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3Sustainability and economic growth—the integration and balance of social, environmental, and economic needs—is a salient concern for sustainable development and social well-being. By focusing on a sustainable innovation project, we explore how entrepreneurial ecosystems become sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems and investigate the interactions of entrepreneurial actors. We conducted an inductive, single-case study of a specific collaborative innovation project in the denim industry specialized in a specific geographic location. From our data, we show that the presence of four conditional aspects foster sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems. These include sustainability orientation of actors, recognition of sustainable opportunities and resource mobilization, collaborative innovation of sustainability opportunities, and markets for sustainable products. We make two observations that contribute to the literature. First, we see that in a sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem, entrepreneurial experimentation is a highly interdependent and interactive process. Second, we see that recognition of sustainable opportunities is distributed among different actors in the ecosystem. Our findings also have implications for practitioners and policy-makers.
DOCUMENT
In today’s dynamic business landscape, the continuous development of employee skills is an important driver for innovation and performance in the workplace. However, employee skillsets are often inadequate, posing a challenge for organisational innovativeness and performance. Although concepts and instruments at the organisational level are helpful, organisations need additional methods to facilitate continuous skill development. Interorganisational skills learning communities (ISLCs) have recently emerged in Europe to address this need, presenting a promising approach to enhance employee skill development. Nevertheless, designers and employees face significant challenges in ensuring long-term skill development through ISLCs. Treating ISLCs as dynamic interorganisational ecosystems that must adapt to changing contexts is essential, but learning community literature currently lacks specification on how adaptive and effective ISLCs can be designed. In the present paper, we present a novel and comprehensive ISLC design framework underpinned by modern-sociotechnical systems theory (MSTS), network theory, and state-of-the-art literature on skills learning communities. Accordingly, an adaptable and effective ISLC can be achieved through (1) distinction of different design levels, (2) distinction between design of a learning structure and governance structure, (3) pursuit of a specific design sequence, (4) clusters of micro learning communities (LCs), and (5) an iterative, interactive and multi-level design of feedback loops. The resulting design framework breaks new ground for interorganisational learning community theory-building and offers a novel direction for researchers, HRD practitioners and policy makers to address HRD problems in today’s changing business environment. More research should be conducted on the validation of this conceptual design framework. Keywords: interorganisational skills learning communities (ISLC), ecosystems, modernsociotechnicalsystems (MSTS), network theory, workplace innovation, continuous skill development, Industry 5.0.
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The transition to sustainable energy systems is both technological and social, requiring new forms of learning, collaboration, and governance. This poster examines how inclusive skills ecosystems can foster a just energy transition by drawing on insights from a bi-continental capacity-building network linking Colombia and South Africa. Grounded in skills-ecosystem thinking (e.g., Keep & Mayhew, 2010; Ramsarup et al., 2023), the analysis synthesizes evidence from trainings, fellowships, cross-regional exchanges, mobile schools, and policy dialogues. Results show strengthened technical, social, and governance skills; the value of co-creation between local and academic knowledge; and the importance of South–South cooperation for contextual learning. Key challenges include language barriers, institutional asymmetries, and limited direct engagement with policy actors. Developing skills for a just energy transition requires moving beyond isolated training to systemic approaches that connect institutions, actors, and regions. Future work should translate these insights into policy action through co-designed briefs, policy debates, and stronger governance of knowledge. Scaling and sustaining transnational learning initiatives of this kind is essential to build the social foundations of sustainable and equitable energy transitions.
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Abstract: academia is still struggling with its concrete role with respect to the Knowledge Ecosystem, in particular in view of its obligation to create and share generalised knowledge (as opposed to specialised 'practice-aligned' knowledge) and the necessity of publishing in peer reviewed academic journals etc. In this keynote, I present some opsevratuons based on recent publications and the ongoing debate in the Netherlands concerning the nature of practice-oriented research and the role of Universities of Applied Sciences in engage in it and further it. I focus on the 'interface between Practice and Academia' and identify two specific 'knowledge functions' related to that interface: inducing generalized practical knowledge from practitioners, and weaving generalized knowledge into specific situations (which amounts to 'applying knowledge in practice'). I then talk about and anticipate a next step by sketching possibilities to support Learning Communities with knowledge technology and dedicated, self-service 'Knowledge Platforms'.
