Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/307580 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Citation: 
[Journal:] Review of Regional Research [ISSN:] 1613-9836 [Volume:] 44 [Issue:] 2 [Publisher:] Springer [Place:] Berlin, Heidelberg [Year:] 2023 [Pages:] 211-236
Publisher: 
Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Abstract: 
A growing number of economic geography scholars have discussed the spatial dimensions of sustainability transitions (STs), which entail radical changes in socio-technical systems to overcome societal, economic, and ecological problems. This involves innovation processes with a broad range of distinctive actors. Innovation intermediaries, such as universities and research institutes, are needed to support and accelerate the transfer of knowledge. Nevertheless, little is known about the influence of such actors on the configuration of the knowledge bases required for STs. This article presents insights from 14 semi-structured interviews with experts conducted in a regional innovation system (RIS) in East Germany. In cooperation with the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, we investigate four innovation intermediaries in the region of Eberswalde. The analytical framework links the concept of differentiated knowledge bases to small wins. Our results show that, first, in the Eberswalde region, the relevant actors involved in regional knowledge transfer focus predominantly on synthetic knowledge bases, such as experience-based knowledge of local area settings. Second, symbolic knowledge bases are crucial and often prerequisites for intermediary organizations to recombine knowledge bases and support the capability to innovate in regional knowledge transfer. Symbolic knowledge entails the ability to translate scientific findings to a language that can be understood by the various actors in knowledge transfer. Third, changes in organizational structures complement changes in cultural–cognitive and normative institutions to support innovation on a systemic level and foster change processes.
Subjects: 
Knowledge bases
Small wins
Knowledge transfer
Innovation intermediation
Sustainability transition
JEL: 
D02
D80
O12:P48
Q56
R11
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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