Rethinking Clusters

This volume discusses how different geographical spaces can enhance or hinder the capacity of a variety of organizational settings to achieve economic value creation in the pursuit of sustainable regional development. In order to provide the most comprehensive picture of new sources of value creation for sustainable transitions, the book collects contributions that tackle this issue from a variety of perspectives, and adopts a systemic approach where macro, meso and micro-levels of analysis are intertwined in three sections. This multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach comes from scholars operating in the fields of planning, economic geography, social entrepreneurship and organizational management. The first section of the book adopts a macro-level approach linking sustainability to the regional development theme, and addresses how organizations work between different social interests to produce outcomes not previously realized. The second section of the book focuses on the spatial dimensions of sustainable development, with particular clusters, industrial districts and regions considered as relevant units of analysis (meso-level analysis). The third section of the book is dedicated to a micro-level approach, illustrating how to drive social entrepreneurship activities, which are based upon sustainable business models centered in the creation of a shared value. The book is geared towards scholars working on sustainable development issues intersecting the disciplines of regional studies, economic geography and management, and will appeal to geographers and researchers in economic development, business innovation, and sustainability transitions.

Autorentext
Dr. Silvia Rita Sedita is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics and Management at the University of Padova, Italy.
Dr. Silvia Blasi is a Post-Doctoral Researcher in the Department of Economics and Management at the University of Padova, Italy.

Klappentext
This volume discusses how different geographical spaces can enhance or hinder the capacity of a variety of organizational settings to achieve economic value creation in the pursuit of sustainable regional development. In order to provide the most comprehensive picture of new sources of value creation for sustainable transitions, the book collects contributions that tackle this issue from a variety of perspectives, and adopts a systemic approach where macro, meso and micro-levels of analysis are intertwined in three sections. This multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach comes from scholars operating in the fields of planning, economic geography, social entrepreneurship and organizational management. The first section of the book adopts a macro-level approach linking sustainability to the regional development theme, and addresses how organizations work between different social interests to produce outcomes not previously realized. The second section of the book focuses on the spatial dimensions of sustainable development, with particular clusters, industrial districts and regions considered as relevant units of analysis (meso-level analysis). The third section of the book is dedicated to a micro-level approach, illustrating how to drive social entrepreneurship activities, which are based upon sustainable business models centered in the creation of a shared value. The book is geared towards scholars working on sustainable development issues intersecting the disciplines of regional studies, economic geography and management, and will appeal to geographers and researchers in economic development, business innovation, and sustainability transitions.

Inhalt

Part I: Linking sustainability, innovation and regional development.- Chapter 1: Unravelling the sustainable resilient region: exploring regional resilience in sustainable transition.- Chapter 2: Green invention as leverage for economic growth in locally collaborative European regions.- Chapter 3: Regional differences in the generation of green technologies: the role of local recombinant capabilities and academic inventors.- Chapter 4: Spin-offs, environmental KIBS and the role of Universities for sustainability.- Chapter 5: The role of the DSOs in the energy transition towards sustainability. A case study from Italy.- Part II: The sustainability turn in clusters and industrial districts.- Chapter 6: Bioclusters and sustainable regional development.- Chapter 7: Industry clusters, intermediary activities and sustainable transitions: a call for integration of multiple conceptual frameworks?.- Chapter 8: Rethinking clusters in the sense of innovation, inclusion and green growth.- Chapter 9: Factors of environmental sustainability in Italian in-dustrial districts: A composite environmental sustain-ability index.- Chapter 10: The circular economy in the Tuscan fashion industry: A value chain approach.- Part III: The sustainability orientation on entrepreneurial actions.- Chapter 11: How to successfully translate shared value agendas into action? Evidences from the case of 21 invest.- Chapter 12: Social entrepreneurship and social innovation between Global North and Global South: the Ashoka case.- Chapter 13: Social entrepreneurship: Determinants of action in Italy.- Chapter 14: Environmental innovations and Green skills in the Nordic countries.- Chapter 15: The impact of end-user aggregation on the electricity business ecosystem: evidence from Europe.