Transitioning entrepreneurial ecosystems towards social and environmental missions: a practice-based approach

Sustainable Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (SEE) shift significantly profit-driven strategies typical in canonical ecosystems to impact-first strategies, requiring tailored innovation practices for this transition. This study proposes a practice-oriented perspective to complement how we observe the emergence of SEEs as relational spaces driven by open innovation practices rather than just stakeholder configurations or networks. Based on scoping literature, we advance the use of stakeholders and networks perspectives, stressing the practice perspective. The SEE potentially emerges at the intersection of diverse communities of practice, often hindered by conflicting practices and fragmented communication. In the proposed approach the dominant practices in the ecosystem are its very constitutive nature as they are the true source of value creation. The analysis additionally emphasizes the need for tailored interventions to support sustainable transitions, specially in emerging markets.