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Investment projects aimed at brownfield revitalization have significant potential for the economic development of the area where they are located. Such a project usually removes old environmental burdens or deals with a problem with non-functional or dilapidated buildings. However, an appropriately set investment plan which respects internal territorial economic connections as well as the character of surrounding environment can provide solutions to other regional problems or implement economically beneficial activities both in the commercial and public sectors. Previous research identified and analysed in detail several brownfield revitalization case studies of various characteristics. The purpose of the presented paper is to synthesize the obtained information on the economic evaluation of individual brownfield types in order to determine a common platform for the evaluation of the economic efficiency of investment revitalization projects. The output of the paper presents a general overview of key input data for economic analysis including a proposal of its determination and evaluation resulting in a development of a key method for its implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to sustainable pathways of economic development depends on the clear understanding of the sustainability principles, but it also needs ability to evaluate critically conventional professional practices and rethink them into sustainable one. However, the previous years of struggling for economic transformations have showed a serious issue - lack of action competence when it comes to the implementation of the sustainable solutions. The design thinking is a core of professional competency and high performance, but it must also incorporate skills to act and perform according to the plan. It is especially important for projects embedding sustainable solutions, which are often seen as a complicated and not profitable activity, demanding considerable investments. Moreover, this kind of perception is often demonstrated by all stakeholders - developers, businessmen and authorities. Thus, we believe that action competence must be a fundamental element of design thinking development in students. The most suitable platform for this is project-based learning, which should include a block of feasibility assessment and implementation planning. The paper presents the description of training methods and approaches for building the bridge between design thinking and action competence, based on the project-based courses delivered in Liepaja University and National Aviation University. The methodology of the research included three rounds of experiments, involving student works rating, student self-assessment and peer-review, which undergo analysis as well. The results of the work offer recommendations on the improvement of project design skills and action competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovations audit in this paper is analysed as an assessment of the existing innovativeness level of Industrial clusters production and production-related processes to determine whether specific technologies and the totality of production processes correlate with technological developments in the relevant field. It should be noted that there is no commonly encountered economic approach to analyse the innovations and technologies in industry clusters. By using Analytical hierarchy process modelling, paper covers definition of Innovations (technology) audit meaning, provides systematic approach to the Economic indicators of auditing and the proof of concept on Technology and Energy consumption audit performance is analysed through the case of recent EU funding calls in Lithuania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to ensure economic development and respect of the principle of sustainability, the European Union has introduced a number of innovations in the legal framework and thus provided a large amount of money to modernize the economy. The benefits brought by the new economic model (circular economy) are reflected in the reduction of harmful effects on the environment, increased resource productivity, job creation, reduced dependence on raw material imports, increased competitiveness of the economy and encouraging sustainable economic development. The aim of the paper is to analyse and introduce the circular economy concept and to propose measures, steps and methods to simplify the introduction of the concept into the economy. The paper is structured in such a way that after the introduction follows a call to recent literature. Then it proceeds with performance analysis of the circular economy implication in the countries of the European Union. Subsequently, the authors present the proposals of measures that could be used to implement the circular economy together with a short conclusion at the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The territory of the Danube Region represents one fifth of the European Union´s total area and is home to more than 100 million inhabitants. The Danube Region is characterized by a divergent group of 11 countries (9 of them are EU member states, 5 are non-EU countries) concerning the process of integration and the preconditions in geographic, economic, cultural and socio-demographic terms. In order to increase growth and strengthen cooperation at a macro-regional level, the European Union established the Danube Region Strategy with eleven priority areas, among them one focusing on energy. The aim of the paper is to perform quantitative evaluation on the relationship between economic development and energy consumption based on decoupling model theory. The paper focuses on the case of the Danube region countries in the period of 1994 – 2014. Throughout 20 year period examined, the countries spread out into different forms of decoupling. The results of analysis suggest that in most observed partial variables occurs the absolute or relative decoupling of economic growth and energy consumption, what can be considered as positive trend. Though decoupling index convey a positive message, the Danube region countries will need to accelerate their implementation of new policies, while restructuring the ways how they meet their demand for energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increases in bioresources and food production in the world have become objective needs. Production expansion increases the impact on the sustainability of the natural environment and ecosystems. The sustainability of the natural environment is ensured through the creation of specially protected areas. The planning of local municipality economic development should consider the management categories of protected areas, which is an important global standard for planning, design and management. This paper presents an overview of what impact the nature conservation area had on local economic development in Latvia. By using data from the State Land Service and the Central Statistical Bureau, the paper summaries and explains statistical information about the sizes of Latvian territories protected to various degrees from the current standpoint of nature conservation processes. The data have been collected for the period from 2010 to 2018. According to the data of the State Land Service, the total protected area in the year 2018 was 771278.19 thou. ha or 12.28 % of the total land area of Latvia. The proportion of protected nature territories in 110 municipalities of Latvia was in the range from 0% in Stopini municipality to 68% in Ligatne municipality. A statistical analysis of the data found that in the year 2018 the Territory Development Index for municipalities with a proportion of protected nature territories in the total area from 0% to 2.6% was (negative) - 0.16; for municipalities with a proportion of protected nature territories ranging from 2.6% to 7%, the index was - 0.24; for municipalities with a proportion of protected nature territories from 7% to 17%, the index was - 0.16; for municipalities with a proportion of protected nature territories ranging from 17% to 68%, the index was - 0.15. