A dominating idea in current discussions about the regional development continues to be the inter-firm networking. Industry clusters, being one of the types of inter-firm networking, are recognized to play a significant role for the competitive economic development of the regions and the improvement of the quality of life of the citizens. The objective of the current paper is twofold. Firstly, to present and analyse the cluster establishment process in Bulgaria since the application of first financial instrument (Phare program) that initiated the emergence of clusters. Secondly, to conduct an analysis of the current state of selected industrial clusters and to discuss what is or could be expected to be the positive influence of the clusters on the regional development. The basis will be an analysis of selected Bulgarian clusters according to the frame outlined by quality indicators of European Cluster Excellence Initiative and following questions: What are the reasons these clusters to be established? Which are the members of the clusters? What kind of relationships could be identified among them? What are their objectives? All of these issues will help the future development, the role and importance of the clusters for the regional development to be identified.

In the last decades corporate social responsibility (CSR) has forcefully and irreversibly become a part of the corporate actions of a growing number of companies and continues to provoke the interest of governments, international institutions, scientists and researchers. The new imperatives on CSR have increased the requirements of companies towards the education and preparation of experts with the requisite skills and competences.The objective of the paper is to discuss how business universities meet the demand for new business models and management skills in order to help companies in Bulgaria to develop socially responsible practices.The study is based on a web-content analysis of the curricula and study programs of all Bulgarian universities training business and management students in Bachelor and Master programs. The obtained results regarding the current status of CSR education are interpreted in the context of CSR in businesses in Bulgaria. To this end, results were used from a large-scale study by the authors on the status and trends of development of CSR in Bulgaria, thus uncovering the needs of companies operating on the Bulgarian market in terms of employees with CSR skills and competences, and showing the gap between the demand and supply of CSR education for business and management graduates in Bulgarian universities (Bachelor and Master programs). The conclusions delineate the directions in which teaching CSR-related issues should develop in higher education institutions in Bulgaria.

The business environment and cluster development in given economy have a defining role for the development, maintenance and enhancement of national competitiveness and this has been proven repeatedly in theory and in practice. Cluster development in Bulgaria started with some delay compared to the other European countries. In Bulgaria, companies even though being a member of a cluster, they do not fully realize their advantages in terms of competition and joint efforts. The reason is that clusters in Bulgaria are still in a process of building efficient internal interactions between their members. The study focuses on the way and the extent the state of business environment and cluster development foster national competitiveness in the case of Bulgaria and selected Central and Eastern European EU member states countries. For the purposes of the study of business environment the Diamond Model of Michael Porter is employed and it is carried out through the World Economic Forum’s indicators of Global Competitiveness Reports. Both, business environment and the level of cluster development in Bulgaria are evaluated in a comparative context with selected Central and Eastern European EU member states countries. The results of the study show domination of limitations and obstacles to enhancing national competitiveness. We may conclude that the state of the business environment, the level of cluster development, and their interaction are not very favourable for more intensive competitive development of Bulgarian economy.

The concept of sustainable development as a global and long-term philosophy of development is directed towards achieving a balance and interconnectedness between economic activities, social aspects and the environment and offers an overall approach to solving the growing and complex global problems. This paper examines the possibilities that clusters' main characteristics -spatial proximity, strategic collaboration and competition; interaction between stakeholders (businesses, educational institutions, non-governmental organizations) -can provide for the implementation of responsible business practices and joint corporate socially responsible activities which contribute to sustainable development. Based on publications in academic literature regarding the relationship between clusters and corporate social responsibility (CSR), known as the "cluster" approach to CSR, as well as the results from a practical study of an industrial cluster in Bulgaria, we outline the potential of clusters to bring about not only economic benefits but also social and environmental improvements. The conditions for successful implementation of CSR actions in the cluster are studied, which for some industrial clusters can be prerequisites for improvement of their actual capacity for contribution to sustainable development and for others, they can turn into significant limitations. The results of the practical study show that in order for industrial clusters to use their potential for contribution to sustainable development, based on the main cluster characteristics (according to cluster theory), in addition to cluster activity, the social-economic and environmental context and the state of development of CSR and clusters in the respective country are also of defining importance.