Transnational (involving countries) and cross-border (involving adjacent regions of different countries) cooperation and integration are rapidly developing in the Baltic Sea region. Russia lags behind the Nordic countries and Germany as far as innovative development is concerned; yet our national pace here is comparable to that of Poland and the three Baltic States. At the same time, the features of innovative cooperation vary a great deal depending on the group of countries involved in cooperation processes. Independent of its type, however, international cooperation is beneficial for all parties concerned and should therefore be more actively encouraged. Northwestern Federal District traditionally plays a special role in the development of EU-Russia cooperation, since a number of its regions border on the EU countries. The district participates in the development of network innovative structures within the Baltic Sea region. It takes an active part in cross-border cooperation — activities that involve the formation of transborder innovative clusters. There are high expectations associated with the formation of such territorially localised innovative networks, as the Helsinki — Saint Petersburg — Tallinn and Tricity (Gdansk, Gdynia, Sopot) — Kaliningrad — Klaipeda transborder innovative clusters. The city of Saint Petersburg and the adjacent Leningrad region, as well as the Kaliningrad region can become innovative development corridors between Russia and the EU and, eventually, develop into the ‘economic growth poles’ of the Russian Federation.

This article is based on a comparative analysis of Russia and US’s experience of participation in international cooperation in the field of trans-boundary water management. The author showcases the work of Russian-Estonian Commission for Protection and Rational Use of Trans-Boundary Waters and the US-Canadian International Joint Commission. The Russian-Estonian Commission works in accordance with the principle of intergovernmentalism, whereas transnationalism is the founding principle of the International Joint Commission in North America. Though the Russian-Estonian Commission is more efficient in water quality improvement in its area of responsibility, it is early still to claim that intergovernmental cooperation is more effective than transnational cooperation. However, it gives a reason to question the conclusions of the proponents of transnationalism in the international relations theory, who claim that the latter is more efficient. Practical significance of this paper is in the proposed recommendations for further modernization of international cooperation in the field of trans-boundary water management. 

Cross-border cooperation as a type of interregional interaction is becoming a significant factor in the development of border regions. It can be viewed as a result of intensification of cross-border contacts and greater economic openness of cross-border regions. Thus, the roots of current development are quite easy to pinpoint. However, assessment of the impact of cross-border cooperation on the development of border regions appears to be a research challenge. In this paper, we offer an approach to the assessment of the role of cross-border cooperation in the system of interregional interaction between border regions. We present a system of indices to describe cross-border specialization of interregional interaction in certain fields, namely investment, international trade, tourism, and migration. Cross-border specialization determines the role of cross-border cooperation in regional external relations. The empiric data we have gathered is used to develop and implement a pilot assessment of cross-border  specialization of interregional relations which are characteristic of the border regions of the Northwestern Federal District of the Russian Federation. The article offers cross-border specialization indices for each border region of the Northwestern Federal District. With their help, we were able to identify the spheres of interaction with the highest degree of cross-border specialization, and in particular foreign investment and business activities with the participation of foreign capital.

This article offers a comprehensive definition of international, cross-border, and transnational clusters. The author presents a classification of international clusters of the Baltic Sea states, and identifies cross-border and transnational clusters. The paper considers the features of international clusters in the Baltic Sea region, as well as certain cases of implementation of national and international cluster policy. A comparative analysis of the Baltic Sea region provides a basis for identifying countries with high concentration of international clusters such as the Scandinavian countries and Germany. Also, the analysis indicates the potential participants of international clusters, namely the Baltics and Poland as they are involved in a large number of international cluster initiatives. The author identifies the factors contributing to the formation of international clusters in the Baltic Sea region.  