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes a mathematical model of the global crisis influencing the world economy. The model is based on four conceptual positions of modeling: the level of economic development of the global economy is estimated by the system of endogenous variables; there is the interdependence of endogenous variables; there is a process background for the endogenous variables; there are certain harbingers of the crisis determined for a specific endogenous index. The model is presented as a system of three interdependent econometric equations. Each equation represents an ADL model in which current values depend both on previous values of the series and on current and past values of other time series. There is a calculation technique for the equations' coefficients in the model. The paper describes the main stages of finding the coefficients of the equations system. The model has been empirically validated on the basis of time series of endogenous and exogenous variables for the time period from 2007 to 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the presence of major employers in the core cities of bi-centric Hradec Králové - Pardubice agglomeration which are the main sources of economic potential for the entire agglomeration area and important location in terms of GDP generation at national level. The presence of the different economically active entities also significantly influences the numbers of inhabitants not only residing in the agglomeration but also migrating there for work. Due to this facts both core cities face the issue of sustainability of economically active population which requires certain level of civic amenities being expected to be provided by the core cities. The analyses of major employers presented in the paper show the shares of primary, secondary and tertiary sectors facilitating the forecasts of future development in economic analyses of the concerned territory. The increase of number of economically active inhabitants in the tertiary sector remarkably influences the character of the city. The forecasting of economic development of the agglomeration therefore requires detailed analysis of the core cities and their economic position and economy. Economic development of an area can be understood as a gradual and systematic adaptation of the economy to changing conditions in the concerned area for the purpose of production of wealth as a source for improvement of life of inhabitants of the area, i.e. improvement of material conditions for life of inhabitants of the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For most of us, a home is more than just a collection of different rooms. For people, the home serves as a shelter from adverse weather conditions and provides a sense of security. We spend most of our time there, have fun with the nearest family, learn, work, rise children, we sleep, eat meals, we care about cleanliness and hygiene. Our home should be furnished and conducted in accordance with ourselves and our family habits. Many issues related to the ecology begin to play a large role in the topic of housekeeping. It is not only taking care of the nature, but also the potential savings associated with reducing the consumption of many products, which affects the overall home budget. It should be emphasized that running the house in the ecological way does not mean immediately installing solar panels or a windmill. We can find simple ways that will also affect the improvement of the natural environment and counteract the phenomenon of the scarcity in our neighborhood. Such methods, repeated every day, become a habit. The purpose of the paper is to introduce to the subject of ecological household, ecological awareness of households, simple ways of life to live and help the natural environment. The paper also contains an introduction to a survey related to ecological households in Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is focused on the issue of the economic evaluation of the revitalization of brownfields in the form of abandoned mining areas. The issue of the abandoned mining areas is in the Czech Republic the long-time social-economic problem, which it is necessary in the close future to solve in an appropriate way. There exist more possibilities, how the issue of brownfield can be solved, however not all possible solutions it is possible to consider as optimal from the whole society point of view. The main objective of the paper is to propose the methodological steps for the economic evaluation of projects oriented on the revitalization of abandoned mining areas, which allows assessing suggested solutions from the aspect of ecological and economic impact on the investor and on the region as well. The specific stress is posed on the assessment and the evaluation of the impact on biotopes, the attention is also paid to evaluation of benefits resulting from the revitalization project to residents of the region and tourists. Within the suggested methodological steps various approaches to the economic evaluation, known from the biotopes quality, roads and highways, trafficly significant water structure and developing regional projects evaluation, are combined. Suggested methodological steps are consequently verified on the case study of the revitalization of the former brown coal mine in the area Most - Ležáky in the northern part of the Czech Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with general aspects concerning the assessment of the roads technical condition based on the calculation of individual, combined and general performance indicators. Besides general aspects, the paper also presents a case study concerning the assessment of the technical condition on the national road section DN 18 Baia Mare - Sighetu Marmaţiei, Section E, km 52+000…km 62+000. The assessment of the technical condition on the analyzed road section was realized according to the COST 354 action of the European Commission for Cooperation in the Technical Scientific field for Transports: "Performance Indicators for Road Pavements". The purpose of the action is to make an analysis of the essential requirements to be met, and to determine, based on the values of the performance indicators, the best intervention modality to correct and improve the technical condition of the road section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is environmental quality as a one of the factors determining the quality of life in EU countries. EU countries use a combination of different tools of economic policy to ensure environmental (as well as economic) quality. However, environmental protection cannot be implemented without financial support. The most important tools of economic policy, already traditional used, are economic tools, which could improve the quality of the environment and quality of life. Environmental protection has become a part of the economic policy and there is realized as a separate area - environmental policy. Environmental policy is an essential part of the economic policies of developed countries. The main aim of environmental policy is to enter into the productive and consumer decisions of the business sector and consumers and its intention is to achieve changes in the management of subjects in favor of environmental protection. The paper focuses on the application of selected environmental policy tools and deals with the differences and similarities of environmental tools application in the conditions of the EU area. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the application of selected economic tools (in the process of sustainable development) in EU countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Poland, there has long been a statutory obligation for economic entities to report minimum information on the natural environment, usually of a non-financial nature. After the implementation of Directive 2014/95/EU on the disclosure of nonfinancial and diversity information to the Polish regulations (Accounting Act), there were changes in the scope of environmental disclosures and the group of enterprises covered by this reporting obligation increased. The implementation of the new directive into Polish law caused that the largest enterprises in Poland, being large public interest entities, including energy sector companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, are required to provide more detailed and extensive reporting of non-financial information as part of the activity report or in the form of a separate report. The aim of the paper is to analyze and assess the type and scope of environmental information disclosure in financial and non-financial reports in the period of 2014-2016, which were prepared in the light of Directive 2014/95/EU by energy sector companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (Index 30). Methods: The research team used the method of meta-analysis of the literature and the method of qualitative and comparative analysis of information contained in the financial and non-financial reports of energy sector companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange for the years 2014-2016. The companies listed on the WIG 30 index were selected for the analysis. In order to formulate conclusions, the methods of synthesis and deduction were used. Results: The authors have analyzed and assessed the state of environmental reporting by the largest companies from the energy sector in Poland in the context of Directive 2014/95/EU implementation. The authors noted an increase in the importance of environmental disclosures in non-financial reports over the analyzed period, although Directive 2014/95/EU was not yet in force. In the last two years of the period under investigation, far more disclosures appeared, usually grouped thematically and