An introduction: mapping the field(s) of sustainable innovation

Abstract

Employing an evolutionary epistemology lens to knowledge production, the introductory chapter charts how existing disciplines and fields responded to growing recognition of environmental crises in the 1970s by establishing new research programmes, fields and sub-disciplines. The analysis covers: responses from science, technology and innovation studies, and management and organization studies and the emergence of new fields of environmental sociology, industrial ecology and ecological economics. It then examines how durable research lineages emerged that constitute the fragmented field of sustainable innovation research. Lineages include: eco-innovation determinants, sustainable systemic innovation, responsible research and innovation, sustainable business model innovation, and sustainable consumption practices.