European knowledge and entrepreneurial ecosystems: Networks within climate change and adaptation research

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/tie.22167
• Author: Ana Rita Cruz,Chiara Carrozza,Carla Nogueira,Elvira Uyarra,Hugo Pinto
• Date: 01 September 2020
• Published date: 01 September 2020

RESEARCH ARTICLE

European knowledge and entrepreneurial ecosystems:

Networks within climate change and adaptation research

Chiara Carrozza

1

| Ana Rita Cruz

2

| Carla Nogueira

3

| Hugo Pinto

4,5

|

Elvira Uyarra

6,7

1

Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced

Studies, European University Institute,

Florence, Italy

2

Iscte-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa,

DINÂMIA'CET, Centre for Socioeconomic and

Territorial Studies, Lisbon, Portugal

3

CinTurs-Research Centre for Tourism,

Sustainability and Well-Being, University of

Algarve, Faro, Portugal

4

Centre for Social Studies, University of

Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

5

Faculty of Economics, University of Algarve,

Faro, Portugal

6

Manchester Institute of Innovation Research,

Alliance Manchester Business School,

University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

7

Mohn Center of Regional Innovation,

Western Norway University of Applied

Sciences, Bergen, Norway

Correspondence

Carla Nogueira, CinTurs-Research Centre for

Tourism, Sustainability and Well-Being,

University of Algarve, Gambelas Campus-

Building 9, Faculty of Economics, 8005-139,

Faro, Portugal.

Email: cfnogueira@ualg.pt

Funding information

Foundation for Science and Technology,

Grant/Award Number: SFRH/BD/ 117398/

2016 and DL57/2016/ CP1341/CT0013

Abstract

Research on a topic as intricate as climate change and adaptation can be seen as a

complex ecosystem combining thousands of projects by a large set of actors. This

article studies the EU Seventh Framework Program funded projects to understand

how research has been funded and managed in Europe to develop a specific knowl-

edge ecosystem around climate change and adaptation. The theoretical background

offers an overview of the topics of climate change and knowledge ecosystems. The

research projects database was used to construct and make sense of a complex eco-

system. A synthetic description of the technical work conducted and the results

obtained are presented. The data is analyzed using social network analysis to provide

evidence of structural characteristics of the networks, the relevance of different sub-

domains in climate change and adaptation research, and the emergence of entrepre-

neurial ecosystems through knowledge.

KEYWORDS

climate change, European Union, knowledge ecosystems, social network analysis

1|INTRODUCTION

The consequences of climate change and the current environmental

crisis are increasingly debated from different angles, ranging from

political-strategic contexts to civil organization movements, and from

the third sector to the academic community. Climate change is a result

of multiple dimensions, which transform it into a structural problem,

the biggest challenge that governments and international institutions

are facing this century (Hermans et al. 2016). In addition to being

structural, it is also transversal to all countries, regions, and communi-

ties, affecting humanity as a whole. As we enter a new decade, climate

discussions gain more urgent contours and demand effective answers,

not just from top-down policies for gas emission reduction and bot-

tom-up civic movements but also from research and innovation.

While all dimensions are important, this article focuses on the

importance of research. Solving a structural and cross-sectional prob-

lem encompassing a vast set of dimensions requires integrated but

mainly innovative answers. Universities are becoming more entrepre-

neurial in the way they produce and disseminate knowledge, in order

to provide answers to structural problems. Research around the cli-

mate crisis requires a varied, but above all, a coordinated approach

between different players and research actors. It is, therefore, crucial

DOI: 10.1002/tie.22167

Thunderbird Int. Bus. Rev.. 2020;62:579–591. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/tie © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC. 579