problematically. At the same time, the authors noted companies' discretion regarding the scope and form of these disclosures. In some investigated companies, the activity report was extensive and in some a separate report was prepared. At the same time, the authors indicated a deficit of environmental information disclosures in financial reports in each analyzed period. Conclusions: The authors positively assess the changes introduced to financial and nonfinancial reporting in the field of environmental reporting in connection with the Directive 2014/95/EU implementation into Polish legal regulations and their effect on Polish public companies from the energy sector. However, according to the authors of the paper, it is necessary to introduce more detailed rules of environmental disclosures in the regulatory framework in force in order to eliminate the differences in the entities' environmental reporting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the influence of mining works on the transport in the area mainly the structural layers of transport-related engineering structures elements as railways, roads, railway crossings and the overall transport system. Long-term underground coal mining is usually associated with environmental impacts in the Moravian-Silesian Region in the Czech Republic. There are two types of undermined areas in mentioned region: District of Ostrava where the mines were closed and the mining phenomena are considered terminated, and District of Karvina where coal is still mined and the impacts of mining are still present. With the extraction downturn, the sources and objectives of transport have changed including the characteristics of transport flows of all traffic roads and connections. Thus, in this area it is necessary to identify the consequences of mining, reclaim the landscape, reconstruct civil structures and ensure safe and reliable transport. This paper describes the defects of objects which are related with traffic infrastructure, for example drop of the railway crossing structure, road defects, rail track defects, increased wear sleepers due to frequent manipulations when repairing the geometric position of the track etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important factor influencing the level of economic development of countries and regions is the transport infrastructure. The transport infrastructure in the Slovak Republic lags behind the needs. The motorway network as an important element in transport infrastructure is significantly undersized and unevenly distributed. The paper is focused on the tunnels, which are an important part of the mountainous country highways. Their construction is economically, technically challenging and time consuming and the aim of this paper is to highlight the economic aspects of the construction and operation of tunnels and possibilities of financing. Contribution is dealing with research of present possibilities of tunnels financing in conditions of Slovak republic with showing possible positive and negative elements of individual way of financing. Each method of financing of highways construction has its pros as well as the risks and there is necessary to decide sensibly, when to use which type of funding. Despite the costs of tunnels construction, it should be said that the comparison is often not justified. The volume of costs depends on a number of uncontrollable factors, such as geological conditions, geographical location, technical level of tunnel, technology of excavation, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

So far, a number of studies emphasized the role of the educational variable. Back in 1990, Romer promoted the idea that educated workforce has the potential to generate and implement new technologies and to stimulate growth. Higher education has become an imperative of the development of a global society. It is a society that bases its development on the rapid changes and progress that entails constant evolution of information and communication technology. This society has become a society of knowledge with the jobs that are increasingly becoming knowledge intensive and ensuring sustainable development of a society. The purpose of this paper is to give a detailed review of previous studies related to the so-called 'education led growth hypothesis' and review the existing empirical evidence to support the fact that education is one of most important determinant of economic growth of a country. The paper contributes to existing research in a manner that at one place summarizes previous empirical evidence on 'education led growth hypothesis' but also provides recommendations for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the fall of Communism in 1989-1991, the cities from the Central and Eastern Europe have recorded important changes in what concern their land-use patterns due to the transition from an urban central planning to a capitalist one, as they are searching for a model of economic and social development. The most important particularity of the urban evolution of these cities is defiantly the transition from a compact city to a more dispersed urban form. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to identify the spatial pattern of the urban sprawl that took place in the main urban areas of the former socialist countries from Central and Eastern Europe, focusing on finding the land-use types that suffered the biggest degree of conversion to a discontinuous urban fabric. The paper tries also to identify a pattern concerning the spatial extent and types of the urban sprawl. In what concerns the methodology used in order to investigate the urban sprawl in the Central and Eastern Europe, a mix of techniques from GIS, as well as statistics was used. The analysis has been carried out for the period between 1990-2012 using the CORINE Land Cover database. The main results show the fact that the main land-use changes that took place in the urban areas of post-socialist Romania are the intensive land - artificialization to the detriment of green urban areas as well as to the detriment of semi-naturals peripheral area, in order to make space for the new tertiary activities, as well as new residential zones. Similar patterns of urban sprawl may be observed in the urban areas that have the same functional particularities, as they were submitted to almost the same problems concerning the transition from a socialist era to a post-socialist era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green economy, green growth and sustainable development are currently very often used terms. There are many international organizations intensively involved in the field of green growth and sustainable development. Green growth, according to the OECD, is a way how to support economic growth and development, while protecting natural resources, so that we could continue to use the natural resources and environmental services, on which our prosperity depends. One of its aims, especially in developed countries, is green economy building and ensuring social and economic sustainable development. However, it is not always clear how to build a green economy or achieve social and economic activities in the sense of sustainable development. The European Union is a cluster of relatively homogeneous countries, based on similar social and economic development. Ensuring green growth and sustainable development should be a common, coordinated and targeted activity of all European Union countries. The main aim of the paper is to evaluate green growth and sustainable development in the European Union countries using the selected indicators of green growth and selected indicators of sustainable development, including assessment of interregional disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes an attempt to enhance the efficiency of information and analysis support of managerial decision making related to the matters of regional social and economic development, as demonstrated on municipalities as basic units of the public administration system. The paper offers a structural and functional model of monitoring based on formal presentation of the information processing lifecycle, implemented in the context of the IDEF0 methodology. The authors have developed a colored timed Petri net as a dynamic interpretation of the functional model, and provided methodological justification of the requirements identification tool for efficient information and analysis support system in public administration, based on cross examination and exhaustive search of the procedure and support parts of the monitoring system, represented as stages or elements. The authors identify the areas for development of the proposed models based on the geoinformation platform. The paper shows that utilization of geoinformation technology offers the most favorable solution when choosing a tool for development of the monitoring system, as it makes it possible to work both with attributive and spatial information