Towards a dynamic conceptualisation of the regional innovation system: the systemic knowledge network continuum

The Regional Innovation Systems (RIS) framework has traditionally explained regional innovation performance through structural conditions and external knowledge linkages. While this perspective has generated influential typologies and policy approaches, it provides more limited insight into how RISs emerge and transform through endogenous regional dynamics. This paper develops a dynamic and network-based perspective that conceptualises RIS development as a continuum from fragmented interaction structures to more integrated and self-reinforcing systems. We argue that RIS evolution depends on the interaction between generative network mechanisms and three systemic dimensions: coherence, a unifying function (UF), and boundedness. These dimensions jointly shape whether regional knowledge networks remain fragmented, become partially integrated, or evolve into more mature RISs. By shifting attention from static structures towards dynamic interaction processes, the framework provides a basis for understanding RIS emergence, transformation, and reversibility, while also pointing towards more adaptive and mechanism-oriented approaches to regional innovation policy.