Clusters and Sustainable Regional Development conceptualises the role of organised clusters in the transition towards sustainability. It introduces a novel perspective on these clusters, viewing them as deliberate collective actors within their environments that can become the driving force for transformation in their regions or nations.
The book draws upon the meta-organisational perspective in cluster studies, in contrast to traditional approaches. This view suggests that clusters are not merely territories or geographical areas, but organised entities. As such, they are defined as territorially anchored groups of independent organisations engaging in joint decision-making, pursuing system-level goals and capable of purposive collective action.
This text introduces a new set of ideas and questions at the intersection of economic geography, regional and cluster studies, organisation and management, policy and governance research. It will appeal to researchers from these diverse fields seeking to further develop the meta-organisational view of clusters as well as conceptualise their role in sustainability transitions.
This book will also be a useful guide for policymakers who have an interest in the dynamics of economic development and the transition towards sustainability.
Table of Contents:
Part 1: The theoretical foundations of clusters as meta-organisations
Chapter 1: Clusters as Collective Actors and Agents of Change for New Sustainable Path Development
Chapter 2: Meta-Organisation as a Partial Organisation: An Integrated Framework of Organisationality and Decisionality
Chapter 3: What governance for regional innovation clusters? Meta-organisational analysis of the German innovation cluster 'Physics for Food’
Chapter 4: Meta-Organising Clusters as Agents of Transformative Change through ‘Responsible Actorhood’
Part 2: Internal Dynamics of Clusters as Meta-Organisations
Chapter 5: From a Wasteland to a Creative Community: The Significance of Meta-Organising for Cluster Policy
Chapter 6: Managing Sustainability Issues of a Territory through Multi-Stakeholder Meta-Organisations
Chapter 7: Are North American Clusters Transitioning to Clean Technologies?
Chapter 8: Clean Technology Clusters: Meta-Organising Firms for Sustainability
Part 3: Meta-Organisations in Broader Context
Chapter 9: The Roles of Meta-Organisations in Transitions: Analysing the Food Packaging Cluster in Finland
Chapter 10: Meta-Organisations as Drivers for Sustainability across Tourism Clusters in the Alps: A Case Study of ‘Alpine Pearls’
Chapter 11: Urban Super-Cluster as a Novel Approach to Clustering in Megapolises: The Case of Moscow Innovation Cluster
Chapter 12: Meta-Organisations and Clusters in Climate Regimes
Part 4: Conclusions
Chapter 13: Conclusions
About the Author :
Evgeniya Lupova-Henry is Lecturer in Creative Business at the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, the Netherlands. She holds a PhD in Management from the University of Neuchatel in Switzerland. In her research, she explores topics at the intersection of management, organisation, and innovation studies with a particular focus on ‘non-traditional’ forms of organisations such as meta-organisations. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6599-7070
Nicola Francesco Dotti, independent scholar, Brussels, Belgium, was Senior Researcher in Regional Economics and Policy Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Among his main research interests are knowledge for policymaking, science policy, and the EU Cohesion Policy. In 2021, he moved to Science Europe as Senior Policy Officer working on the Green and Digital Transitions. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1029-173X
