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This chapter advances our understanding of collaborative innovation processes that span across organizational boundaries by providing an ethnographic account of idea generation dynamics in a member-initiated online songwriting community. Applying a science and technology studies perspective on processes “in the making,” the findings of this chapter reveal the generative entanglements of three processes of content-in-the-making, skill-in-the-making, and community-in-the-making that were triggered and maintained over time by temporary stabilizations of provisional, interim outcomes. These findings also elucidate interferences between these three processes, particularly when an increased focus on songs as products undermines the ongoing collaborative production of ideas. Regular interventions in the community design were necessary to simultaneously stimulate the three processes and counteract interfering tendencies that either prioritized content production, community building, or skill development, respectively. The authors conclude that firms seeking to tap into online communities’ innovative potential need to appreciate community and skill development as creative processes in their own right that have to be fostered and kept in sync with content production.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the development and evolution of industrial innovation ecosystems of Around-Tongji Knowledge Economy Circle from the three levels mentioned above, focusing on knowledge-producing populations, core populations and service-supporting populations, and to further develop this research framework by combining with the latest developments.

Based on the five-helix theory and economic census statistical data, this paper adopts geographic information system technology and examines the characteristics of the industrial innovation ecosystem and the synergistic evolution process in Around-Tongji knowledge economy circle.

The knowledge product populations lead the development of industries in Around-Tongji Knowledge Economy Circle. It contributes political capital output for the government. It innovates community cooperation and governance mode, and it improves the natural ecological environment. In the face of the changes and challenges in the development environment, the future development must be recognised from the height of the iterative development of the interaction mode between university knowledge production and economic and social development.

Based on the five-helix theory and economic census statistical data, this paper examines the characteristics of the industrial innovation ecosystem and the synergistic evolution process in Around-Tongji Knowledge Economy Circle. It further expands the research framework used to develop a synergistic evolution model, which reveals the interactive and synergistic relationship among the populations and the evolution characteristics of the entire industrial innovation ecosystem. This paper also provides useful perspectives for the study of the industrial innovation ecosystem.

This article presented the results of studies that examined the appropriateness of the content, readability of printed learning materials and the effectiveness of external resources in ecology course offered at Universitas Terbuka. To integrate external resources, links to their websites were provided in the printed materials.

An in-depth interview with a content expert was employed to review the course content, while digital and printed learning materials were reviewed for readability and to determine the usefulness of the external resources. A total of 47 students completed surveys and a focus group discussion that included in-depth interviews were conducted with 21 selected students.

The results revealed that the content of ecology course was conceptually valid. However, two key aspects needed to be emphasized, including the application of ecology phenomena for further development of the science and its applications in real-life situations. Regarding readability, students stated that the course materials were easily comprehended. In terms of the benefit, 79% of the students found the external resources interesting and helpful in understanding the learning materials.

Printed learning materials were crucial for students, specifically those residing in remote areas. Therefore, the institution should ensure that the materials were high-quality, easy to comprehend and enriched with up-to-date content/materials through scannable links to external resources.

The value added to the findings of this study was that the provision of links to external resources within printed learning materials improves students' understanding of the course content.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the literature on the representation of the quadruple and quintuple helix (QQH) in innovation environments such as incubators and science and technology parks (STPs).

The authors used the integrative review as a methodological approach and systematized studies regarding the main research objectives; theoretical approaches; methodology and study object; QQH representation, by identifying actor, performance and main results; and additional contributions to the QQH model.

As a result, the authors noticed a lack of standardization on the representation of the quadruple helix, but the example of associations and community centers as representatives of the civil society. The quintuple helix does not have an actor that represents the environment, but STPs foster sustainable actions, encourage the generation of green companies and stimulate sustainable practices among established companies.

Based on changes in the economic and social scenarios, new theoretical approaches emerge to explain the innovation process, such as the QQH. Incubators and STPs are favorable settings for interactions, according to the new models; however, there is a lack of studies addressing this topic in such environments. Hence, this study contributes to understanding the existence and performance of QQH, by showing how these new helices were identified, in addition to advancing the subject in innovation environments such as incubators and STPs.

This paper aims to describe an innovative approach of integrating sustainability into the structures and processes of a business school without creating resistance.

A sustainable entrepreneurship competition was embedded as an independent programme in an already existing business plan competition at the School of Business FHNW. The paper shows, which structural elements of the competition had to be adapted to the needs of sustainable entrepreneurs.

The paper outlines aspects that need to be considered and steps that need to be taken to run a sustainable entrepreneurship competition supporting as many high-quality projects as possible. It describes the importance of developing an independent instrument that meets the specific needs of sustainable entrepreneurs in project planning. The sustainable innovation plan is explained.

The student projects are developed at the School of Business FHNW as part of the entrepreneurship competition, which has been successfully carried out twice. They have numerous measurable positive social and ecological effects, which are described by the students in their sustainable innovation plans and are subsequently reflected in the realization of the projects.

Using the example of the Swiss Student Sustainability Challenge, the paper demonstrates under which conditions a sustainability project can be successfully integrated into the existing structures of an institution of higher education and develop into a beacon project of the university. Other universities can make use of these findings to launch comparable projects at their institutions.

In a context where the process of creation of technology and innovation for agriculture is being disrupted at a fast pace, the authors proposed to study one of the most prominent agtech innovation ecosystems. Therefore, this paper aims to identify key characteristics that make California’s agtech innovation ecosystem remarkable.

The paper is an exploratory and descriptive research carried out in a twofold. First, data were collected through documental research focusing on actors such as universities, R&D centers and programs, business accelerators and venture capital platforms, agtechs, as well as multinational companies. Second, structured interviews were carried out to complement the secondary data collected and to obtain experts’ perception on the relationships between actors of the ecosystem and on the characteristics that make this ecosystem remarkable.

The paper provides empirical insights about the relevance of California's agtech innovation ecosystem to creation of radical innovations in agriculture. It has a differentiated environment, where educational and research institutions play a key role in developing new knowledge. It also shows how important funding is to allow new business to succeed. Additionally, it shows that actors interact in a complex network, with multiple roles. All these key characteristics allow this agtech innovation ecosystem to be so remarkable.

Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to survey a larger number of actors of this and other agtech innovation ecosystems to test the identified key characteristics further.

The paper includes indication of characteristics necessary to develop a prominent agtech innovation ecosystem, which may contribute to decision makers to develop policies aiming to promote this type of ecosystem.

This paper fulfils an identified need to open the “black-box” of agtech innovation ecosystems, which may then allow radical innovations within the sector to be developed and taken to the market.