This article examines the development of a new process within Russian-Belarusian-Kazakh integration — interregional transborder cooperation. Network modelling is suggested as a mechanism for its regulation. The authors present a network model of transborder cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus based on the case of the Kaliningrad and Grodno regions. The model is developed on the basis of the well-known and widely accepted PERT. It covers the three main stages of the whole transborder cooperation process identified in the case of the two regions — the Kaliningrad and Grodno: organisational and analytical support, methodological and technological support, and the development of a complex cooperation programme. The working version of the model includes approximately 150 events. As to its purpose, it is a representation of a well-balanced established international coordination programme of transboundary cooperation at a level of two regions.  

Through a situational approach to strategic management of regional and urban development it is possible to identify the interaction between the managerial process and mechanism; bring together the spatial and activity-related concepts of territorial development; and explain the phenomenon in question from both general and specific perspectives. Territorial development is becoming the principal object of strategic management of a region or city, its key tool being the utilization of its own good practices. The main objective of territorial development is increasing the capacity for constructive interaction between all its “actors and factors”. In this situation, the monitoring territorial development is seen as an integral part of management. It ensures the inventory, observation, and comparison of various trends determining the situation, as well as the results of actions aimed at its targeted alteration. Monitoring helps not only to promptly identify threats, but also to detect the opportunities for  developing the situation in the desired directions within the “natural” trends of its dynamics. The situational approach to the monitoring of regional and urban development presented in the article was implemented in the development of the Strategy for the Socioeconomic Development of the City of Moscow until 2015 (as commissioned by the Department of Economic Policy and Development of the Government of Moscow) by an international team headed by the experts of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration and the Higher School of Economics.

Marine spatial planning has been widely applied in the leading maritime countries. However, it is not so common in Russia, since the relevant legal framework is largely absent. Spatial planning shares a number of features with marine planning, especially when it comes to the tools, principles, and methods. The differences mainly concern characteristics of the planning object; principles of delineating the borders of territories and water areas; and the authorities responsible for regulation. The use of marine space, its parts, and sea (water) is covered by a number of laws of the Russian Federation. However, a mechanism for marine planning has yet to be integrated into Russian legislation. The Strategy for the Development of Maritime Activities until 2030 sets the task of developing such mechanism. In this article we address key strategies that can be used in the development of marine planning tools: assessment of applicability of the existing legal framework to water relations; territorial development and strategic planning; and possible distribution of authority between different governing bodies in this new field of administrative activity.

The processes related to the development of international tourism in Lithuania are of importance for the growth of economic, social, and cultural welfare. The increasing tourist and recreational attractiveness of such cities as Druskininkai, Trakai, Palanga, Vilnius, and Klaipeda to international tourists, as well as an advantageous quality-price ratio of the services offered contribute to the growth of competitiveness on the international tourism market. Service standards applied in Lithuania at the international tourism market uphold and improve the image of Lithuania in the Baltic Sea region. The interregional cooperation between Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia in the field of international tourism development is based on the principle of public private partnership. It has been recently acknowledged that the three Baltic States form an integrating region in the field of international tourism and thus affect the Kaliningrad region, North-east Poland, Southern Finland, and partially Belarus. Therefore, Lithuania plays an important role in the integration of the tourist infrastructure of the Kaliningrad region into the tourist system of the Baltics. This study aims to conduct a comparative analysis of the processes relating to the development of international tourism in Lithuania in the context of the Baltic States. We also carry out the comparison of regional competitive factors and trace the patterns for further development of international tourism in Lithuania in the framework of cross-border and transborder cooperation.

This article considers the possibility of Russian integration into a common research, technological, and innovative space of the Baltic region. The author presents the results of a comparative analysis of innovative development in Russia and the Baltic Sea countries based on the calculation of an integral research and technological potential index for the Russian Federation, the Northwestern Federal District of Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. The paper describes the level of research and technological development of Russia in 2008—2010 in terms of human resources, R&D, material and technical components, and the transformation capacity of innovative potential. The author identifies the key issues in the field of research and innovation that inhibit the growth of research and technological potential concentration, as well as innovative development of the Russian Federation. The article considers the prospects for the development of research and technological potential in Russia through the use of instruments of international research and technological cooperation in the Baltic Sea region.