Calls for papers

 

International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development

 

Special Issue on: "Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Integrated Sustainability"

Guest Editor:
Prof. Ilídio Tomás Lopes, Polytechnic Institute of Santarém, Portugal

Innovation is viewed as a process of value creation, both for businesses and entire nations and regions. It has been explored and treated as one of the most important key drivers towards economic growth and sustainability.

However, multiple interpretations and practices can be found in the scope of sustainable development. According the economic theory, it is related to increases in income and production, always involving drastic changes in institutional, social and administrative structures, sometimes even in individual and collective beliefs. Sometimes, it can be seen as a process of expanding the real freedoms of human beings, as argued by Amartya Sen, the winner of the Nobel Prize in economics in 1998.

The boundaries of development are vague and their vectors are linked to multilateral cause-effect chains. This intrinsic paradox appears in current literature as an unresolved paradigm. It allows companies and economic agents to identify its structure and to establish a systematic and dynamic framework for its integrated analysis. Companies and countries should monitor and report their innovation cycles in order to increase their turnovers. Thus, innovation and entrepreneurship emerge, in a two-way cause-effect linkage, as key structural blocks for macro and micro sustainability. These pillars are embodied in complex learning processes and dynamic networks that drive economic growth, development and social welfare. The actual economic paradigms require new insights to reinforce that innovation and entrepreneurship are continuous key drivers for sustainable development.

This special issue is based on the topics under discussion during the 7th European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ECIE 2012, Santarém, Portugal). Submissions based on the topics under discussion during the conference are particularly welcome, and the issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the event. But we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit papers for this call. We encourage all submitting academics and practitioners to identify new insights and developments that drive innovation and entrepreneurship towards sustainability.

Subject Coverage
Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Innovation drivers and sustainability
• Innovation and intellectual property
• Macro and micro economic approaches for sustainability
• Innovation and policy making
• Communities of practice for innovation
• Innovation and regional development
• Case studies on innovation and entrepreneurship
• Enterprise and university alliances for innovation
• Innovation networks
• Organisational learning towards innovative processes
• Entrepreneurial learning for sustainability
• Social sustainability
• Information systems for innovation and sustainability
• Public sector practices in innovation and entrepreneurship

Notes for Prospective Authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. (N.B. Conference papers may only be submitted if the paper was not originally copyrighted and if it has been completely re-written).

All papers are refereed through a peer review process. A guide for authors, sample copies and other relevant information for submitting papers are available on the Author Guidelines page.

Important Dates

Deadline for submission of manuscripts: 30 November, 2012

Notification of acceptance/rejection to authors: 31 January, 2013

Submission of final manuscript: 31 March, 2013