Regional-level authorities are increasingly involved in designing their own strategies to support and enhance innovative local dynamics and improve the performance of their regional innovation systems. The aim of the paper is to assess the role of regional authorities’ policy in building innovation capacity of Pomorskie Voivodeship. As research methods, the author used descriptive analysis, analysis of strategic documents and data analysis. The results show that local government authorities of Pomorskie Voivodeship are active in supporting innovativeness of the region. Cluster policy and bottom- up process of defining smart specialisations may be assessed positively. However, a lack of separate governance structures of the regional innovation system, such as planning, organization, motivation and monitoring should be recognized as unfavourable. Finally, it is still necessary to concentrate measures on meeting needs necessary for an effective commercialization of innovative solutions.

There are numerous diff erences between EU Member States, e.g. related to geographic location, language, culture, etc. The main difference can be primarily found in the level of development of individual regions and voivodeships in Europe. Poor regions and voivodeships in the conditions of growing competition lose their distance to the wealthy ones. The European Union, having this in mind, has given a priority in its regional policy to reduce the disparities between regions by providing aid through the socio-economic cohesion policy to neglected provinces. This problem is of a particular importance in the Polish context due to the large diff erences between the voivodeships. Large disproportions are visible especially between voivodeships of Eastern Poland whose potential, especially innovative potential, is among the weakest in Poland and in the EU. The aim of the article is to review the concepts of innovation, to present the innovative potential of particular Polish voivodeships in 2020 and to defi ne innovative potential’s signifi cance in the development. For the calculation of the synthetic index, there was used a non-model method.

The basic idea of the paper is to apply a multi-attribute notion of diversityproposed by Nehring and Puppe to technological changes appearing as aconsequence of innovations in Schumpeter’s sense of the term in the productionsphere of the economy modelled by the use of the Arrow and Debreu topologicalapparatus. The paper is inspired by the work of Malawski and Woerter whoused Stirling diversity concept to prove that innovative processes are the sourceof growing diversity in the Schumpeterian vision of economic development. Weshow that, under certain conditions, nondecreasing multi-attribute diversity inthe production sphere of the private ownership economy is a necessary andsufficient condition for the occurrence of innovation in the economy under study.

The purpose of the chapter is to identify factors which had an impact on the change of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship development path as well as to indicate barriers limiting further development. The article is based on a desk research, statistical data analysis as well as structured in-depth interviews conducted with representatives of regional and local authorities, scientifi c units and business-related institutions. The conclusions may be of interest to both researchers of the path dependency concept, and representatives of institutions involved in formulation and implementation of regional policy.

A central element in the theory of clustering is the idea that physical clustering of businesses within specialized sectors is a source for regional economic growth. The spatial proximity of companies and institutions within related industries create a specific setting in which learning, knowledge sharing and mutual competition are encouraged. Additionally, active participation within the innovation eco-system of a Science & Technology Park provides actors access to knowledge, facilities and complementary contacts and network structures. Collective ideation helps an organization to improve the positioning within the technological field and economic market, especially within an innovation ecosystem because actors are dependent on each other’s behaviour to be successful in innovation. This research focuses on the question how to design the collective ideation process in particular to foster interactions within the context of a science & technology parks? This research is based on semi-structured interviews, conducted at all development stages (idea, startup, grow and mature) of Dutch science & technology parks with stakeholders from different perspectives, based on the triple-helix structure (government, industry, research). The study describes how multiple stakeholders benefit from collective ideation, what mechanisms and tools are used in practice and also describes prerequisites and limitations of collective ideation.

The model concept, as presented in this paper, is an original solution created by the author, and can be used as a proposal to build an innovative mechanism to increase the effectiveness of programming and implementation of the development policy, and improve the quality of functioning of a building research institute. The development management system included in this model is a set of actions targeting at the effective use of human and tangible resources, undertaken in a coordinated manner and leading to the achievement of previously established objectives. The market activity of building research institutes is directly or indirectly involved in construction projects, which translates into market mechanisms, such as innovation and competitiveness. In addition, it indicates the participation of a building research institute in the engineering of construction projects as a key to entrepreneurship and implementations.

Wales is one from five selected European regions, which (looking at statistical analysis), develop in an extraordinary way in comparison to others. The purpose of the article is to identify factors which had an impact on the change of Wales’s development path as well as to indicate problems with which the region has still struggle. The article is based on a desk research, statistical data analysis as well as structured in-depth interviews conducted with representatives of regional authorities, scientifi c units and business-related institutions. Based on this, conclusions and recommendations for the institutions involved in implementation of regional policy in Polish voivodeships have been formulated.

Adopting and developing a knowledge-based economy as the current stage of global economic development is an important stimulus to successful innovation. The transition to a knowledge-based economy and achieving economic convergence, especially in the case of emerging economies, requires the appreciation of science and technology coexistence on the one hand, and the development of innovation on the other, as well as the raising of human resource competences and skills for further development. Latin American countries, in search of an effective development strategy after moving away from the Washington Consensus, which set economic priorities through the last decade of the twentieth century, become increasingly aware of the importance of the development of STI policies. They try to identify the most important institutions and the capacities and resources needed to support economic development. Such policy generally includes at least three objectives: to create research and development opportunities in public research institutes and universities; to stimulate the demand of companies for scientific and technological knowledge by establishing close relationships between universities, business and government, and supporting and developing national innovation systems in each country. In this article the author analyzes the policies introduced and attempts to assess their effectiveness.

