OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development
Open-access peer-reviewed journal
https://doi.org/10.64211/oidaijsd190713
Optimizing Inter-Community Cooperation through Network Governance and Smart Specialization to Prevent Social Conflicts
Yana Levytska 1, Hanna Chumakova 2, Iryna Ahieieva 3, Taras Leskiv 4, Yevgen Vylgin 5
1 Department of Administrative and Financial Management, Institute of Public Administration, Governance and Professional Development, Lviv Polytechnic National University, Lviv, Ukraine.
2 Department of Public Management and Administration, Educational and Scientific Institute of Economics, Management and Business named after G. E. Veynshteyn, Odesa National University of Technology, Odesa, Ukraine.
3 Department of Management and Public Administration, Faculty of Economics and Business, Dmytro Motornyi Tavria State Agrotechnological University, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.
4 Department of Information Security, Institute of Public Administration, Governance, and Professional Development, Lviv Polytechnic National University, Lviv, Ukraine.
5 Department of State Governance, Public Administration and Economic Policy Department, Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Volume 19, Issue 07, Pg. 161-176, 2026.
Abstract: We can suggest that in the dense information society and diminished credibility of hierarchical organizations characteristic for post-industrial societies, Ukraine requires a transition to reflexive, polycentric governance. The aim of the article is to provide evidence that network governance and smart specialization may serve as instruments to minimize latent social tensions, enhance internal cohesion between communities, but also maintain regional competitiveness. The methodology employed in the article is based on an inductive synthesis, comparative institutional analysis, analytical deduction, synergistic modeling and qualitative systematization on a pluralist interpretivist approach. The paper clarifies key priorities for network governance, which include an integrated performance assessment system, a distant citizens’ and inter-institutional initiatives register, territorially-embedded partnership ecosystems, ours-styled organization-based projects. In the case of smart specialization, the paper stresses real-time data infrastructures, multisectorial coordination between stakeholders, cross-policy integration across domains and context-sensitive communication as these measures can help reduce friction and restore public confidence.
Keywords: smart specialisation, public administration, multi-level governance, intercommunal cooperation, decentralisation, territorial development strategy, social conflict mitigation, participatory governance
Full-text paper download here