when implementing the inventory and control, analysis and forecasting, and presentation functions of decision support systems. The paper offers customary mapping techniques for visualization of monitoring results, where specific attention is paid to cartograms. Findings of the study were tested in municipalities of Tomsk region, the Russian Federation. Based on the results, the authors have presented recommendations for regional and local public authorities of Russia in terms of methodological and technical organization of the system for social and economic development monitoring in municipalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cornerstone of metropolitan areas of the Czech Republic is the so-called integrated system of centres, characterized by a high degree of territorial concentration of the population of economic phenomena, and a high level of internal functional interconnections. Territorial intensity and concentration of interactions within metropolitan areas are mainly reflected in the volume of labour and school commuting, as well as economic activity, as a result of the number and location of job opportunities. Hradec Králové and Pardubice are ranked among 12 meso-regional centres, and together form the core of one of the eleven integrated centres. Together with several affiliated centres, both sites have supercritical values of complex size, and are identified as one of the metropolitan systems of the Czech Republic. The Hradec-Pardubice agglomeration throughout history was referred to as the East Bohemian agglomeration; it is among the so-called polynodal types of concentration areas, which are made up of two or more important centres. In the case of Hradec Králové and Pardubice, it is a polynodal type, with two equivalent dominant centres. This paper outlines the economic nature of the bicentric agglomeration, and at the same time points out the possibilities of monitoring the development of the investments themselves, including their initiation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental Citizenship is a key factor in EU's growth strategy (Europe 2020) and its vision for Sustainable Development and Green and Circular economy. Significant behavior change amongst both individuals and organizations is required in order to meet Europe's sustainability objectives and climate change targets. At a general level, policies aimed at changing behavior have tended to rely on two aspects: the introduction of fiscal measures and statutory legislation or market-based measures. Unfortunately, relatively less attention has been given to ecological education and the possibilities for promoting pro-environmental behavior. Environmental Citizenship is not clearly defined and framed in relation to other concepts such as environmental behavior, environmental attitudes, environmental literacy, environmental education, environmental knowledge, awareness and sustainability, the environmental citizenship domain being very complex. Education plays here an important role being a fundamental instrument that contributes to behavioral changes within the society, which is ultimately translated into environmental citizenship. This paper will approach several formal and non-formal education factors that affect environmental citizenship in Romanian education sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses the main strategic benchmarks of the urban water supply and sanitation systems. The authors have studied the results of the biggest Russian urban water supply companies operation for the last three year period. The indicators that were considered: financial profits, investments, losses of water, the structure of costs etcetera. The results were compared with world level parameters. Many companies have really effective investment programs. This activity is related with, on one hand, the forthcoming strengthening of environmental legislation starting in 2020 and, on the other hand, financial support instruments of government. In addition, key directions of development of water economy were analyzed. The socioeconomic development strategy of Russian Federation identifies the need to strengthen the role of private companies. That is why difficulties and pressures of some enterprises were revealed. Furthermore, the water supply industry in Russia is characterized by the modification of institutional administration system. In conclusion, the prospects of the water supply companies according to the improving legislation and state and regional policy in this field are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development strategy in tourism industry requires a complexity of processes which claim the combination of the economical, social and environmental factors, concreted in medium and long term progress of the tourism society. Generally, sustainable development follows the performance on three levels - economic, by increasing the development degree and resources development, ecologically through recycling and avoiding environmental and social degradation by increasing the number of jobs, re-launching the traditional professions. The paper highlights a study conducted in the Romanian hotel environment regarding the top management's opinion of introducing in the infrastructure optimization strategies elements leading to tourist accommodation structures with "Nearly 0 energy consumption". The identified methods by which a hotel operator can reduce energy consumption are diverse, innovative and possible to be implemented in stages. The results of the study can constitute a fundamental approach for the purpose and objectives of a consultancy project that can support the goal of hoteliers in Romania, supporting the reduction of energy operating costs, the introduction of renewable energy sources, and stimulating the behavioral schema of staff and customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is devoted to a comprehensive study of the impact of rent received from energy resources on the economies of individual countries as a factor for the development of a balanced energy dialogue with the countries of the European Union. The research methodology consists of a three-stage sequential algorithm. The first stage is to calculate the absolute and relative profitability of extraction of energy resources. The second stage of the algorithm consists in clustering countries in terms of the level of dependence of the economy on rent from energy resources. The third stage of the algorithm is to determine the relationship between the degree of risk and the profitability of energy resources. The analysis made it possible to identify the inverse relationship between the level of extraction of energy resources and the level of economic development. As a rule, in countries with a low diversified economy, a larger amount of rent from energy resources is generated. It is established that a higher level of energy resources in the country does not affect the formation of a higher amount of rent. It has been proven that the greatest revenue per ton of production is observed in countries that are not among leaders in technological development of the economy and extraction. Thus, the level of reserves is not a key factor in the formation of rent. Moreover the global trend of the dependence of the economy on rent from energy resources has the cyclical nature and in recent years this dependence has been steadily decreasing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant part of Russian regions is resource-based and specializes in the extraction and export of natural resources. The paper aims to identify the link between the presence of natural resources in the region and its economic growth, especially in the period of low oil prices. The methodological toolset includes elements of cluster and regression analysis, as well as the method of smart specialization. The allocation of resource regions was carried out through cluster analysis. Regression analysis was applied when establishing the link between the presence of natural resources and indicators of economic development. The justification of priority directions of sustainable economic development of Russian resource regions was performed using the method of smart specialization. It was shown that at least one third of all regions of Russia specialize in the extraction of natural resources. For the majority of resource regions, including the ones specializing in oil and gas, positive relation between the presence of natural resources and economic development was revealed. Most regions have features of monoindustrial. Low level of diversification and connections between sectors in the territory does not allow for complex development through spill-over and multiplicative effect. Finiteness of the natural resource and high dependence of extraction revenues on highly volatile prices and political situation presents an additional challenge for sustainable economic growth. In absence of developed intraregional