The sustainability turn in smart specialization: well-being promotion as a dimension of place-based regional transformation

Abstract

This article examines how the sustainability turn has reshaped smart specialization (S3) and how well-being promotion can be integrated into the new sustainability-oriented S3. Drawing on debates on place-based transformation, well-being, and regional innovation policy, the study analyzes 19 expert interviews conducted in Finland among municipal, regional, and national actors involved in well-being promotion. Methodologically, the article applies theory-oriented qualitative content analysis and uses Seghezzo’s five-dimensional sustainability frame as an analytical framework. The findings show that the sustainability turn has broadened S3 from a primarily competitiveness-oriented policy toward a more place-based, long-term, and socially inclusive approach. Well-being promotion can be connected to this shift through territorially embedded coordination, stronger strategic continuity, and broader participation by citizens, NGOs, and vulnerable groups. The article contributes to research on the new S3 by showing that well-being is not an external social add-on, but a constitutive dimension of sustainability-oriented regional transformation in practice.