452 Int. J. Innovation and Sustainable Development, Vol. 13, Nos. 3/4, 2019 Copyright © 2019 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Innovations for sustainability: challenges of utilising sustainability-related knowledge Nina Tura* and Ville Ojanen School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology, P.O. Box 20, 53851 Lappeenranta, Finland Email: nina.k.tura@gmail.com Email: ville.ojanen@lut.fi *Corresponding author Jyri Hanski VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., P.O. Box 1300, 33101 Tampere, Finland Email: jyri.hanski@vtt.fi Abstract: The demands for more sustainable development are increasing, and solving complex sustainability challenges is acknowledged to require innovations that take environmental, social and economic perspectives into consideration. The development of innovations for sustainability requires the utilisation of sustainability knowledge, i.e., creating market value by combining pieces of environmental, organisational and social information. In this study, we address the reasons why sustainability knowledge is not exploited more broadly and set focus on the challenges in the utilisation of sustainability knowledge. The empirical data for the study was collected in an interdisciplinary expert workshop and by conducting semi-structural interviews in four Finnish companies. The study reveals challenges in the utilisation of sustainability knowledge at all stages of knowledge management. We also analyse the potential of digitalisation in enhancing innovations for sustainability and lowering the challenges in the utilisation of sustainability knowledge. Keywords: innovation; sustainability; sustainable development; SOI; sustainability-oriented innovation; sustainability knowledge; knowledge utilisation; knowledge process; KM; knowledge management; managerial challenges; digitalisation effects. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Tura, N., Ojanen, V. and Hanski, J. (2019) ‘Innovations for sustainability: challenges of utilising sustainability-related knowledge’, Int. J. Innovation and Sustainable Development, Vol. 13, Nos. 3/4, pp.452–478. Biographical notes: Nina Tura, MSc (Tech), is a project researcher at School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), Finland. She finalising her doctoral studies focusing on the challenges in value creation for sustainability-oriented innovations. She has been working in multiple research projects focusing on sustainable business development, sustainability-oriented innovations, platform-based business, circular and