CROSS-SECTORAL PARTNERSHIPS AS A TOOL FOR INNOVATION MANAGEMENT TO ACHIEVE THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Abstract

The article substantiates cross-sectoral partnerships “government – business – society” as a systemic instrument of innovation management aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. It develops a comprehensive theoretical and methodological framework for understanding the evolution of partnership models from stakeholder theory and public-private partnerships to contemporary paradigms such as the Triple Helix, Quadruple Helix, collaborative governance, and network governance. The study argues that innovation in the twenty-first century emerges not from isolated institutional efforts but from coordinated interaction among public authorities, private enterprises, academic institutions, and civil society organizations. Cross-sectoral cooperation is conceptualized as an institutional architecture that integrates strategic planning, resource mobilization, knowledge exchange, and social accountability into a unified governance mechanism. The research provides a comparative analysis of global models of innovation governance, highlighting the entrepreneurial and venture-capital-driven ecosystem of the United States, the state-coordinated long-term innovation strategies of Asian economies, the socially oriented innovation practices of Latin America, and the institutionalized and strategically planned framework of the European Union. Particular attention is devoted to the European model based on Smart Specialisation Strategy, Horizon Europe, cluster policies, and public-private partnerships, which combine economic competitiveness with social and environmental sustainability. Quantitative indicators, including R&D expenditure intensity and the share of business-sector funding, as well as public-private co-publications per million inhabitants, are examined as measurable proxies of partnership performance and innovation ecosystem maturity. The article emphasizes the relevance of cross-sectoral innovation governance in the context of digital transformation, geopolitical instability, wartime challenges, and post-war reconstruction. For Ukraine, partnership-based innovation management is presented as a strategic pathway toward strengthening institutional resilience, enhancing technological modernization, mobilizing social capital, and integrating into the European innovation space. The study concludes that sustainable innovation development requires an adaptive and transparent governance model that balances strategic state coordination, entrepreneurial dynamism, academic excellence, and civic participation, thereby ensuring long-term competitiveness, social cohesion, and environmental responsibility.