Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide an ambitious agenda to end poverty and its dimensions and a sustainable, prosperous, and fair future. The aim of our paper is to assess the significance of SDGs from the perspective of Iran. To this end, the method of ISM has been used to express the interrelationships between SDGs. Besides, MICMAC method was utilized to assess dependence and driving power of every SDG. By data analyzing, SDGs were classified into six different levels and were modeled according to the interrelationships between them. Variables then were divided into three groups of dependent, independent/driving, communication, and autonomous variables, and no variable was included in the group of linkage variables. The findings show that SDGs12 and SDGs4 are the most fundamental goals of sustainable development, considering the needs, development stages, capacities of Iran. Achieving them is the basis for achieving other goals.

Purpose This paper aims at identifying knowledge creation and diffusion challenges and explaining their causal relationship in renewable energy technologies in Iran. Design/methodology/approach By reviewing literature of renewable energy technologies development, key knowledge creation and diffusion challenges are extracted. Then, the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory method is used to investigate the cause-effect relationships as well as the influence structure of aforementioned challenges in Iran. Findings The results indicate that lack of specialized higher education and research institutions (C4), limited international product development and technological cooperation with international pioneer firms (C8), insufficient international research interactions of institutions and academic research centres (C6), tight and temporary subsidies to domestic institutes (C13), limited and non-systematic government grants (C14), insufficient tax incentives with low impact on investment (C12), weak enforcement of intellectual property rights (C5), low number and relatively poor performance of NGOs and scientific and trade associations (C19) and the limited number of conferences, workshops, meetings and specialized journals (C15) are among the most instrumental challenges of knowledge creation and diffusion of renewable energy technologies development in Iran. Originality/value This paper identifies knowledge creation and diffusion challenges of renewable energy technologies development in Iran, which is applicable for other developing countries. It also analyses the interrelationship and causal effect between challenges which is a neglected issue in the literature and has beneficial theoretical and policy implications.

Apart from “future-shaping” tools (such as forecasting, scenario planning, etc.), many countries also use “backward-looking” approaches to develop long-term strategies for switching to a new economic model. A retrospective assessment of accomplishments and failures (or policy learning, PL) helps learn lessons, and improve the effectiveness of innovation policy. Using the example of Iran, the paper examines the use of PL to assess key initiatives in the field of science, technology, and innovation over the past two decades. Field research allowed to identify the main policy goals, analyse their evolution and the changes in the perception of previously made decisions by politicians themselves. The active use of technical and conceptual PL indicates a relative progress in adjusting the policy vector. At the same time partisan policy learning remains common, applied to legitimise the current course, which indicates insufficient maturity of Iran’s political system (as is the case in many other developing countries). It is concluded that to make real progress and increase the effectiveness of innovation policy, technical, conceptual, and social PL should be applied, while keeping the use of partisan policy learning at the minimum.

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Purpose Scenario planning is a useful approach that helps policymakers to better understand the complexity and uncertainties that lie in the future and to choose the right policy mix to support the development of renewable and affordable energy sources. In this regard, this paper aims to present renewable energy (RE) development scenarios in Iran in the horizon of 2030. Design/methodology/approach Following the intuitive logic school and the Global Business Network model, the authors identified seven driving forces, according to the expert’s judgment, by brainstorming techniques which influence REs development in the horizon of 2030. By prioritizing driving forces based on their importance and uncertainty, “sustainable and green economy” and “emerging technology development” are the most instrumental uncertainties and the authors formed a two-axis scenario matrix with each representing an axis. Findings The results suggest four main scenarios of “Transition to Sustainability with Green Gold,” “Towards Sustainability with Green Gold,” “Productivity with Black Gold” and “Desperation with Black Gold.” They include a wide range of possible situations of energy basket in the future ranging from dominance of fossil fuels to dominance of REs. The “Productivity with Black Gold” and the “Towards Sustainability with Green Gold” are the most probable scenarios of RE development by 2030 in Iran. Originality/value This paper indicates that the dominance of oil and gas resources would impede or at least slow down the development of renewable and affordable energy sources. Although the economic and environmental potentials and the inevitability of REs are well-understood, path dependence created by fossil fuels in Iran’s energy regime, either partially or fully, hinders the widespread development of REs which is the case in other resource-based countries as well.