economy and innovative type of specialisation, this can lead to decreasing production efficiency and lowering economic growth. Directions of innovative development within the framework of smart specialization, based on knowledge and innovation, resource efficient, greener and competitive economy should include processing sector, related and associated industries, such as chemistry, engineering, construction, services, financial sector, IT industry and a number of others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Innovative Industry strategy of EU reinforces the role of Public Private Partnerships to focus on key technologies and their implementation through federated projects. The European Commission has made large investments into Public Private Partnerships to enable a long-term, strategic approach to innovation, research and development, as well as to reduce uncertainties by allowing for long-term commitments. Taking into account the European experience, the article analyzes the feasibility, possibilities and directions of applying of public-private partnership for the development of resource regions of Russia. The paper shows that in the case of Russia the innovative development of resource regions based on the principles of smart specialization should be accompanied by a significant amount of investment. A large part of the Russian regions are enclave, which is a characteristic of the economic and infrastructure isolation of the region from macro-regional and Russian economic ties. This isolation takes place primarily due to the localization of mineral natural resources in hard-to-access areas with harsh natural, economic, geological and extraction characteristics. Such regions are not able to attract private investment to a considerable extent. In these conditions, the relevant task is to use the Public Private Partnerships principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The obvious solution of the problem is to provide rhenium production in Russia. Natural environment is an advantage of the Russian Federation in this field. However, metal introduction to the world market can cause losing national jurisdiction control as its main consumer is the USA industry. Therefore, formation of the Russian national reserves has to be the main objective of the rhenium production system. Considering dynamics of its consumption, demand and prices will grow eventually. Rhenium accumulation for future generations is more reasonable than investing free capitals in debt obligations of the USA Federal Reserve System. Though this way does not give all potential opportunities to develop logistics system of rhenium production. The Russian rhenium stocks must have great impact on industrial growth production in the country. Therefore it is necessary to stimulate reasonable use of rhenium in the economy of Russia. The paper considers modern issues and contradictions of organizing system of rhenium production. The authors have offered logistic approach to solve the problem based on the leasing scheme of rhenium stocks realization. It is shown that lease payment and repayment of leasing obligations should be made in the natural form in this scheme. Thus, we offer to return rhenium to the state purchased in the free foreign market or from domestic processers of rhenium containing scrap. Economic evaluation of the offered scheme is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal areas around the world are constantly subjected to pressure on human activities. The environment suffers transformations from the anthropogenic activities, transformations that most often have the effect the degradation of the environmental factors. Coastal areas are often described as areas of potential conflict between the stakeholders and mechanisms such as integrated the coastal zone management or, more specifically, marine spatial planning are designed to achieve the sustainable management in this area. However, the application of these mechanisms is difficult, often due to the erroneous identification of presumption factors. This paper aims to identify the type of the economic pressure exerted on the natural factors. We took as an example the Eforie area, which is a combination of the natural protected areas with relevant anthropic economic activities. The Eforie area is located in the metropolitan area of Constanta, situated at the Black Sea coast, and during the summer the most significant pressure is represented by the tourists. However, the Eforie area is bordered by the environmental protection areas, of which probably the most important is the Protected Area Techirghiol Lake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cracow-Czestochowa Upland is famous for interesting views and natural places to spend free time with friends or members of family. Unfortunately, both industry and residents have a negative impact on this area. Recently, people's awareness has been slowly re-evaluating. People begin to understand the need to think about the natural environment, they finally know that they are not the only species on the Earth, they do not have a special right to use the environment's resources and have found that the state of their surroundings has a direct impact on their lives. They began to use the concept of the ecological awareness. For many people it became a part of their lives. The ecological awareness is the way of thinking and experiences of individual people, the standards of understanding and valuing the biosphere which function in the society. Therefore, it is important to expand this awareness between people through various actions, research, published articles. The purpose of the paper is to evaluate awareness of the Czestochowa region about the natural environment and its state in their neighborhood. The survey was conducted in the form of an online survey. The results of the survey will show the condition of the natural environment and air in the research area according to respondents. Different action of the local government which, according to the residents, had an impact on the natural environment will be presented. The behavior and style of life of residents which also influence this environment will be described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Czestochowa is a city located in the south of Poland. It is famous, first of all, for the Black-Madonna Monastery, to which many pilgrims come by foot every year. Not everyone knows that this is a city located on the Cracow-Czestochowa Upland, which is famous for its beautiful views and areas. The Unpland is willingly visited by many tourists who travel its tourist trails by car, on foot, by bike or even on horseback. Unfortunately, both local enterprises and residents are unaware of the impact they have on the Upland and Czestochowa itself. To change this situation, an ecological awareness of the inhabitants of this area should be changed and developed. The basic tool in development of the ecological awareness is ecological education, i.e. the concept of educating and raising society in the spirit of respecting the natural environment in accordance with the slogan "to think globally - to act locally". The purpose of the paper is to introduce the need of development of the ecological awareness among people. The ecological awareness as the basic pro-ecological behavior will be described. The Cracow-Czestochowa Upland will be characterized. The research, which was conducted between people from the described area, in order to evaluate their ecological awareness, will be introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changing the shoreline is an element of great interest for the coastal communities. The multitude of social, economic and environmental activities that take place in the Romanian coastal area requires a strategic approach. In the present paper, we are discussing strategic options for human intervention in the Romanian coastal zone. Engineering works to protect coasts from coastal erosion must be closely linked to human activities that take place in the coastal area, even though we are talking about tourism, transport, urbanization or industrial activities. We will choose the optimal approach that aims to analyze and evaluate these options by addressing economic, social and environmental factors. The multifactorial approach must take into account a careful analysis of stakeholders in a coastal area, bearing in mind that each area has its peculiarities and needs to be treated separately. When developing the approach to analyzing and evaluating strategic options, we will take into account the sectoral plans made in the coastal area as well as the local, regional and national development plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Façade, as an external finishing of a building, gives the building its original character, obtained due to the choice from variety of forms and freedom in shaping. The decision to use a particular façade system depends on the type of the object, the