The Quintuple Helix innovation model: global warming as a challenge and driver for innovation

Elias G Carayannis,Thorsten D Barth,David Fj Campbell

doi:10.1186/2192-5372-1-2

Abstract

The Triple Helix innovation model focuses on university-industry-government relations. The Quadruple Helix embeds the Triple Helix by adding as a fourth helix the ‘media-based and culture-based public’ and ‘civil society’. The Quintuple Helix innovation model is even broader and more comprehensive by contextualizing the Quadruple Helix and by additionally adding the helix (and perspective) of the ‘natural environments of society’. The Triple Helix acknowledges explicitly the importance of higher education for innovation. However, in one line of interpretation it could be argued that the Triple Helix places the emphasis on knowledge production and innovation in the economy so it is compatible with the knowledge economy. The Quadruple Helix already encourages the perspective of the knowledge society, and of knowledge democracy for knowledge production and innovation. In a Quadruple Helix understanding, the sustainable development of a knowledge economy requires a coevolution with the knowledge society. The Quintuple Helix stresses the necessary socioecological transition of society and economy in the twenty-first century; therefore, the Quintuple Helix is ecologically sensitive. Within the framework of the Quintuple Helix innovation model, the natural environments of society and the economy also should be seen as drivers for knowledge production and innovation, therefore defining opportunities for the knowledge economy. The European Commission in 2009 identified the socioecological transition as a major challenge for the future roadmap of development. The Quintuple Helix supports here the formation of a win-win situation between ecology, knowledge and innovation, creating synergies between economy, society, and democracy. Global warming represents an area of ecological concern, to which the Quintuple Helix innovation model can be applied with greater potential.

Highlights

The Triple Helix innovation model focuses on university-industry-government relations
In summary, as we illustrated by the example of the discussion in Section ‘The challenge of global warming in a Quintuple Helix Mode’ (‘five-step flow analysis’), it should be clear that all systems in a Quintuple Helix perform a pivotal function, influencing each other
If more sustainable development is being considered on a national level, as a result of global warming, and if, for instance, more targeted investments in a specific helix of the Quintuple Helix start flowing, there will be a positive impact on all other subsystems and on the society as a whole

Summary

Introduction

The Triple Helix innovation model focuses on university-industry-government relations. The Quintuple Helix stresses the necessary socioecological transition of society and economy in the twenty-first century; the Quintuple Helix is ecologically sensitive. Within the framework of the Quintuple Helix innovation model, the natural environments of society and the economy should be seen as drivers for knowledge production and innovation, defining opportunities for the knowledge economy. Global warming represents an area of ecological concern, to which the Quintuple Helix innovation model can be applied with greater potential. Comes Section ‘The challenge of global warming in a Quintuple Helix Model’ that visualizes the Quintuple Helix model as a nonlinear model of innovation in correspondence with social (societal) subsystems and along with a descriptive step-by-step example of how the challenge of sustainable development (under the aspect of global warming) may be adopted. Section ‘Conclusions’ offers a conclusion in reference to the Quintuple Helix Model

Methods

Results

Conclusion