Europ. Countrys. · Vol. 11 · 2019 · No. 4 · p. 541-562 DOI: 10.2478/euco-2019-0030 European Countryside MENDELU COASTAL COUNTRYSIDE INNOVATION DYNAMICS IN NORTH-WESTERN RUSSIA Andrey S. Mikhaylov1, Anna A. Mikhaylova2, Stanislav S. Lachininskii3, Dmitry V. Hvaley4 1 Lead Researcher, Assoc. Prof., Dr. Andrey S. Mikhaylov, Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, Kaliningrad, Russia; Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University “LETI”, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, ORCID: 0000-0002-5155-2628; e-mail:
[email protected] 2 Senior Researcher, Dr. Anna A. Mikhaylova, Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, Kaliningrad, Russia, ORCID: 0000-0002-6807-6074; e-mail:
[email protected] 3 Assoc.Prof., Dr. Stanislav S. Lachininskii, Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, Kaliningrad, Russia, St. Petersburg State University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, ORCID: 0000-0002-0885-6992; e-mail:
[email protected] 4 Student Dmitry V. Hvaley, Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, Kaliningrad, Russia, e-mail:
[email protected] 541/671 Received 28 February 2019, Revised 9 August 2019, Accepted 20 August 2019 Abstract: Coastal regions are generally conceived as highly advanced in terms of socio- economic and innovative development. Acting as international contact zones, coastal agglomerations are described as gateways for absorbing new knowledge, technologies, business cultures, etc. Yet, this perception is based on studies of large coastal cities and agglomerations. In our study, we focus on coastalization effects manifested in rural settlements and evaluate the innovation capability of the economies of coastal rural areas. The research scope covers 13 municipalities of the Leningrad region, including 134 rural settlements. The research methodology is structured into three main blocks: the evaluation of the human capital, assessment of the favorability of the entrepreneurial environment, and analysis of susceptibility of local economies to innovations.