investor's requirements and financial possibilities, and the designer's creativity. This paper's aim is to present the procedure of analysis that leads to a choice of the fa façade system for a public building, including criteria such as: cost, technical parameters, aesthetics, availability of technology on the market and service as well as environmental impact of the applied solution. In order to prioritize solutions, multi-criteria comparative analysis based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process method has been applied. The method is based on hierarchical analysis and supports decision making process. Implementation of the method includes presentation of a decision problem in the form of hierarchical structure. The authors performed the analysis as well as a simulation of the criteria importance, with a special consideration given to increasing impact of the idea of sustainability on construction industry and growing popularity of ecological solutions. Other assumption for the research was that BIM models are supposed to deliver the geometrical and nongeometrical information for analysis. The research showed that a slight reduction in the importance of the cost criterion may affect the hierarchy of the analyzed variants in favor of modern ecological solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research study is to perform an analysis of the eco-innovation trends and to identify the development opportunities in Latvia. The research methodology applied for this research study involves the theoretical concepts of eco-innovation trends and collects examples of existing and emerging eco-innovative practices in Latvia. The results of the research indicated that the eco-innovation trends in Latvia led to positive results and gave an impulse to increasing economic activities. For evaluation of Latvia's current situation of eco-innovation trends and development, different sources of literature, e.g. scholars' articles, research papers and reports of foreign and Latvian researchers and institutions, as well as data from the database of the Eco-Innovation Observatory were used. The research findings contribute to existing research on the trends and possibilities of development of eco-innovative enterprises in Latvia and advance the present understanding of the main problems in the creation of new ecoinnovative start-ups that should be linked with the growth-oriented new technology, globalization and global market with a focus on eco-innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The industrial revolution, dynamic economic growth and population growth in the world mainly affect to an increase in demand for electricity. The energy sector is responsible for 2/3 of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. The European Union is leading the global action against the climate change, both by planning international actions aimed at reducing global warming to the level of 2°C, as well as through its own commitment to very significant greenhouse gas emissions reduction. The decarbonisation of the electricity sector and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions adopted by the European Union in the climate policy 2050 affect the economic competitiveness of member states in comparison of the other countries where there are no emission limits. The aims of this article are: analysis of the energy mix diversity and the level of greenhouse gas emissions of the European Union Member States according to total CO2eqv and t/capita, analysis of the energy intensity of the Polish economy in relation to other European Union countries. This article identifies Poland as a country for which the adopted EU energy policy will have a significant impact on economic development. The paper presents the impact of energy consumption on the economy and its structure of energy production both in terms of efficiency of sources, their general condition as well as fuels used in energy processes on the scale of carbon leakage phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through this study and researches carried out in this paper, it was attempted to highlight the need for the re-equipment of the treatment station in a town with 6000 inhabitants due to the high exploitation costs, the lack of a constant discharge that satisfies the local water requirements and the quality of the drinking water currently distributed fully meet the applicable drinking law. This article presents also the exploitation optimization (from the energy point of view) of a drinking water treatment plant, based on up-to-date information on the new technologies that have emerged with the economic and social development of Romania. In the field of water treatment a series of new installations, which are superior in quality terms to those known until present and treated in the specialized works, have appeared. Taking into account the current situation, two viable scenarios were proposed for the reequipment of the treatment plant, covering the water demand, high water quality and low operating costs. Analyzing the proposed scenarios, the second scenario was both highly technologically and economically efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU has set out its vision for Europe's social market economy in the Europe 2020 strategy, which aims at confronting our structural weaknesses through progress in smart specialization. In line with the Guide to Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialization, this paper aims to identify key directions of sustainable innovative development of Russian resource regions and determine their readiness for smart specialization. Relying on clustering methodological approaches, this study has revealed: 1) economically developed resource regions, ready for smart specialization by attracting private sector investment; 2) resource regions ready for smart specialization using only public-private partnership, 3) enclave resource regions that initially require significant government support to enhance their investment attractiveness for private sector participation. The use of public-private partnerships and other forms of state support is a priority task at the initial stage, while regions with weak economic structure should receive support from the state until they become attractive to active private capital investing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the waste management practice for the Arad County located in the western part of Romania. Together with Timis County it forms a prosperous region in Romania, attracting numerous foreign investors, especially because its proximity to the border. The transformations that led to the modernization of land in this county were radical and occurred unevenly. The main driving forces of resource consumption are economic growth, technological developments and changing consumption and production patterns. About one third of resources used are turned into waste and emissions. The use of resources is partly due to increased consumption of goods and services. In terms of waste management all economic changes must be reflected in the integrated waste management practices. The real issues concern the growth of the quantity and variety of wastes in contrast with the inadequate facilities and locations. This continuous neglect will led to the deterioration of the water, soil, air and health resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decades, cities have become the engines of national economic growth. Globalization has a significant effect on urban areas, forcing them to compete for international business with other cities around the world and their countries. It is estimated that by 2050, more than 80% of the world's population will live in urban areas. In order to meet the environmental challenges posed by this changes, cities will need to reduce pollution levels and use resources more efficiently. It will need reliable tools to measure their environmental performance. A fuzzy logic based model is presented in the paper in order to assess urban environmental performance. The model relies on three components that describe the environment (air, water, soil). In turn, they are composed of other specific parameters. The model can be used as a tool to evaluate and measure from a certain point of view environmental performance of an urban area city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most industrialized countries the problem of air pollution has become a major concern with significant social and political implications, is considered a barrier to economic and social development, drawing attention to these natural resources, materials and energy are not inexhaustible. In the literature are numerous researches on environmental pollution, correlated or not with the consequences on animals and food of animal origin, and not least on health human. In recent times the environmental pollution has drawn attention because of issues particularly complex raised by