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Sustainable tourism is one of the key sectors in the South Baltic Sea Region (SBSR), which belongs to the role model for sustainability—the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). In this context, resilience, recovery and sustainability become key common threads calling for new approaches mitigating negative impacts, upscaling resilience capacity and boosting recovery in the post-pandemic era. The present work aims at revealing conceptual and practical pathways for policy makers and businesses in revitalizing sustainable tourism in the region by emphasizing cultural and creative industries (CCIs) as strong contributors to sustainable development and economic ecosystems, such as tourism. Tourism is also one of the key thematic areas of the smart specialization strategies (S3) in the SBSR. However, there is almost no link between CCIs’ potential for sustainable and resilient tourism and their contribution to the co-design and co-creation of S3. CCIs are rather absent agents in quadruple helix networks supporting S3 policy implementation. The literature on this topic is still premature, and represents a clear gap in knowledge. By virtue of these circumstances, the present research investigates how CCIs contribute and reveal new linkages between local assets, potential markets and societal challenges by engaging them as proven sustainable innovation and transition brokers in transnational quadruple helix partnerships following S3 policies in accordance with the sustainable development goals (SDGs), thus supporting sustainable and resilient tourism. Moreover, this paper aims at advocating for development of rural and peripheral regions, thus reducing the so-called “rural marginalization”. In addition, this paper also supports ongoing recent discussions on related vs. unrelated diversification policy within the S3 realm.

Less than a decade since its official introduction, smart specialization, which guides the selection of priorities for innovative development, has proven to be a far-reaching academic idea and political instrument. In the European Union, smart specialization is mentioned among ex ante conditions for receiving subsidies from European structural and investment funds. Its core principles are considered in innovation strategies in Australia, South Korea, and some countries of Latin America. In Russia, smart specialization is also being introduced in the agenda of policymakers. The paper seeks to reveal which levels of governance should be involved in the design of a smart specialization strategy and which factors should be the focus of attention when using this approach. The research is based upon an analysis of the innovation strategies of seven Russian regions, conducted with the adapted RIS3 Self-Assessment Wheel. The results of the study empirically confirm that most principles of smart specialization are considered, at least formally, in the traditional innovation strategies of Russian regions. At the same time, without common rules for the selection, verification, and synchronization of innovative priorities as well as a single analytical database, organizational support, and expertise, even regions considered strong innovators fail to find their smart specialization.

Purpose: The purpose of our work is to propose a strategic model of smart specialization identification around the concept of regional knowledge and cognitive transfer (Double Helix Matrix, DHM). Design/Methodology/Approach: While operationalization of smart specialization-oriented policy is still rather limited because of the lack of agreed development policy tools, we proposed the DHM model developed in order to provide the implementation of regional smart specialization oriented strategy. The model has been statistically verified by multidimensional comparative analysis on the example of a chosen weak innovative emerging region in Poland (Opolskie). Findings: The proposed methodology let us to find the need of redefining the smart specialization concept as a part of regional innovation strategy. Practical Implications: The new approach to the regional innovation policy has been proposed.. The findings have been used to construct the regional policy directives for potential smart specializations development within 2027perspective. Originality/Value: The new model to conduct regional innovation strategy for smart specialization has been proposed and verified on the example of the weak innovation region. Keywords: Emerging region, smart specialization identyfication, strategy for smart specialization, regional development policy, EU aids fund effectiveness. JEL codes: O38, O47, P48. Paper type: Research article.

