Abstract
Regional Innovation Ecosystems (RIEs) have emerged as a central framework for understanding how innovation unfolds within geographically embedded, multi-actor environments. Moving beyond earlier system-based models, RIE perspectives emphasise interdependence, distributed governance, and adaptive coordination among heterogeneous actors (Granstrand & Holgersson, 2020; Oh et al., 2016). Regions are no longer conceptualised as passive containers of innovation activity, but as evolving governance spaces shaped by institutional capacity, policy frameworks, and collaborative networks (Asheim & Gertler, 2005; Pike et al., 2017).
While this shift has enhanced understanding of structural configurations and ecosystem dynamics, less attention has been paid to how strategic direction is constructed and enacted within these environments. Existing research tends to prioritise institutional arrangements, actor typologies, and policy architectures. Yet innovation outcomes are not produced solely through structural alignment. They emerge through decisions made under constraint, through negotiation among actors, and through the interpretation and implementation of policy in practice.
This paper argues that RIE research under-theorises the micro- and meso-level processes through which strategic direction is enacted. To address this gap, it introduces a Strategy-as-Practice (SAP) perspective as a conceptual bridge between ecosystem theory and governance practice.