Territory – the source of innovation processes

The radical renouncement with the traditional interpretation of space and local development has been a base to new – territorial development paradigm in the early nineties. In this perspective, the space ”creates” dynamics of the economy and gives its own autonomy to the development processes. There is a visible shift from the static interpretation of the region as the location of business and economic resources towards the dynamic interpretation, where relationships and activity of local actors, as well as social and institutional capital, create new value for the space-territory. This interpretation of the territory is seen as a source of innovation processes. The aim of this paper is to identify the territorial mechanisms of innovation processes, in the context of the relationship between the territory and the processes of innovation. The article discusses the nature of the territory and territorial development, in order to capture the interdependencies between territorial development and innovation. The study refers to the major theoretical trends, such as the concepts of: innovative milieu, regional innovation system, cluster and learning region