The thesis aims at examining and improving understanding of Entrepreneurial Discovery Process (EDP) set-up and its positioning within Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) design and implementation, thus enabling regional sustainable development. S3 as well as Research and Innovation Strategies on Smart Specialisation (RIS3) receive increasing interest in regional innovation policy planning and governance, in particular, considering the current transition of this policy from period 2014–2020 towards 2021–2027. In this sense, regional decision-makers do not only have to learn from the first implementation period, but also to develop capacity to re-shape those strategies in order to meet future demands as well as to achieve objectives, as set in the European and international agendas, e.g. the European Green Deal, UN Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030, New European Bauhaus or Fit for 55 Package. In other words, European regional policy-making is under pressure to set up the path for future S3 design and implementation for 2021–2027 and beyond, keeping in mind the objective to accelerate both multi-scalar and multi-layer sustainable development.
Nevertheless, as the literature and available research initiatives demonstrates, the nexus of EDPs, S3 and sustainability stays rather below the radar. S3 design shows tangible drawbacks in finding the link between theory and practice, and EDP implementation misses sound theoretical foundation. At the present moment, S3 idea is still strongly connected to technology-driven innovation thinking and acting, which, in turn, ignores crucial aspects and wastes innovation potentials, thus jeopardising sustainable transition in a region. Unfortunately, social innovation concepts or socio-ecological tenets and their impact towards sustainable development have not been elaborated or incorporated as key building blocks into S3 design and implementation yet. The same applies to Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs), which have proven paramount innovation capacities and competences to moderate relations between involved actors in a function of creative brokers, thus guiding and facilitating development and implementation of EDPs, which are, indeed, one of the core concepts in S3 policy-making.
The thesis is based on Qualitative Content Analysis research strategy. To answer the Central Research Question (CRQ), three Research Questions (RQs) are introduced and individually addressed throughout sufficient research methodologies. Thus, the thesis delivers results, which are based on multi-method approach. This approach deploys different research methods, the selection thereof being based on the specific research question to be answered. As a result of the implemented research methodology, this thesis provides different insights to address the EDP set-up and its improvement both from regional and entrepreneurial level. First, a Transnational RIS3 Observatory Model is developed and introduced. The model is based on the introduction of a harmonised procedure dedicated to choose S3 thematic priorities in European regions. As a result, the model enables to effectively overcome well-known research problems of S3 monitoring in terms of covering aspects of comparability, multi-level approach and performance measuring. In this vein, the thesis in hand undertakes a novel research path in conceptualising S3 monitoring model and thus enhancing to available scientific literature.
Furthermore, the present work connects social innovation and CCIs to the S3 domain, including spill-overs on how to utilise those concepts for sustainability transition in innovation policies. In both cases, the thesis calls for a higher involvement of social capital and creative brokers, which qualify as key actors and regional assets within S3 design and implementation based on Quadruple helices. In addition, the deployment of regional assets for innovation application and EDPs is a crucial aspect in the place-base theory realm to be used to explain and discuss S3 phenomena. However, an analysis undertaken for the Blue Economy – which in its innovation and sustainable development meaning shows conceptual overlaps with S3 priority of Blue Growth – shows rather low utilisation of those potentials for S3 policy implementation. More precisely, the analysis yields low uptake of ports as regional assets and innovators into S3 priority set-up, although once integrated into regional S3, ports as Blue Economy actors enhance their innovation capacity and might generate higher positive effects in terms of better placed-based port performance.
The present work also offers a first attempt in promoting cross-border cooperation as a contributor to S3 design and implementation. Despite the fact that cross-border cooperation is a well-known concept facilitating innovation, it has neither has been connected yet to the S3 discourse, nor its potential unveiled for S3. These potentials are addressed and showcased for EDP design and implementation by exploring a particular sector of multi-functional agriculture, which conceptually merges under one roof several S3 objectives.
In sum, the thesis offers both theoretical and practical contributions dedicated to current EDP and S3 research and enhances the scant literature on the intertwining of EDPs and S3 with sustainable development. Indeed, sustainable development serves as a principal impetus for the researcher to continue this path in future discussion and incorporation of new concepts into S3 design and implementation.