Innovation policy and deep transitions: instruments, institutions and implementation in complex contexts

This article introduces an open issue of Innovation that brings together twenty-four articles published between 2022 and 2024, all of which address one of the most pressing challenges in contemporary policy research: how public policy can effectively steer innovation in response to complex societal transitions. The contributions examine the instruments, actors, and governance mechanisms that shape the design and implementation of innovation policy across national, regional, and supranational contexts, with particular attention to situations characterized by institutional fragmentation, limited capacity, or structural constraints. While the articles vary in their geographical focus—from Europe to India to Iran—and in their methodological approaches, ranging from detailed case studies to bibliometric and econometric analyses, they share two unifying concerns. First, they investigate the interplay between public policy, technological innovation, and pressing social and environmental challenges, highlighting the co-evolution of socio-technical systems and institutionalized “meta-rules” that direct their trajectories over time. Second, the majority of contributions adopt a normative stance, offering empirically grounded policy recommendations and thereby directly linking academic research to the practice of policymaking. Collectively, the issue argues that addressing contemporary crises—from climate change to inequality—requires policymakers to mobilize a “historical imagination” capable of challenging dominant innovation paradigms and opening up more inclusive and sustainable futures.