The aim of the habilitation thesis is to provide a comprehensive view of innovations in the concept of sustainable development with an emphasis on defining the basic concepts and their interrelationship. The habilitation thesis focuses on the definition of sustainable development, innovation and classification of innovations according to various criteria, with an emphasis on the interdependence of individual types of innovation and consequently focusing on eco-innovation as a type of innovation based on the principles of sustainable development. Subsequently, retro-innovation and biomimicry innovation are emphasized as a tool for eco-design innovation. Another part of the habilitation thesis contains an analysis of innovation performance, sustainability and eco-innovation in individual Member States of the European Union, focusing also on the development of these characteristics in Slovakia. The most important areas influencing the development of ecological innovations in Slovakia as a tool for its sustainability are analyzed and identified in more detail. This is the main part of the habilitation thesis, which contains acomprehensive view of the issue of eco-innovations in Slovakia, resulting in the identification of indicators contributing positively to increasing and hindering theperformance of innovations based on the principles of sustainable development in Slovakia.