Strengthening the science–policy–industry interface for progressing toward sustainability: a systems thinking view

The purpose of this paper was to discuss the need of “general reference frameworks that can support the understanding of complex phenomena related to sustainability and sustainable development that cannot be effectively faced by adopting existing disciplines in isolation”. Recognizing the complexity of sustainability, we discuss two main problems: (1) the yet unfulfilled need to overcome the fragmentation of knowledge necessary to address sustainability, and (2) the crucial need to strengthen the science–policy–industry interface in order to effectively co-create knowledge and solutions for sustainability. Advancing a ‘triple helix’ model for sustainability that has been recently developed in the field of managerial studies, the conditions for knowledge co-creation and effective science–policy–industry collaboration are discussed. Findings highlight: (1) the contribution of systems thinking to bridge the ways each discipline interprets sustainability and the ways actors look at its challenging requirements; (2) the relevance of ‘interface’ roles among actors involved in the theoretical and practical progress toward sustainability. Following the ‘helix’ stream, a novel representation of the sustainability triple helix shows how systems thinking, as a boundary-crossing and knowledge-bridging perspective, can trigger a virtuous interaction among key actors involved in the challenge for sustainability.