The decentralization and post-war recovery processes raise the issue of sustainable territorial development to a qualitatively new level, based on innovation and the search for appropriate resources. The study aims to analyse the features of building institutional and innovative projects within the new concept of territorial development resources based on the archetypal approach and develop practical recommendations for their implementation on the example of sub-ethnic groups of the Sumy region. The study based on world experience substantiates that the process of innovative development of territories should not focus solely on economic issues and technological change but should consider socio-cultural aspects that can be viewed as an essential component of the potential. Considering territorial archetypes when initiating changes and resolving issues of territorial development will allow the development of effective measures through the rational use of resource potential. It is determined that the question of considering socio-cultural historical and modern approaches to to studying settlements, cities, and landscapes (regional and local aspects), analysis of their formation, change and development in developing strategies. The importance of the regional component is illustrated by the experience of the EU, where local authorities are gaining more and more ground in finding the most practical and concrete opportunities for territories. It is determined that public administration undergoes significant changes under the influence of postmodernism, a new philosophy of building organizational structures, government, and management. It considers the uncertainty and ambiguity of new types of social systems and is seen as open to the future. The authors consider the application of postmodern theories to be fruitful in studying the impact of the socio-cultural environment on socio-economic processes and adaptation of innovations. This factor’s impact on economic entities’ behaviour has traditionally been regarded as exogenous. Given the use of postmodern methodology must be studied when trying to return people and actual processes to a place occupied by abstract variables and modelled dependencies. The influence of postmodernism at the territorial level is determined based on the evolution of innovation communities. This approach is consistent with the current EU regional policy, which aims to enhance regions’ development by improving competitiveness efficiency. It is proposed to consider the possibility of using institutional and innovative projects for sustainable development of territories, considering the archetypal resource component and the concept of innovation communities. Institutional and innovative projects are considered so-called «security-related products» of territorial development, which may include innovative projects and programs that involve a wide range of resources, including socio-cultural, focused on achieving sustainable development goals. It is substantiated that the use of tools for institutional and innovative projects should be considered in the context of the smart specialization of regions, making it possible to consider the socio-cultural component practically. Examples of the use of archetypes for the construction of innovation and institutional projects in the instance of two sub-ethnic groups of the Sumy region are considered. The main archetypes of goryuns and sevryuks are generalized, and paper provides the related institutional and innovation projects they will promote.