this phenomenon as most heavy metals are not as soluble in water or, if it really exists, chemical species concerned are complexes with organic lagans and inorganic, radical which influences their toxicity. Sources of air pollution from S.E. Paroşeni are: chimney, a deposit of coal (having two stacks of coal), an unloading station coal, coal conveyors, five ash and slag deposits, and of course no group. April is ultimately polluting sources here having burnt the Jiu Valley hard coal with natural gas support. This paper addresses the toxic effects of air pollution caused by thermal power Paroşeni work on acacia, health and economic species importance around the city Vulcan, Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamics of economic development in Timiş County is due to an accumulation of macroeconomic factors where the variation of administrative units and population plays an important role. These two important components, highlights developmental trajectories that can be influenced by formulate territorial policies to meet the actual needs. The paper will trace the evolution, over a 5 years period of (2009-2014) of administratively territorial units and the budgets allocated to education, health, culture, and environment, to observe trends of sustainable development. At a country level, we are at a crossroads, by requiring redistribution of powers and resources between public administration at central and local levels to reform the system of territorial organization and redefining the framework of sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indebtedness of local municipalities has become a key problem and main target of recent debates and discussions in Slovakia. Growing public debt negatively influences the economic development and causes serious troubles to every country and its inhabitants. In a paper we analyse and examine the influence of growing indebtedness on municipalities' decision to finance life environment protection. For our purpose, we chose eight municipalities representing the capital cities of the Slovak high territorial units. We analysed the development of indebtedness within period 2009-2012. From obtained data we examined how indebtedness influences the decision of selected municipalities to spend expenditures on life environment protection. Methodology and methods for data analysis are described in Chapter 2. We stated hypothesis that indebtedness in selected municipalities causes decreased financing of life environment. We found out that indebtedness development has direct connections and impacts on decision of municipality representatives. The general trend in analysed Slovak municipalities with few exemptions is that higher indebtedness level means lower finances directed towards life environment protection. Further conclusions and discussion are part of Chapter 4. Paper is elaborated within national scientific research project VEGA 1/1195/12 Strategic interactions of the Slovak local municipalities in determining the tax rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, there is a lot of interest in finding new energy sources because energy consumption is much above energy production. Geo-thermal energy is part of the category of renewable energies and a non-polluting green energy. Humans have used hot water springs from times immemorial for different purposes. Statistics show that Romania has an outstanding potential in geo-thermal water resources: it ranks third in Europe after Greece and Italy. However, geo-thermal waters are underestimated. The authors of this paper present the main localities in the Western Plain with geo-thermal resources and point out the possibilities of valorising them thus contributing to the development of the communities in the context of circular economic development. Geothermal waters can be used to heat dwellings (buildings, tap water, greenhouses, etc.), to produce electricity at very low costs and to develop tourism activities that could contribute to the economic growth of the area. The research confirms that in Romania there are many places that have geo-thermal water, but investments in this area are needed. Geothermal energy can, at least at local level, contribute significantly to the decrease of fossil fuel consumption economically competitive, thus leading to a decrease of imports of fossil fuels and of combustion pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, efficient urban transportation systems have a very strong impact on economic prosperity and development. The quantity and quality of transport infrastructure can influence attractiveness and desirability of urban regions for certain industries and can affect the quality of life of its citizen. Passenger transportation systems are characterized by complexity of its behavior and a high level of uncertainty; therefore simulation technologies have become an effective tool for their modeling and managerial decision making. Such models reflect all parameters of real passenger transportation systems and can be altered as new information become available due to application of step-by-step detailing of the simulated subsystems and iterative algorithm. In this paper, we have examined the problems of managerial decision making for passenger transportation systems with the use of simulation modeling. We have developed an information system of passenger transport network operation and development with the use of SIMUL8 software. The solution to this problem is obtained by solving of the following sub-problems: formal description of the structure and functional parameters of passenger transportation system; mathematical modeling of passenger transport network and an algorithm for simulation modeling. The initial data for the model was obtained during field research of public transport network of the city of Tambov (Russia) for a number of years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an effort to help better understand the whole service area, arose the idea of this research on the content of the services and the analysis of resources, services in the contemporary economy, market demand and quality service. Research undertaken in this paper tried to highlight the role of services in the Romanian economy, based on the contribution approach from different angles and that of the degree of engagement of services in the global effort of economic development as follows: employment in service activities (which increased from 44.9 to 53.3%); contribution to GDP creation services, net investment in services and labor productivity over the other sectors of the economy (3 times higher than the primary and secondary sectors). The research had highlighted the slow development of these services in the analyzed period of 2007 - 2014. The countryside has great natural resources that can contribute to a greater extent in development. We are talking about forests (which represents 52.5% of the county) and 17 rivers arranged as hydro-electric stations for hydro-electric production. Rural transportation are fully private and no longer covered by municipalities. Based on conducted research there was drawn the SWOT analysis of County and of the commune, these analyzes highlighting the strengths that correlate with opportunities and weaknesses which in turn correlates with menace or risks. On the basis of this analysis were the statistical data processed to reveal the dynamics of services, their structure and effects on rural development, there have been used general indicators of services and specific indicators for each type of service as well. There were analyzed permanent services on water feed production, collecting and disposal of water, gas, electricity and sanitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial restructuring in urban areas is an ongoing process shifting continuously the inner-patterns of cities and towns. Whether largest urban areas and big cities face accelerated spatial transformation, small and medium-sized municipalities encountered a slow-go pace in their urban restructuring, with different results at the local scale. This paper briefly introduces some recent evidences of these processes using two different case studies to notice the new changes of spatial restructuring in a medium-sized Romanian municipality. The first perspective emphasizes new pathways of progressive functional translation and spatial conversion through tertiarization as a main process. The second unveils eclectic spatial emergence of a formerly agricultural and industrial site through residential growth. The research bases mainly on empirical data gathered through ethnographic in-field observation, and personal conversations in the study area conducted from 2014 to spring 2016 in order to portray the most recent spatial shifts at the local scale. Furthermore, sketching out the spatial changes was useful in gaining an understanding on the recent process of spatial restructuring. The findings demonstrate some similar evolutional paths with