Purpose. The purpose of the article is to provide a theoretical substantiation of the essence, structure, and key characteristics of innovative ecosystems of territorial communities, as well as to identify the specific features of interaction among their main actors and resource, institutional, and network components in the context of enhancing the innovation capacity and competitiveness of communities under conditions of decentralization, digital transformation, and intensifying global competition.
Methodology. The methodological basis of the study includes the ecosystem, systemic, structural-functional, and comparative approaches. The research employs the methods of theoretical generalization, scientific abstraction, comparative analysis, structuring, and formalization.
Findings. The article demonstrates that the classical models of the innovation system and innovation cluster have limited explanatory power with regard to local innovation processes, since they do not sufficiently take into account the intersectoral nature of interaction, the social dimension of innovation, and the facilitative role of local self-government. It is substantiated that the innovative ecosystem of a territorial community is an open, dynamic, and co-evolutionary system within which business, the scientific and educational sector, local self-government bodies, civil society, and infrastructure institutions interact.
Originality. The scientific novelty of the study lies in deepening the theoretical foundations of the ecosystem approach to the analysis of innovative development of territorial communities, substantiating the author’s interpretation of the innovative ecosystem of a community, and developing a formalized multi-component model of its functioning.
Practical value. The practical significance of the obtained results lies in the possibility of using the proposed theoretical provisions, structural model, and system of indicators in the process of shaping local economic policy, strategies for the innovative development of territorial communities, programs to support entrepreneurship, the development of human capital, and digital infrastructure. The research results may be applied by local self-government bodies and developers of regional and local programs in order to enhance the institutional capacity of communities and strengthen their competitive positions. 

regional development, innovation ecosystem, territorial community, human capital, innovation development, network interaction, competitiveness