Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the biggest group of enterprises in the European Union (EU); they are also characteristic of emerging economies. Given this situation, there is a need to provide instruments such as processes that allow them to realize a model of sustainable development. The ability to classify processes and the occurrences within these processes often affects the state of the enterprises. The implementation of innovations, as identified processes, facilities sustainable development for SMEs. The purpose of this article is to find out whether the identification of processes such as innovations has any influence on the competitiveness and sustainable development of SMEs. This study was based on pilot research that examined small and medium enterprises regionally based on the example of an emerging economic region of Poland. The research focused on the identification of the processes and changes happening inside enterprises in terms of understanding the sustainable development concept. The research composition allows the presentation of how SMEs understand the problems analyzed. The study features a new questionnaire, a new definition of sustainable development, and matches those processes identified by the enterprises analyzed with the particular sustainable development dimensions suggested by the authors. In light of the analysis of the literature and the results of this research, the study offers some important contributions in terms of understanding and offering practical meaning to the identification of various processes. The most important finding was that there is a need to raise awareness among entrepreneurs of the fact that innovations are also processes in themselves, which often constitute the sum of other supporting processes occurring within the enterprise. Support in the form of knowledge transfer from experts to SMEs would also be recommended.

Elderly and disabled individuals constitute over 25% of the population with a perspective of reaching 35% in 2040. This trend triggers the dynamic development of the silver economy, which aims to satisfy the needs specific to this social group. One of the cornerstones of that sector concerns appropriate housing, which—as for now—is often maladapted, making daily activities highly demanding. This problem should be addressed in a systematic and sustainable manner. A current solution is to adjust the existing flats, which is suboptimal, due to high costs and technical limitations that in many cases, cannot be overcome. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that a primary design of living spaces suitable for senior citizens (barrier-free flats) is more beneficial from the socio-economic perspective as compared to the adaptation of existing houses. We analyzed the economic and social costs/benefits of the contemporarily available flat adjustment strategies and the primary design of barrier-free houses. We found that the implementation of standardized design principles at the stage of architectural design can reduce yearly costs of the national economy by ~PLN 385 billion (> 19% of Poland’s GDP), making the universal design senior housing an efficient response to the arising requirements of our aging society.

The implemented climate policy and the current geopolitical situation make us pay special attention to energy independence, both in the household and in the national dimension. One way to obtain inexpensive and environmentally friendly energy is the development of photovoltaic micro-installations. For positive changes to occur, correct state regulation and an appropriate set of administrative and economic instruments are necessary. The purpose of this article is to discuss changes in the accounting system for renewable energy prosumers and their consequences for the further development of renewable energy. The financial settlement methods favorable to prosumers were recently replaced with new solutions. According to the authors, this slows down the energy transformation.

This article assesses the role of cultural heritage capital in achieving social, economic and environmental resilience within regional sustainable development policy. It highlights the importance of cultural heritage in enhancing regional resilience, especially in the face of contemporary political and environmental challenges. The study results suggest that increasing awareness of cultural heritage can drive resilience in sustainable development. Two key approaches are presented: the impact of cultural heritage on economic resilience in the context of disasters and the role of cultural tourism. Desk research and analysis of best practices were applied to identify social, economic, and environmental benefits from cultural heritage capital, which can strengthen integrated regional resilience. The article underscores the necessity of adapting heritage conservation strategies to address climate change, enhancing long-term economic resilience. Its originality lies in positioning cultural heritage capital as the resilience factor, demonstrating how it can support the recovery and sustainable development of regional economies during crises.

The cognitive objective was to confirm the thesis that the sustainable development policy approach supports formulating the regional resilience action plan, while the practical purpose is to propose an original method for developing action plans in the area of creating and improving local resilience, which can be applied in regions that have previously sustainable development strategies and programmes. The sustainable development and integrated resilience approaches are being analysed at the regional level from different time perspectives: from the long run (strategy) to the short period (action plan). The main research methods included the expert method for identifying integrated resilience policy factors, multi-criteria evaluation of development projects based on resilience criteria, and a review of relevant literature. Because there is a gap in research and, therefore, application of resilient policy, the research undertaken is of significant importance from the point of identifying the integrated resilience policy model appropriate in the context of contemporary external threats. The practical outcome of the research is the authors’ model of resilience policy (action plan) of the regional economy using the sustainable development policy approach. The originality of the undertaken research lies in the formulation of the integrated resilience regional policy under the contemporary conditions of external threats.

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 2027 perspective. 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.