The aim of the study was to identify and present the set of activities undertaken to develop an innovative offer of medical treatments by the health resorts facilities Mineral Hotel Malinowy Raj with Baseny Mineralne (mineral pools) situated in a health resort Solec-Zdrój in the świętokrzyskie voivodeship. The research covered the years 2012-2017 and was based on an analysis of the current offers of the selected facilities and of the revitalisation programme for the gmina as well as on the observations and field inspection. It has shown that the resort is becoming multi-functional, offering various options for health improvement, leisure and relax, and developing innovative medical and tourist functions, the latter including sports and well-being. Inevitably, all these changes have their impact on the economic situation of Solec-Zdrój.

The paper presents the history of the development path of the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship. The aim of the study was to identify factors conducive to and restrict regional transformation in Warmia and Mazury and to verify the development path of the voivodeship. According to the study, the factors that positively infl uenced the development of the region in the recent period were, among others: EU funds and natural resources that form the basis of a regional economy. The factors that inhibit the development of the region include, among other:. lack of trust, intensifi cation of competition and low transport accessibility of the voivodeship.

The study presents a change in the innovation model and a change of development path towards new industries and modernization of traditional industries in the Pomeranian Voivodship. The characteristics of the region and the characteristics of the regional innovation system based on statistical data, existing research, analysis and interviews with representatives of regional and local authorities, scientists and entrepreneurs of the voivodship were presented. The factors that preceded the change of the innovation model and direct causes of change were identifi ed aa well as the impact of institutional factors and the barriers to the development of the voivodship.

The study presents a change of innovation model in the highly developed region of the European Union Friuli Venezia Giulia in Italy. The paper presents the innovation system and the outline of the region’s economic history, as well as the factors that preceded the change in innovation model, the direct causes of the change, and the impact of institutional factors as well as the development barriers. The analyzes were based on interviews with 14 representatives of regional and local authorities, innovation and entrepreneurship support institutions, universities, R&D units and a cluster from the region, as well as statistical data and source material.

In 1994-2000 Galicia region was among the weakest regions with a GDP per capita below the median of the European countries, that gained a strong increase in GDP in subsequent years. Thus, the aim of the article is to identify factors which had an impact on the change of Galicia’s development path as well as to indicate barriers limiting further development. The article is based on a desk research, statistical data analysis as well as structured in-depth interviews conducted with representatives of regional and local authorities, scientifi c units and business-related institutions. The findings show that there was no shock that could become a direct cause for a change in the innovation process model of Galicia. The success of the transformation could be seen in attracting automotive and shipbuilding industries decades ago and the creation of a strong knowledge base. The case study of Galicia shows that even with a diffi cult history and only a few pillars of the economy, it is possible to grow faster than other regions in Europe.

This chapter provides a quantitative analysis to identify weak regions that have changed the innovation model. The analysis was carried out at the beginning of the project, in 2015, when only data on GDP per capita for the EU regions was available until 2011. It was designed to identify regions that have changed the innovation model for their in-depth qualitative research, that is to prepare case studies. To indicate the development paths of European regions, a comparative analysis of means was prepared. Innovation models and their change were indicated by clusters analysis. In addition, an econometric analysis of growth factors in the EU regions covering data on GDP per capita in the EU regions in 2014 was carried out in 2017.

The paper presents the research concept and the key questions the team put forward during the implementation of the project entitled ‘Changing innovation processes models: a chance to break out of dependency paths for less developed regions’. In this chapter, research hypotheses, key concepts concerning the theory of path dependence, a review of the enablers and barriers in shaping development paths regarding the individual parts of the research project are indicated. There are also references to public policy proposals that can support the development of the peripheral paths of the peripheral regions as well as future research concepts of this issue.

Small and medium sized enterprises (SME) play an important role in the economies of numerous emerging economies. Despite the fact that the SME sector plays a significant role in the national economy it still suffers from the underdeveloped financial sector services. It results in the lower levels of indebtedness of private sector in Poland in relation to such emerging economies like Malaysia, Estonia or Chile. The commercial financial sector is inefficient in delivering funds to SME, the important role in this area is played by regional policy, especially supported from European regional funds. The distribution of development funds is realized with serious problems because SME are reluctant to financial sector services and besides typical grants, debt-type instruments meet serious problems. Polish SME are also reluctant to use support instruments aimed at developing innovations, R&D, and intellectual property (IP) protection. Imitation model of growth still dominates among Polish SME. To address this issue, in 2014 the University of Gdansk (UG) launched a project, supported by National Science Centre (NCN, governmental), on using behavioural interventions to increase the propensity of Polish SME to apply more ambitious development measures through support instruments. The research revealed, that the majority of tested behavioural interventions aimed at building friendly support environment proved to be efficient and increased the interest of SME in developmental activities.

The region’s development potential is a set of endogenous features that determine the growth of the local economy. It supports the development of knowledge, innovation and eff ective competition on global markets. The publication argues that saturation with potential may not be enough to cause economic growth. The distribution of potential is also important: concentration is its catalyst. The study proposes a method for measuring the concentration of potential. It has also been shown that the size of the regional economy depends on the distribution of potential in the region.