Journal of the Knowledge Economy

This paper adds to the emerging discussion of the Quadruple Helix framework by arguing for a clear distinction between the intermediators (“consortia”) that coordinate public, academic, industrial, and civil society resources and those actors that belong to the Civil Society Helix. The resources for innovations to be positioned in this, the fourth, helix are mostly unclear. Furthermore, the governance aspects of the helix framework have received little academic research attention despite their decisive role in service innovation systems. The case-based research findings presented in this study give reason to develop the helix framework into a DNA model for tourism innovation systems, thus emphasizing the dynamic nature of innovation processes. An action research approach was applied, and the Finnish Travel and Relax project scrutinized for data. Based on field notes, desk research, observations, and personal interviews, we conclude that innovation systems for tourism development work well with a mixture of governance structures. We find that actors from different helixes participate in different processes with different intentions and objectives throughout the process, but they are seldom present at the same time. Further, the findings prove that service concept development progressed as best in unplanned pop-up networks in the Industry Helix.

The role of renewable energy is increasingly considered in promoting sustainable development and rebalancing environmental degradation and socio-economic development. To shed light on the relationship between energy, economy, and society, we aim to assess the ability of renewable energy to reduce the negative impact of CO2 emissions on economic growth and human development using the system GMM estimator for 24 OECD countries using annual data over the period 1990–2015. The empirical results show that (i) the use of renewable energy can reduce the negative impact of CO2 emissions on both economic growth and human development; (ii) the four indicators of CO2 emissions have a negative impact on economic growth and human development; (iii) renewable energy interacts with CO2 intensity, which has a positive impact on economic growth and human development; and (iv) the impact of the interaction between renewable energy and CO2 emissions per capita is positive, i.e., when renewable energy replaces non-renewable energy, it reduces CO2 emissions per capita, while the overall effect of this interaction promotes health prospects, human development, and economic growth.