Sustainability and Innovation Systems Research in Transition

In the last decades it has become more and more imperative for our societies, and for decision makers in all areas of society, to understand the dynamics through which innovation systems develop and through which socio-technical systems transform themselves. This open access volume reflects on the research fields that have developed in the last five decades in the area of Systems and Innovation Research (SIR). It presents a systematic history of nine selected fields within the area of SIR. We also present a conceptual framework to understand the processes by which the research fields have developed. This allows to draw general lessons as to what drives research fields throughout their development and how their role vis-a-vis policy, businesses and societies changes over time. This is important because, if anything, the need to govern transformation through innovation will further grow in the future, and with it the need to understand the underlying systems and innovation dynamics.