Smart Specialisation Strategies for Elevating Integration of Cultural Heritage into Circular Economy

Abstract

The smart specialisation approach is becoming a strategic instrument for identifying regions’ opportunities for growth and sustainable development. It is a place-based approach and plays an important role in benchmarking regional competitiveness. To have a smart specialisation strategy has been thought of as a key factor in making a choice for investment. Smart specialisation strategies represent a policy measure to overcome disorganised and weak parallel activities in developed EU countries and offer support to those areas that have research, technological and production capacity to carry out particular activities. Smart specialisation strategies, therefore, follow the socio-economic situation in countries and their integrated technological, institutional and business processes. The EU Member States and regions recognised that supporting a limited number of well-identified priorities for knowledge-based investments and/or clusters could advance, focusing on competitive assets and realistic growth capabilities reinforced by a critical mass of action and entrepreneurial resources. However, the role of culture and cultural heritage has not been significant in these processes. As the policy review revealed that circular economy should be considered as a broader sustainable development strategy, which should also “support Member States and regions to strengthen innovation for the circular economy through smart specialisations”, the purpose of this paper is to lay a basis for a new, stronger complementarity between culture, cultural heritage and adaptive reuse practices, and circular economy concepts through smart specialisation strategies.