Research and innovation strategies for smart specialisation (RIS3), conceived as a tool to improve the economic performance of regions through innovation, has played a key role in the European Union regional policy in the 2014-2020 programing period. One of the main points of RIS3 strategies is the selection of few specialisation priorities in which regional economies have a certain competitive advantage. Regional benchmarking exercises are encouraged by the European Commission, to provide a better vision of the position of the region and detect its strengths and weaknesses. In our work we focus our attention in Andalusia, a region in which European regional policy has a very relevant historical importance. We intend to reinforce the SWOT analysis included in the RIS3 strategy of Andalusia 2014-2020, performing a detailed comparative analysis of the region in relation to a selection of reference regions, using the benchmarking methodology proposed by the European Commission. This exercise allows us to enrich the SWOT analysis included in the Andalusian RIS3 strategy 2014-2020 and, therefore, to design new proposals for action that could have been included and to propose a cualitative methodology that could be useful in the design of RIS3 strategies in the period 2021-2027.

The article addresses the issue of assessing the potential for applying the conception of smart specialization in Ukraine, using the Cherkasy Region as an example. This study involved the use of methods such as generalization, systematization, analysis, synthesis, as well as monographic and tabular methods, along with the application of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. It is highlighted that smart specialization is an efficient tool for regional development, actively used in the design and implementation of the EU regional policy. The main goal of smart specialization is the economic transformation of a region based on «entrepreneurial discovery», which entails identifying unique opportunities to combine existing resources and the region’s competitive advantages. It has been determined that the «cornerstones» of this process are localization, prioritization, and the involvement of stakeholders – the State, business, academia, and civil society. Based on a synthesis of research results on the assessment of the implementation of smart strategies by the EU regions, it was concluded that these strategies are relevant and effective. Emphasis was placed on the fact that the most active role in implementing a smart specialization strategy belongs to government institutions and academia. It was noted that the process of developing and implementing smart strategies needs improvement, primarily through increasing the involvement of stakeholders such as civil society and business. It was stressed that when applying smart specialization as part of the regional development planning methodology, the Ukrainian context must be taken into account. Based on the available data for 2021–2023, it was concluded that the level of implementation of project ideas in the defined areas of the Cherkasy region’s smart strategy – «Innovative Agrotechnologies» and «IT Industry Development» – is low. Using the AI tool (Gemini), potential directions for smart specialization were identified that would prevent the «freezing» of the existing economic structure of the Cherkasy region and, instead, promote the pursuit of «entrepreneurial discovery». For the Cherkasy region, the following smart directions were determined: «Agro-Innovations and Biotechnology», «Information-Computer Biotechnology», «Industrial Leadership», and «Tourism and Creative Industries». It is recommended that further research focus on a more in-depth analysis within a specific direction of the Cherkasy region’s smart specialization, which involves using up-to-date data on the performance of economic entities.

Las estrategias de investigación e innovación para la especialización inteligente (RIS3) han jugado un papel clave en la política regional de la Unión Europea en el período de programación 2014-2020. La Comisión Europea fomenta los análisis regionales comparativos para proporcionar una mejor visión de la posición de las regiones europeas y detectar sus fortalezas y debilidades. En nuestro trabajo pretendemos reforzar el análisis DAFO incluido en la estrategia RIS3 de Andalucía 2014-2020 utilizando la metodología propuesta por la Comisión Europea. Este ejercicio nos permite esbozar nuevas propuestas de actuación y una metodología cualitativa que puede ser útil en el diseño de las estrategias RIS3 del período 2021-2027.

