Generolo Jono Žemaičio Lietuvos karo akademija

The scientific literature points out that cooperation increases the capability of an enterprise to engage in innovative activities. Besides, due to a change in the concept of regional development, much greater focus in growth in territories is placed on human capital, and the essential role of education and knowledge in innovation is stressed as well. Sustainable innovation is not only an economic category, and it mainly involves a social process where cooperation plays a great role. The research aim of the paper is to assess cooperation as a factor influencing sustainable innovation in the regional aspect based on the case of the bioeconomy industry in Latvia. The development of the bioeconomy represents transition from fossil to renewable sources, and it encompasses important industries of the economies of the regions of Latvia: forestry and agriculture. In Latvia, bioeconomy industry enterprises were quite cautious in their innovative activity and mainly focused on existing innovations that they adapted to their needs, and their innovative activity was observed only within their region. A positive fact is that most of the enterprises highly rated their cooperation with scientific and research institutions in developing innovations. The promotion of cooperation is one of the objectives that specialists of the Entrepreneurship Centres of the planning regions of Latvia have to deal with, yet their capacity is not sufficient for the promotion of cooperation among innovative enterprises in the region in the context of sustainability.

This paper aims to describe and analyse the innovations in the promotion of home-produced products in the market in Latvia. To do this, the authors have carried out a survey of 50 home producers that makes up a 4.5% of home producers and reviewed research studies about marketing strategies of small farmers and home producers. The obtained results reveal that the most important factor in the marketing of home-produced products is the quality and taste of the products. It can be noticed that the market requires not a combination of traditional and often cultural heritage technologies in the development of the product itself, but an open mind and innovative approaches in the marketing and promotion of products in the market. The authors also conclude mainly the products are sold directly to the end user and therefore the communication with the client and mutual cooperation are highly significant.