Twin transition across Central and Eastern European innovation ecosystems in times of multi-crises: the quintuple-helix perspective

Abstract The issue of twin transition is gaining momentum and attracting increasing attention from policymakers, practitioners and researchers, particularly in Western economies. In contrast, Central and Eastern European (CEE) stakeholders have— paradoxically—just started to tackle this issue in very recent years, while comprehensive research on this phenomenon is rather scarce. As such, policy and practitioners’ information are lacking, threatening the attainment of strategic sustainability goals at international and local levels. In times of multi-crises, this situation can be amplified by unexpected events. In response, this study provides a topical contribution to the current knowledge by analyzing the state of the art on the issues of green and digital transformation within CEE innovation ecosystems. Grounded in the quintuple-helix theory perspective and using a qualitative literature review-based approach, we show that CEE countries currently face several structural barriers limiting their twin transitions. These include, for example, high dependency on external knowledge and technologies, weak entrepreneurial initiative, limited absorptive capacity and low eco-awareness. Our findings offer several practical implications for businesses and policymakers, especially in the areas of supporting multi-helix cooperation, preparing more tailored policy initiatives and implementing circular economy practices for higher business resilience. In turn, we highlight the need for circular economy action plans, hubs and living labs based on the different maturity levels of CEE innovation ecosystems.