Innovation processes in ecosystem settings: An integrative framework and future directions

Abstract

Although the foundational works of ecosystem research recognized the central role of innovation, the current scholarship lacks a more systemic, systemized understanding of how innovation processes take place in ecosystem settings. This lack of a dominant framework that bridges innovation processes and ecosystem fields risks leading to a situation in which crucial problems at the intersection of these two fields remain poorly investigated. Through a systematic literature review, we made a case for rediscovering how these two branches of knowledge can be bridged. As an initial step, we consolidate the literature on these intersections, profile the studies that initially began to establish a bridge between ecosystem and innovation processes, propose a tentative framework for integrating both literatures, and set an agenda for further studies.