The article examines the role of smart specialization as an innovative approach to the development of the tourism sector in the regions of Ukraine. The aim of the study is to analyze, systematize, generalize and improve the theoretical and methodological support for the introduction of smart specialization in the context of the formation of the investment potential of the tourism sector. It is determined that the development of tourism in the context of smart specialization allows combining economic growth with innovation and sustainable development. Smart specialization is focused on concentrating efforts and resources on a limited number of strategic areas that have the greatest potential for attracting investment and increasing the competitiveness of regions. The study showed that the introduction of smart specialization in the tourism sector contributes to structural changes in regional economies, increases the added value of tourism services and stimulates local development. The process of developing a project to increase the investment potential of the tourism sector on the basis of the introduction of smart specialization, consisting of eight stages, is substantiated as follows: analysis of the tourism potential of the region with the purpose of assessing the existing tourism potential of the region, which involves identifying its unique resources, opportunities for development and existing limitations; strategic planning of tourism development, the purpose of which is to determine the main directions of development of the tourism sector, set priorities and develop a long-term strategy; analysis of infrastructure development in order to study the existing tourist infrastructure and identify areas for its improvement; partnership and cooperation, the purpose of which is to establish partnerships with local businesses, scientific institutions and civil society for the joint implementation of the project; development of innovative solutions with the purpose of integrating innovations into all aspects of the tourism sector to increase its competitiveness; development of a strategy for attracting investments, aiming at formation of an effective strategy for attracting foreign and domestic investors in the development of the tourism sector; marketing and promotion, the purpose of which is to create an effective system for promoting the region’s tourism product in the domestic and international markets; monitoring and evaluation, in order is to track the effectiveness of the project and ensure that it meets the set goals.

This article investigates the role of key enabling technologies (KETs) in regional branching. Taking into account the general purpose properties of these technologies, and referring to recombinant innovation theories, we argue that KETs knowledge could attenuate the effect that regional branching ascribes to technological relatedness, giving regions more scope for their technological diversification strategies. Furthermore, we claim that regions could benefit from this KETs effect, even if they are followers in their development, thanks to interregional spillovers from closer KETs leaders. Combining regional patent and economic data from a thirty-year panel (1980-2010) of twenty-six European countries, we actually find that KETs negatively moderate the role of technological relatedness for regional specialization in new technological fields, captured by a revealed technology advantage index. KETs knowledge also increases the number of new technological specializations. This positive effect more than compensates the previous negative moderation effect, so that the net impact of KETs on regional branching is positive. Supportive evidence is also found for KETs cross-regional spillovers. Overall, the results provide scientific support for the recent European Commission recommendation to plug KETs into the policy toolbox for smart specialization strategies inspired by regional branching.

Investing more in research, innovation and entrepreneurship is at the heart of Europe 2020 and the only way to achieve smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth. Smart specialization emerges as a key element for place-based innovation policies. The paper explains the linkage between knowledge creation, innovation output and enhancing regional and national competitiveness. We present the six major steps that every nation/region should follow to establish a smart specialization strategy based on the basic principles as described in the EU Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialization (RIS3), accompanied by some examples of excellence from the Nordic countries. Special emphasis is paid to issues of applying the Quadruple Helix approach in the context of RIS3. This concept extends the triple helix paradigm by presuming that society is a key actor in innovation processes along with academia, industry, and government. The society is frequently the end user of innovation and thus has a strong influence on the generation of knowledge and technologies via its demand and user function.Our analysis allows us to conclude that a quadruple helix approach is suitable for developing smart specialization strategies despite the greater efforts this entails. There is an urgent need to reconsider measures to keep the momentum generated in the original initiative and demonstrate the value of this exercise. Furthermore, there is a growing need to measure the impact and quantify the value of smart specialization.

This study examines the regional competitiveness of Romanian NUTS 2 regions from 2016 to 2022, employing the EU Regional Competitiveness Index (RCI) 2.0. The research identifies a polarized “two-speed” developmental model by benchmarking these regions against relevant EU peers and utilizing a K-means clustering algorithm. The findings indicate that although the capital, București-Ilfov, has reached “Efficiency” levels similar to those of Western European regions, it continues to show structural imbalances caused by weaknesses in institutions and infrastructure. The other seven development regions of Romania are situated within a low-competitiveness cluster, which shows considerable volatility and reduced resilience relative to their Central European peers. The findings reveal that the primary barrier to convergence is not market size, but major obstacles in fundamental areas such as education and physical connectivity. The study concludes that existing “one-size-fits-all” cohesion policies are inadequate, recommending a distinctive strategy that emphasizes absorptive capacity for underdeveloped regions and enhancements in quality of life for the capital region.