METHODOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF INNOVATION TRANSFER IN THE PROCESS OF POST-CONFLICT RECOVERY OF RURAL AREAS IN UKRAINE

Abstract

The article is devoted to the scientific substantiation of methodological approaches to the transfer and adaptation of innovations in the process of post-conflict recovery of rural areas in Ukraine. It is established that, in contemporary international recovery practice, reconstruction is increasingly viewed as a process of developing a new model for the functioning of rural areas rather than simply restoring them to their pre-war state. To support this concept, a transformational-modernisation methodological approach to innovation transfer is proposed. Its essence lies in directing innovative technologies, knowledge, organisational solutions, and business models not towards the simple reproduction of the pre-war structure of rural areas, but towards the formation of a qualitatively new, diversified, innovative, and resilient development model. Based on this approach, a conceptual framework of the transformational-modernisation approach has been developed, incorporating the following components: Build Back Better, Resilience Approach, Smart Specialisation, Innovation Ecosystem, and Place-Based Development. The characteristics of the transformational-modernisation methodological approach are defined as follows: Essence: directing innovation transfer towards the structural modernisation and qualitative transformation of rural areas rather than the reproduction of their pre-war development model; Core principle: Build Back Better – every recovery process should create the conditions for modernisation and innovative transformation; Expected outcome: the formation of a diversified, innovative, competitive, and resilient rural development model. Based on the proposed concept, a multi-level system of indicators has been developed to assess not only the fact of rural recovery but also the quality of its transformation, ranging from the restoration of basic functions to modernisation, innovative transformation, and enhanced resilience. The system includes the following dimensions: Build Back Better, Place-Based Development, Smart Specialisation, Innovation Ecosystem, Knowledge Transfer, Digital Transformation, Resilience, Economic Transformation, Agricultural Innovation Transformation, Value-Added Transformation, Social Transformation, Environmental Transformation, Investment Capacity, Institutional Capacity, and Innovation Scaling. Within the proposed indicator system, four successive levels of transformation are identified: Level I – Recovery; Level II – Modernisation; Level III – Innovative Transformation; Level IV – Resilience. Based on the above framework, a methodology for determining the Integral Index of Transformational-Modernisation Development of Rural Areas (ITMDR) is proposed. Each of the four sub-indices may consist of groups of specific indicators. This makes it possible to assess not only “how much has been restored”, but also “the extent to which the quality of the territorial development model has changed.”