Expanding entrepreneurial, innovative and sustainable (EIS) ecosystems: A cultural-historical activity theory perspective

The value of Entrepreneurial, Innovative and Sustainable (EIS) ecosystems has seen increasing recognition from policymakers and researchers alike. Like-minded policymakers employing New Public Management (NPM) understand that the intricate links between diverse EIS stakeholders play a vital role in ad-vancing sources of local transformation – entrepreneurship and innovation – to enhance citizen wellbeing (e.g. happiness, trust, safety and satisfaction). A persis-tent challenge to both academic and policy research, however, is uncovering how and why EIS ecosystem stakeholders do or do not interact and influence one an-other to produce intended outcomes. In this chapter, we propose, and explain a novel framework for analysing and assessing EIS ecosystems – Activity System Analysis (ASA). This methodological framework, rooted in cultural-historical ac-tivity theory (CHAT), assists researchers by guiding analyses towards specific ten-sions and contradictions. These develop continuously within and between com-munities that make up EIS ecosystems. ASA does this by moving analysis from ambiguous framework and systemic conditions (e.g. cultural, social, and material attributes) towards the diversity of activities and objectives by stakeholders in specific locales. Additionally, it allows researchers to gain insights in the develop-mental trajectory of EIS ecosystems, and to understand the learning actions that transform them. Ultimately, this chapter provides guidelines for performing activi-ty-oriented research on EIS ecosystems so as to uncover the intricacies of an EIS ecosystem’s functioning.