DOCUMENT
This article aims to uncover the processes of developing sustainable business models in innovation ecosystems. Innovation ecosystems with sustainability goals often consist of cross-sector partners and need to manage three tensions: the tension of value creation versus value capture, the tension of mutual value versus individual value, and the tension of gaining value versus losing value. The fact that these tensions affect all actors differently makes the process of developing a sustainable business model challenging. Based on a study of four sustainably innovative cross-sector collaborations, we propose that innovation ecosystems that develop a sustainable business model engage in a process of valuing value in which they search for a result that satisfies all actors. We find two different patterns of valuing value: collective orchestration and continuous search. We describe these patterns and the conditions that give rise to them. The identification of the two patterns opens up a research agenda that can shed further light on the conditions that need to be in place in order for an innovation ecosystem to develop effective sustainable business models. For practice, our findings show how cross-sector actors in innovation ecosystems may collaborate when developing a business model around emerging sustainability-oriented innovations.
DOCUMENT
In dynamic and competitive environment, the importance of innovation is accepted as a necessary ingredients for firms to create value and sustain competitive advantage. However, very little empirical research has specifically addressed to what extent different kinds of innovation rely on specific knowledge management processes and entrepreneurial orientation. The objective of this study is to identify the different types of innovation that are predominant in companies, and how to facilitate different types of innovation activities. A questionnaire survey was conducted and 169 valid replies were received. This research analyzes the relationship among knowledge management processes, as well as entrepreneurial orientation and different types of innovation. The results from an empirical survey study reveal that organizations facilitate different types of innovation (i.e., administrative versus technical innovation) through entrepreneurial orientation and knowledge management process (i.e., knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing and knowledge application). The results also show that the partial mediating role of knowledge management processes in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and different types of innovation.
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Coastal realignment is the procedure of repositioning or removing coastal defense structures to restore tidal flooding and facilitate the development of intertidal ecosystems in a previously reclaimed area from the sea. A key policy objective of coastal realignment is to increase ecosystem services provided by intertidal ecosystems and thereby contribute to human well-being. However, the social response to coastal realignment is often negative, raising the question as to what extent communities living nearby project locations recognize, value and benefit from the goods and services provided by restored intertidal ecosystems. In this study, we examine public perceptions of ecosystem services gains, losses and trade-offs associated with coastal realignment. We hereby focus on three coastal realignment case study locations in the Southwest delta, the Netherlands. Questionnaires were administered in nearby villages and the collected data (N = 261) were analyzed using random forest regression models. A notable outcome of this study is that local communities often consider coastal realignment interventions to decrease rather than increase the availability of ecosystem services. This points to a discrepancy between how coastal realignment is viewed from a policy perspective and a local community perspective. Changes in the availability of cultural ecosystem services were found to have the highest impact on the level of support for coastal realignment, while the importance attached to provisioning, regulating and supporting ecosystem services was notably lower. In consequence, to increase public support, it will be essential to minimize the loss of cultural ecosystem services, or better yet, find ways to increase cultural ecosystem services through coastal realignment, for instance by creating opportunities for recreation and tourism.
DOCUMENT
The increasing demand for Prunus africana resources is an opportunity for its conservation and commercial use to support livelihoods in Africa. The objective for this study was to investigate major steps to advance production of P. africana for long-term commercial use in Uganda. Specific objectives were to explore potential production schemes, setbacks in production and strategies to advance it. The study was done by review of literature, documents and interviews with experts. Results indicated Agroforestry and large plantations to be useful schemes for production. Identified setbacks are: low trade in P. africana, unknown returns from production, competing land uses, long growth period, limited market assurance and information. The lack of a resource assessment for P. africana in forests contributes to its low trade which undermines related economic benefits for national development and incentives to commercial production. We propose that a national Quantitative resource assessment of P. africana in forests is one of the crucial steps that should be undertaken to carefully organise and advance sustainable trade to provide rational incentives for commercial production. Subsequently, production should be localised in suitable sites and producers be organised into cooperatives. Further research to improve returns from commercial production of P. africana is needed.
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