Pass or fail? Identifying European best practice regions of university-centered knowledge transfer for sustainability transformations

Sustainability transformation needs regional engagement of the entirety of actors within. One central actor is the university with its mission and activities to transfer knowledge. This paper provides a first approach to identifying best practice regions for sustainability transformation within Europe and addresses potential literature gaps. By composite indexing of systemic sustainability indices and knowledge transfer metrics on a regional level as well as a subsequent systematic literature review, this work aims at (1) providing best practice regions for sustainability transformation and actor collaboration as well as (2) future research avenues. The study selects Copenhagen, Zurich, Stockholm, and Helsinki as regions of interest. It advocates exploring the dynamics within entire regions, emphasizing the interplay of actors in Regional Innovation Systems (RIS).