Critical features of ecosystem practice empowering industrial sustainability transformation

Abstract The pursuit of a sustainable industry is facilitated by the evolution of diverse cooperative networks. There is a limited understanding of how industrial actors can collectively foster the continuity in learning required to address wicked problems of sustainability. This study explores how industry stakeholders collectively address this wicked problem by fostering innovation in ecosystems and identifies the critical features of an ecosystem practice that supports empowerment in evolving multi‐actor network settings. Employing an abductive approach, we integrate insights from the innovation literature with analyses of three empirical industrial ecosystem cases to enhance understanding of the internal dynamics inherent in collaborative innovation. This study elucidates the critical features of ecosystem practice, underscoring four key characteristics essential for empowerment. These characteristics hinge on the adept balance of the four identified critical features throughout the process of continuous innovating in ecosystems. We argue that such practices serve as catalysts for cross‐industry innovation, thus expediting transformation. This research contributes to understanding the self‐organizing dynamics needed for sustained learning in evolving collaboration settings where actors, their motivations and their roles change. It also advances innovation theory by illustrating how wicked problems can be collectively addressed through the continuous exploration and exploitation processes of ecosystems.