Collective Innovation Processes

7 The “Eco-innovative” Milieu: Industrial Ecology and Diversification of Territorial Economy

Industrial ecology is an approach closely associated with industrial regions. It is part of industrial activities and includes a set of practices aimed at reducing polluting industrial waste. It promotes the transition of the industrial system toward a viable and sustainable one, inspired by the functioning of natural ecosystems [FRO 89, ALL 92]. This notion is usually studied in terms of its functioning (organization of the flows of inputs and products, institutional framework and organization of interfirm cooperation) and the environmental effects entailed by this industrial organization (saving material, recycling, etc.). We intend to approach this topic from a different perspective, namely to study its potential in terms of territorial economic development [BOU 15, KAS 17b]. The issue involves analyzing how industrial economy, through the industrial symbiosis it generates [CHE 00], may contribute to the creation of an “eco-innovative” milieu [KAS 17a] which, by changing the development path of a region, enables industrial diversification.

Analyses of territorial innovation dynamics tend to privilege the notions of the diversity (Jacobs’ dynamic externalities) and variety of the economic activities as drivers of development and competitiveness [JAC 69, GLA 92, HEN 97, BOS 04, BOS 11]. In this context, the recent works carried out in evolutionary economic geography have introduced ...