The creative industries are recognized as one of the most perspective sectors of the economy with high potential to both contribute to local and regional prosperity and employment generation. Globally, the cultural and creative industries (CCIs, or culture and creative sector) became a large part of the economy in the first decade of the 21st century. They made a 3% contribution to the global economy. They generate US $2250 billion and create 29.5 million jobs worldwide. In parallel to economic benefits, the cultural and creative sectors also deliver benefits to people. They foster sustainable urban development, creativity, and culture. Furthermore, they support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Creativity and culture also have significant intangible value. They promote social inclusion and encourage dialogue and understanding between people. Culture is both a driver and an enabler of sustainable human development. It empowers people to take responsibility for their own development and boosts innovation and creativity, which can drive inclusive and sustainable development. The presence of CCI in a particular area is an important factor of competitiveness, image, and economic development. This paper presents the results of a study on the determinants of the development of creative industries in the Baltic Sea Region. The summary of the main results of the study focuses on the economic importance, innovation in creative enterprises, and the needs of organizations to grow. It shows that creative industries, which are characterized by rather small entities and elastic work organizations, acquire new ideas and approaches primarily through the mobility of independent employees. Since creative industries make a decisive contribution to the competitiveness of the national innovation system and enhance sustainable growth at the same time, it concludes with implications and challenges for regional innovation policies to improve the framework conditions for creative industries. This article presents the conclusions of research that was conducted in four countries of the Baltic Sea Region (Germany, Sweden, Lithuania, and Poland). The research was conducted by using a Computer Assisted Web Interview (CAWI) survey. A total of 682 correctly completed questionnaires were obtained. The results were subjected to statistical inference, in which the technique of detecting hidden interdependencies between the examined phenomena using the V-Cramer method was also applied. The main aim of this article is to verify the state of the creative industry in the Baltic Sea Region. And the research hypothesis is that the organizations of creative sectors are doing well in turbulent circumstances, and, by doing so, they continually enhance the realization of sustainability goals.

At the turn of culture and economics, cultural and creative industries (CCIs) stimulate business, technology, and society and drive innovations within individual regions, as well as on a cross-border level. This makes CCIs and thus culture, creativity, and design significant elements of the modern, post-industrial, and knowledge-based economy. The purpose of the paper is to outline the expectations and needs of entrepreneurs in both the creative and traditional sectors for the future cooperation and implementation of cross-sectoral innovations. It is assumed that there are no guidelines on establishing a cross-sectorial process for the efficient transfer of knowledge for innovation between the two sectors, establishing a strong platform of international cooperation for innovations in the region. To obtain information in this area quantitative and qualitative research was done. A series of expert interviews were conducted, and empirical expert observations were made in the form of qualitative surveys and expert assessments. The presented results are based on the summary reports of empirical research activities. The results of the analysis allowed us to determine that the assumption was true and that representatives of both the traditional and creative sectors lack proven models of cooperation and commercialization for joint innovations.

Innovation is one of the most important factors stimulating the economy. It plays a special role in the Transport and Logistics (T&L) sector as it enables the acceleration of meeting needs process. During the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, many industries were and still are facing a tough economic test. The recession is also noticeable in transport, freight forwarding and logistics. However, how does this sector cope with the existing problems? Has the adoption rate of innovation been stopped in this sector? Do T&L developers see the potential of innovations and do they see them as a remedy and response to the pandemic threat? These issues have been thoroughly considered in the presented publication. The paper presents conclusions and selected results from a study on the adoption of innovations by companies in the transport and logistics sector during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in Sweden, Germany and Poland. As many as three research hypotheses were adopted, which after being subjected to statistical fractional verification and evaluated substantively on the basis of the literature review and conclusions of research conducted, proved to be true. The aim of this paper was to verify the principles and determinants of innovation policy in T&L enterprises in selected countries during the pandemic crisis. Moreover, the paper contains an analysis of the entrepreneurs’ experiences in the context of improving and developing their activities during economic crises, e.g., in 2008. It also presents the motivation and methodology of research. In addition to standard quantitative summaries, the authors conducted identification of correlations between the studied phenomena using the Cramer’s V method and chi-square statistics. Obtained results allowed to better understand the processes taking place and to determine the general state and prospects of further innovation development in the T&L sector during the pandemic and ubiquitous restrictions.

Sustainable tourism is one of the key sectors in the South Baltic Sea Region (SBSR), which belongs to the role model for sustainability—the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). In this context, resilience, recovery and sustainability become key common threads calling for new approaches mitigating negative impacts, upscaling resilience capacity and boosting recovery in the post-pandemic era. The present work aims at revealing conceptual and practical pathways for policy makers and businesses in revitalizing sustainable tourism in the region by emphasizing cultural and creative industries (CCIs) as strong contributors to sustainable development and economic ecosystems, such as tourism. Tourism is also one of the key thematic areas of the smart specialization strategies (S3) in the SBSR. However, there is almost no link between CCIs’ potential for sustainable and resilient tourism and their contribution to the co-design and co-creation of S3. CCIs are rather absent agents in quadruple helix networks supporting S3 policy implementation. The literature on this topic is still premature, and represents a clear gap in knowledge. By virtue of these circumstances, the present research investigates how CCIs contribute and reveal new linkages between local assets, potential markets and societal challenges by engaging them as proven sustainable innovation and transition brokers in transnational quadruple helix partnerships following S3 policies in accordance with the sustainable development goals (SDGs), thus supporting sustainable and resilient tourism. Moreover, this paper aims at advocating for development of rural and peripheral regions, thus reducing the so-called “rural marginalization”. In addition, this paper also supports ongoing recent discussions on related vs. unrelated diversification policy within the S3 realm.

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