Reframing sustainable innovation ecosystem interventions through a practice perspective

Sustainable innovation ecosystems (SIEs) are increasingly central to addressing grand societal challenges. However, interventions within these ecosystems often rely on frameworks rooted in implicit theoretical assumptions that shape how actors are mobilised, value is created, and impact is assessed. This paper investigates how the adoption of distinct theoretical perspectives (stakeholder, network, and practice-based) influences the design and outcomes of interventions in SIEs, shaping both ecosystem configuration and actor interactions. Specifically, we ask the following question: ‘How does the adoption of a practice-based perspective influence interventions in SIEs?’ We argue that a practice lens illuminates how ecosystems are enacted through situated routines, material arrangements, and shared understandings, thereby foregrounding the everyday work that sustains innovation over time. We draw on a case study of MIT REAP Rio, a widely recognised initiative designed to foster a clean energy-oriented SIE in Brazil. Although the programme achieved symbolic success through stakeholder alignment and network activation, our analysis suggests that limited attention to nurturing ongoing shared practices contributed to challenges in post-programme consolidation. We propose a conceptual reframing of SIEs as relational spaces constituted through practices and demonstrate how a practice-based lens reveals blind spots in commonly adopted ecosystem frameworks. Our findings have implications for both theory and practice. Researchers should critically examine the epistemological foundations of ecosystem frameworks, while practitioners should shift their emphasis from mobilising actors towards embedding routines and artefacts that sustain collaborative value creation over time.