Regional innovation systems face significant challenges from digital transformation, decarbonization needs, and economic crises. Governments increasingly fund innovation intermediaries—organizations like research centres, incubators, and technology organizations—to coordinate stakeholders and bridge gaps in innovation cycles. These intermediaries shape regional development through knowledge transfer and institutional adaptation.
This special issue seeks contributions examining how innovation intermediaries interact with regional economic change and institutional evolution. The editors welcome conceptual, empirical, and policy-focused papers employing interdisciplinary approaches and diverse methodologies, spanning economic geography, innovation studies, and public policy. Contributions should address how intermediaries foster diversification, support sustainability transitions, facilitate skills development, and shape emerging markets within regional contexts.