Enterprise Development Programming in Partnership with Local Government, Science and Business. The Example of Rybnik

The article concerns the mechanisms of entrepreneurship development in partnership with local government, science and business. The author presents evidence that the sector partnership is crucial for the success of projects developing entrepreneurship in the local and regional perspective. Local government has the resources and capabilities to act as initiators of projects and programs supporting the economic development of the city or voivodeship. At the same time, representatives of local government units must use appropriate operational and management methods in the implementation of the policy of strengthening entrepreneurship. Inter-sectoral collaboration requires the application of organisational solutions allowing for the involvement of units in different fields and basing on various legislation. The author also indicates that the source of the competitive advantage of cities and regions may be the specialisation, as well as the commercialisation of knowledge and technology. In this case, the inter-sectoral partnership is crucial as it conditions the success of economic development programs in its social, economic and political sense. At the same time, the article describes the methods of building the inter-sectoral cooperation. As a basis for the appropriate use of the different potential of the cooperating participants, the authors indicated projects and programs embracing groups of projects. All this is worth being recognised within the framework of strategic documents, such as development plans, strategies, and other records used by local government agencies. The article uses the outcome of the participatory workshops during the preparation of the Rybnik Enterprise Development Program. The aim of the study is the verification of the assumption that the sectoral partnership is crucial to the processes of local and regional entrepreneurship development.