Towards an Integrated Conceptual Framework for Territorial Innovation in Less Developed Regions: The Sustainable Regions’ Approach

Abstract

In the current complex and uncertain times, where local and global scales are increasingly interdependent, territorial innovation policies are crucial to ensure a cohesive and sustainable territorial development of regions. These policies assume a critical role in the case of less developed regions (LDRs) as they often lack the resources of leading regions such as accessibilities, support infrastructures or a critical mass of actors, making innovation more difficult and undermining the capacity to face global challenges. This chapter discusses the historical construction of territorial innovation models and concepts throughout the last decades and how they have been applied in LDRs in Europe. Then, it builds on this review to contribute to a new conceptual approach that aims to redirect and support different forms of innovation and inspirational territorial visions for the future of these regions. This critical discussion reflects on the role of what is territorial, its characteristics, peoples and contexts, in close relation to what is non-territorial, global and interdependent, its dimensions, complexities and impacts to propose an integrated framework that can influence the processes of territorial innovation for local–global needed sustainability transitions.