Integration of sustainable innovations into regional economic development strategies in the context of global challenges

Abstract

This research paper explores the concept of sustainable innovations being incorporated into regional economic development policies in Kazakhstan, a situation that is influenced by a broad range of global issues. The essence of the goal is to identify strategic congruity, gauge policy effect in the wake of external forces, offer an all-encompassing outline of robust regional planning. The study of 16 key regions of Kazakhstan between 2015 and 2024 uses explanatory sequential mixed-methods research. It involves qualitative diagnostic content analysis of regional policy documentations and quantitative panel regression modeling with fixed-effects and then a synthesis that is mixed models. The most critical observations indicate that there is a substantial mismatch between the strategic goals and policy process in operations, especially in relation to climate adaptation. Moreover, the beneficial effect of the policy instruments on the innovation adoption is significantly undermined in case of high global economic and environmental pressure. The paper concludes that to achieve a successful integration, stress-tested region-specific policy packages need to be explicitly linked to specified global challenges by the innovation mechanisms. One of the main limitations is that it uses regional-level proxy data, which means that future firm-level and governance-based studies should be conducted.