Innovation intermediaries in different contexts managing partnerships toward a sustainability transition

Past research has suggested that intermediaries can play a unique and central managerial role (Howells, 2006, Kivimaa et al., 2018) and can actively respond to contextual influences from the existing regime (Smith and Raven, 2012) by constantly shaping and reshaping network formations in order to support the emergence of new (sustainable) technology innovations (van Lente, 2012). According to several scholars, however, more research is needed on (1) intermediary management in a setting of a systemic transition, (2) dealing with the complexity of dynamic partnerships and political battles (3) due or despite regime influences (4) in different sectoral or geographical contexts (Van Lente, 2012; Garud & Gehman, 2012; Geels, 2010; Kivimaa et al., 2018). We therefore define our research question as follows (See Figure 1): How can an innovation intermediary manage the complex interaction between regime dimensions and the formation of partner-networks toward a sustainable transition?