Economic narratives of the energy transition in university–industry learning spaces

Economic narratives are central to how organizations interpret the opportunities, risks, and distributional consequences of the energy transition. While existing research highlights the coordinating and sense-making functions of these narratives, the processes through which they emerge in cross-sectoral settings remain insufficiently understood. This study examines how economic narratives of the energy transition are formed at the intersection of scientific expertise and corporate practice. Interactions between universities and companies constitute distinct interpretive spaces where problem framings, expectations, and evaluative criteria are jointly negotiated. To illustrate this, a corpus of 366 cross-sectoral project objectives using Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling is analyzed. The findings reveal seven distinct narrative clusters that function as a shared interpretive infrastructure. The analysis demonstrates how mechanisms of selective mobilization, causal construction, and agency attribution allow actors to stitch together narrative elements into broader narratives and condensed storylines. These co-created narratives do not merely exchange knowledge; they structure sustainability learning by providing shared cognitive reference points that persist even when interests do not fully align. However, the findings also reveal a semantic capture, where diverse actors borrow transition vocabulary to frame disparate strategic goals. The paper concludes by outlining implications for SDG-oriented collaborative learning formats. It emphasizes that recognizing the constitutive role of narratives and storylines is essential for navigating the complex sociotechnical pathways of the energy transition.