ABSTRACT
Innovative issues in a territorial context are an important and current problematics in Poland, taking into account the need to improve the country’s weak position in European and world rankings. Territorial innovation is mentioned above all in relation to the state, however, the regional context is of special and raising importance, due to the observed processes of innovation dynamics, which find territorial reference precisely to the region. In addition to smart regional specialisations, the emergence of which may confirm the importance of regional innovation, clusters also deserve to be highlighted. The territorial proximity of organisational units has an impact on the innovation processes taking place in those units, which additionally emphasises innovation in territorial terms, while issues of regional cohesion are also an important topic from the social and economic point of view. The public debates and recent European protests have also been observed and thus additionally underline the issue. The paper presents the issues of regional innovativeness in the context of its potential, determinants, networks and clusters. As an example of an innovative region, Małopolskie Voivodeship was evaluated. As a result of the considerations on regional innovation, based on a critical analysis of the literature and the example of Małopolska, it has been revealed that the proximity of geographical location favours complementarity of the activities of organisations concentrated in a given region. This is a factor for the growth of innovativeness in the regional context.
