Sustainable development is one of the fundamental and most important objectives of the worldwide policy. The conducted research shows that sustainable development (SD) is increasingly important in the consciousness of the EU countries, which can be viewed through a prism of the undertaken projects. This paper raises the issue of clusters and their significance in the development of a sustainable economy. The article explores trends in the European Union policy related to sustainable development and clusters. The purpose of this study is to find an answer to the following questions: How can clusters contribute to sustainable development and what are the key factors that ensure this process? To achieve the goal of the article a systematic study of the literature and reports was carried out. Moreover, the analysis of the activity of European clusters in the context of sustainable development was performed. Next, the examples of cluster projects focused on sustainable development were presented. It was shown that the clusters contribute a smarter and sustainable development by succeeding in technological and scientific results, developing new technologies for emerging industries, creating new business activities, enticing major technology companies, and connecting local firms into world-class value systems. Furthermore, the clusters participate actively in sustainable development as they promote knowledge creation, joint learning, technology transfer, as well as collaboration, and sustainable innovations. Finally, clusters facilitate the sustainable upgrading of small and medium enterprises and encourage the participation of stakeholders in the process of sustainable development.

The present paper deals with issues related to activities undertaken by local government. The article focuses on the identification and assessment of the significance of local government’s different bottom-up initiatives that support development of local entrepreneurship. The article also indirectly discusses the importance of activities referring to energy efficiency. Through the digitization process and by using digital tools, LGs realize projects, improve local actors’ awareness, and finally achieve new challenges such as a higher proportion of gross final energy consumption being from renewable sources. The aim of the paper is to present the relationship between the LGs’ entrepreneurial activities, which we call bottom-up initiatives, and the local entrepreneurship level, understood as the number of entrepreneurs active on the territory of a LG. This paper presents the results of research carried out on the bottom-up initiatives undertaken by Polish local governments to support entrepreneurship. The research was based on survey and statistical tools and stepwise regression analysis. In the paper, bottom-up initiatives undertaken by local governments (such as organizing events at the national or regional scale that enable networking among entrepreneurs or establishing departments for supporting local entrepreneurship that offer cooperation with local entrepreneurs) were found to influence the number of entrepreneurs active in local government territories. The paper concludes that local governments and their bottom-up activities are an important factor influencing local entrepreneurship development. The presented research results have implications for policy makers and may be useful for local governments in Poland and in other countries in the context of supporting entrepreneurship by undertaking bottom-up initiatives at the local level.

Motivation: The paper rises the issue of sustainable development in the context of challenges that present cities face. Development of innovative and sustainable economy is an aim for the whole society in the European Union. Three pillars of sustainable development: economic growth, environmental management and social inclusion are fundamental and occur across all economic sectors. Predominantly, they influence cities e.g. fast urbanization process, infrastructure, energy development as well as transportation. Cities in Europe are precursors of the transformation towards a low carbon and resource efficient economy. City authorities are planning and acting towards a more sustainable future characterized by investing in innovative, integrated technologies and services such as buildings, mobility, lighting and broadband communications. Aim: The aim of the article is to present challenges facing European cities in the light of sustainable development. The paper explores trends in regional policy undertaken by the European Union relating to sustainable development. The first part outlines the global vision of present and future goals of sustainable development in the world. The next part focuses on the cities and challenges they face referring to sustainable and smart development. Results: The conducted research shows sustainable development as still valid, important and topical. The research indicates that the structures of the EU are not the exclusively supportive and responsible for sustainable development in Europe. The entities such as cities play a very important role in achieving sustainability. Numerous European cities are still establishing programs integrating the energy, transport and ICT sectors in order to deliver more efficient services to their inhabitants. Finally, more and more cities are going to become smart in the nearest future.

The development and implementation of eco-innovation are critical components in addressing climate change and advancing sustainable development in Europe. This article examines the integration of eco-innovation within the European Union's policy framework, emphasising its significance in achieving sustainable development goals. Employing the applied research methodology, trends in eco-innovation have been identified, and the analysis has been enriched with case studies of successful practices in selected EU member states. The results indicate substantial differences in the level of eco-innovation implementation, identifying both leading countries and those lagging in adoption. The discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for future research and policy formulation, emphasising the urgent need to integrate eco-innovation into national and regional climate transformation strategies. Such integration is crucial not only for achieving climate neutrality by 2050 but also for maintaining Europe's position as a leader in clean technologies amidst economic and geopolitical challenges. Therefore, eco-innovation is a foundation for building a sustainable and resilient industrial future for Europe. The study underscores the dual role of political support and inclusive collaboration among stakeholders, positioning eco-innovation as a strategic priority in the pursuit of sustainable development and enhancing global resilience.

The paper raise the issue of theoretical aspects of local development and transaction costs. The main aim of the paper was to identify investment incentives offered by the local government and to recognize their importance in reducing enterprise transaction costs. The article discuss the findings on the enterprise transaction costs in the relation to the local governments and their potential investment attractiveness. To this end the correlation between potential investement attractiveness of local governments and their investment incentives offer was analysed. Authors presented the results of the research conducted in Poland regarding investment incentives offered at the local level. Moreover, a typology of investment incentives (financial and non-financial) offered by the local government, which can result in reducing the enterprise TCs, were pointed out.

The paper presents a comprehensive approach to rural development management, encompassing technology, rural community engagement, and strategic planning. It identifies the most desirable local needs, such as the utilisation of smart technologies to improve infrastructure, the implementation of community-driven initiatives, and the importance of flexible strategies. Ultimately, the conducted research contributes to the discourse on effective practices in rural development management, offering insights that can inform policies and initiatives aimed at creating smarter and more sustainable villages. The issue is particularly important in the context of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the years 2021–2027 which provides a supportive framework for rural communities and funding opportunities for the preparation and implementation of smart village (SV) strategies.