Commercialising science-based sustainable innovations: extending the role of university-industry collaboration

Technological innovation for sustainability is often complex and entails high costs and uncertainties for companies. Therefore, collaboration with external partners, such as universities, is crucial. However, commercialising innovations originating from scientific research can be a long process. In addition, the radical and systemic characteristics of many sustainable innovations bring unique challenges to their commercialisation. The purpose of this study is to investigate these challenges from both university and industry perspectives and to describe the role of university-industry collaboration (UIC) in advancing the commercialisation of science-based sustainable innovation. The findings from a case study show that UIC has the potential to overcome not only technology development and optimisation challenges (where UIC typically concentrates), but also challenges that relate to market creation and wider socio-cultural changes. This requires adopting a system-building perspective and a more coordinated approach that deepens and broadens the scope of UIC to enhance commercialisation results.