathered through a method aligned with its exploratory purpose.

In this information era, innovation is among the most important factors for an organization to increase its performance. In this chapter, it is explored how to improve the business innovation in organizations effectively by using suitable management strategies in an emerging economy selected as Turkey. Among many strategies set and implemented for the ease of innovation, in this chapter, it is revealed that some have more direct and efficient effects. Among these strategies and practices there exist, strategic and innovative human resource management, goal setting for innovation, supporting employee creativity, empowering employees for innovation, developing effective organizational communication, leading for innovation, building an innovative organizational culture and establishing teams for innovation. These practices are derived from the selected Borsa Istanbul (BIST) Companies in Turkey. Strategies of five companies which are indexed in BIST30 and BIST Sustainability Index, and additionally, which are all candidates of innovation leader in their sector, were taken as examples reflecting the innovative atmosphere in Turkey.

The purpose of this paper is to model the relationship between “innovation systems” players and markets to indicate the “innovation functions” behavior during the petrochemical technology life cycle.

In a general classification, innovation systems are divided into four categories: technical, sectoral, regional and national. If two approaches are hybrid, their benefits would be combined. According to the sectoral structure of the governance model in Iran, in many sectors, such as petrochemical technology, the combination of one another with a sectoral approach is essential. Hence, this paper has introduced a new hybrid approach, called a techno-sectoral innovation system, and has used system dynamics as a methodology and a petrochemical industry as a case study.

The results predict the functions state of the innovation system and detect activation of innovation motors in each stage of innovation life cycle. Validation is investigated using Monte Carlo simulation that shows the error of the indices is acceptable. It can be concluded that the model is relatively in a development state and the motor of entrepreneurship functions.

This case-based model can help other researchers, as a generic model. It could be customized with the input parameters and relational flows of new cases, and functions (F1-F7) can show the result of each scenario made by the innovation analyst and the policymaker.

This chapter proposes the socioeconomic metabolism (SEM) and multilevel perspective (MLP) as “novel” conceptual and practical models that island policy makers can apply to analyzing the transitioning from the current island tourism to sustainable island tourism. Pandemics, such as COVID-19 and climate-related disasters pose risks that highlight a need for restructuring the dominant “sun, sea, and sand” and mass tourism, with excessive resort buildup on the coasts. These crises and disasters constantly disrupt island tourism, exacerbating the already volatile nature of the tourism industry, especially in the Caribbean. Therefore, the SEM which grounds an understanding of how the island system functions, coupled with the MLP that explains sustainability transitions, are proffered as an alternative and systematic approach to restructuring island tourism. In this regard, the models are analyzed for their application to the tourism accommodation subsector. The chapter concludes with the relevance of the models to policy makers and demonstrates how their application can minimize the risks posed by disasters and pandemics to materials and energy flows in the accommodation sector and eventually lead to sustainable island tourism.