Mapping the twin transition in regional innovation systems: a case study approach

The pivotal shift towards a climate-neutral European economy hinges on green innovation and clean technology. Recognising the potential of digital knowledge to propel the green transition, the concept of 'twin transition' has gained increasing importance in European policy discussions. However, to unravel potential pathways for the twin transition of European regions, it is crucial to identify its drivers, understand the diffusion of related technologies and explore the dynamics of regional path developments. Traditional evolutionary economic geography models have limitations in explaining regional structural change, focusing on firm-led processes and technological and skill relatedness and overrating local factors over non-local influences. Recent literature extended the conceptual aspects of new industrial path development to understand twin transition by combining evolutionary economic geography with the regional innovation system approach. However, to the best of our knowledge, this theoretical conceptualisation has not been sufficiently validated with real-world data to evaluate its effectiveness across different regional contexts. To fill this gap, this work-in-progress paper aims to conduct a literature review to identify regional cases and systematically categorise them within a new typology of pathways. The objective is to support a new conceptualisation of regional innovation pathways. To observe and explore these various forms of new path development, a framework that aligns these path creation types with their distinctive characteristics with the mechanisms of regional knowledge creation has been developed through a pilot case agent-based model. The potential impacts of this research are extensive, benefiting a wide range of stakeholders, including policymakers, industries, academia, and society. The generated insights can inform effective policies, guide industries through transitions, enhance environmental sustainability, and highlight societal implications