Tensions in transforming an innovation policy paradigm: contextual variation and reflexive governance

Dominant innovation policy paradigms are undergoing significant shifts as emerging sustainability objectives challenge traditional techno-economic approaches, necessitating reflection on the foundations of existing policies. However, translating such high-level ambitions into practice is complicated with tensions arising from different interpretations of policy goals and required interventions. We explore a paradigm shift in Finland, where sustainability goals have been introduced as major priorities in the national innovation policy, though the new paradigm is still in transition and not yet fully integrated across innovation contexts. We conduct a case study analyzing three distinct problem-solution constellations: the battery value chain, food packaging, and AI in public services. We analyze the underlying views of policy agendas and understandings of the innovation process and identify tensions arising from the conflict between the traditional innovation policy paradigm and the emerging sustainability-oriented one in each case. We develop reflexive questions that can guide innovation actors in resolving these tensions, enabling second-order policy learning. Our study contributes to the literature on the normative turn in innovation policy by showing how tensions during paradigm shifts, and the reflection they require, vary by context, highlighting the need for deliberate mechanisms to surface and address fundamental differences in innovation policy framings. This contextual variety also creates opportunities for cross-domain policy learning