those specific for the largest Romanian cities but with reduced intensities, low impacts on local communities and mild paces in local urban restructuring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to present the issues of mineral deposits protection on the background of the planning and road investments construction. The term "mineral deposits protection" is generally understood as the protection of area over mineral deposits from the work, which would make impossible or significantly restricted its future exploitation (e.g. sustainable buildings). Based on the analysis of available literature, cartographic materials and documentation it was rated a minimum of the mineral deposits availability, depending on the type of exploitation of mineral deposits. The subject of research was planned and built investments of national and provincial roads in Poland. In case of road investment conduction through or closely to documented mineral deposits, its exploitation may cause conflicts in varying scale and scope. The result of the study was to determine a confrontation of road investments and the presence of mineral deposits divided into conflicts: a) the road - operate hole and underground exploitation, and b) the road - opencast exploitation. In this regard were used concrete examples of conflicts arising from the planning and implementation of road investments in Poland. Depending on the scale and scope of the conflict the proposals are consequently developed to minimize the negative impact of road construction on the availability of mineral deposits. These results should be reflected in the mineral resources management, where the availability of mineral deposits should be considered as one of the key issues of sustainable economic development. In this aspect it was pointed out the significant role of spatial planning and the need to enhance the legal protection of mineral deposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable development is a concept of great importance today, defined by several dimensions, such as referring to the fulfillment of human interests, the environment created aimed at matching the natural man, but by the social. The definition and its practical implementation must take into account more factors and the specific principles. From the economic perspective, economic policy must integrate the ecological principles that ensure its successful development to be sustainable in the long term. This paper presents the case of economic and ecological approach in territorial that is about developing the South-Muntenia Region of Romania. With a total surface of 34,453 km² (14.54% of the total area of Romania), the South-Muntenia Region [3] consists of seven counties (Argeş, Călăraşi, Dâmboviţa, Giurgiu, Ialomiţa, Prahova and Teleorman). The relief of the Region 3 South-Muntenia is characterized by variety, the difference in level is over 2400m allocated in proportion, stepped down from north to south of the Făgăraş and Bucegi mountains and ridges to the Danube Valley, which leads to the types of mountain, hill and plain climate. Like all developing regions of our country, in the South-Muntenia Region also are made efforts to attain the sustainable development objectives. The situation of the region is studied through analysis of the economic indicators and environmental development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to a more circular economy, where the value of products, materials and resources is maintained in the economy for as long as possible and the generation of waste is minimised, there is both a challenge and an opportunity to transform/develop the economy and generate new and sustainable competitive advantages for Europe. European leather sector recovers the hides and skins (renewable resources resulting from the production of meat for human consumption) and transform them into an appealing, high added value material that finds applications into a number of other value chains, notably in the fashion, furniture and automotive sectors. Tanneries thus prevent a difficult waste disposal problem, generate wealth, employment and contribute to circular economy. Environmental concerns in a nowadays tannery include the prevention and control of emissions to water, air and soil. The environmental effects that have to be taken into account in any tannery comprise not merely the load and concentration of the classic pollutants, but also the use of certain chemicals. The paper presents some innovative tools and technological solutions, developed and experimentally applied in Romanian leather sector, for pollutant impact monitoring and minimization. The intelligent integrated solutions adopted facilitate: (i) pollutant emissions permanent monitoring and improving the quality of the working environment; (ii) decreasing/ replacement of potentially dangerous chemical auxiliaries; (iii) environmental performance monitoring and the environmental management systems (EMS) implementation in the Romanian leather sector, contributing directly to its competitiveness and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes the contribution that the minerals industry has made to the economic development of Kosovo, by analyzing the activity and environment, predominantly over the last ten to twelve years. The decision to develop a mine and the social, socio-economic and environmental consequences of that decision comes midway through a process that begins with mineral exploration and continues through closure, decommissioning and reclamation. In recent years, significant structural changes have occurred in both the minerals industry, and the socio-political environment into which the industry has moved, particularly in Kosovo. Because of these changes, the point of contact and potential conflict between communities and mining interests over social, socio-economic and environmental issues has been drawn forward from the mining phase into the exploration phase. It is the opinion of these writers that the industry, collectively, is ill equipped to handle this reality. The paper identifies that sustainable development of the industry relies on its economic success, to generate sufficient wealth from the mineral rents to satisfy the requirements of the owners, as well as satisfying the requirements for capital generation, for reinvestment in project and social capital. It is clear that this can only be achieved through capital investment and operational success, and that this only happens when the climate for investment is favorable. In Kosovo, there is a very clear linkage between political and social stability, and capital investment from foreign institutions. This stability must be manifested on a regional basis, since global competitiveness of the industry will only be achieved if the regional economy is able to provide appropriate infrastructure, free trade and movement of capital and goods, in order that the industry can achieve benefits in terms of economies of scale and access to world markets. There is shortage of mineral endowment in the region, and responsible exploitation of its mineral resources will contribute significantly to its success. However, there are threats to this development, in terms of the "curse of resource endowment" having negative effects on other aspects of the economies, especially in countries that have been devastated by war and other threat, and whose mineral wealth remains untapped. In order to move towards sustainable economic growth, the paper advocates for the clear objectives in order to achieve strategic management of mineral resources in Kosovo and balance this with socio-economic development based on modern legal framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years we observe a significant growth in transport performance in passenger and freight transport. Generally speaking, traffic must meet high the requirements for the quality and speed of transport. The quality of transport infrastructure is closely related with the growth of living standards and economic development of the country. The objective of transport policy in our country, as well as in other countries around the world, is ensuring the sustainable development of mobility. Slovakia as a member of European Union respects and fulfils its recommendation in area of road safety, decreasing of emission and energy intensity. Therefore there is a need to implement such a measure, whit which is possible to reach the required goals. In a field of road administration is a need to search and implement new environmental acceptable materials and technologies, to develop of such transport modes, to ensure the transportation needs at particular quality and without negative effects on the environment and climate changes. The paper focuses on environmental efficiency related to the performance of transport and the impact on the environment - emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gasses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]