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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]

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]

Between 1990 and 2015, the annual global amount of CO2 emission generated by transport has increased by 68%, from around 4.6 GtCO2 to around 7.7 GtCO2. Technological advances towards eco-friendly vehicles and policy incentives promoting environmental-friendly modes of transport have thus been offset by economic growth and increasing mobility. This study questions the relationship between economic growth and sustainability performance of transport sector. It adds to the literature new insights concerning recent trends in the relationship between gross domestic product and various aspects of transport sustainability such as carbon footprint, carbon intensity and transport safety. A particular attention is given to discussing the emerging issues of “carbon inequality” and the role of political entities that contribute most to global CO2 emissions, such China, USA and the EU. Finally, this study adds to the literature a composite index of transport sustainability performance and explores between-country inequalities in terms of sustainability performance. [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]

Today's economic society, modern and advanced, is the result of significant progresses on the technical, economic and social scale. The object of study of present paper is to realize an analysis related to price paid for this type of described evolution, from point of view of environmental factors which are the base of economic development. More, we propose to analyze if the present way of development is in accord with the principles and requirements of a sustainable economy and, especially, if the administration of environmental factors is efficient and sustainable. The reason for this choice is that we observed, from another analyses realized until now, that the indicators of sustainable development are not at desired level. Thus, based on documentation and research methods which use the statistical data, international reports and progress report on sustainability from European level, we intend to demonstrate that in order to realize a state specific for sustainability is need to use more efficient and rationally all development factors, starting from environment at which we will complete with human factors. In addition we will complete with a most debated problem, that of protection of natural resources because their depletion is seen often as a major source of social unrest and economic conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research examines creativity as an important factor in the production of ecological products and the promotion of sustainable development in the regional economy. The research aims to examine how to promote creativity in the regional economy, what tools should be implemented to develop creativity in individuals, and how creativity is associated with overall prosperity and economic growth in the country. Nowadays, the problems of exploiting natural resources and management of constrained natural resources in the context of ecological production are increasingly relevant. To motivate young entrepreneurs to produce new ecological environmentally friendly products, creativity in individuals should be encouraged, which would serve as an incentive for individuals to start their own businesses in regions. The role of the creative economy in regions could be observed across all the industries where commercialization of products and services is possible. A plan for the environmental economy should be designed within regional policies in accordance with regional characteristics and ecological problems, thereby contributing to regional sustainability and development. The research could serve as a basis for further discussion on creativity and ecology in the regional economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world economy continues to grow . About 9 billion people will live on the planet by 2030. To meet the growing demands for resources, products and services is becoming increasingly difficult. According the World Bank, the volume of solid waste will increase from 1.3 billion tons to 2.2 billion tons per year by 2025, mainly due to the developed countries. The Elen MacArthur fund estimates that the economy loses 3.2 trillion dollars annually in the sector of consumer services [1]. The linear industrial model of waste production does not meet the needs of the economy in conditions of population growth, lack of resources, urbanization, environmental pollution and other trends. In the current situation, the circular economy has become one of the most prospective strategies. The main goal of this article is to develop a new conceptual framework for innovation of the business model in a circular economy and answer the question that a new business model could allow to move to a more circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the development of the aviation industry companies more and more important becomes the issue of sustainable development. It was found that the technology creativity can play an important role in minimizing the negative impact of aviation companies on the environment, for example by initiating and realization of innovative projects related to environmental protection. Technology creativity gives rise to a new perspective on the development of contemporary enterprises, in particular for high-tech enterprises that aviation industry companies belong to. The article presents the technology creativity construct based on the assumption that it is a significant mechanism for development of aviation industry companies in the context of sustainable development. Technology creativity is treated as a combination of two distinct concepts: creativity and technology development. The aim of this article is to present the significance and impact of technology creativity on sustainable development of the aviation industry companies. The part regarding empirical research of aviation industry companies in Poland presents the results of research. The study is based on desk research, the case study methodology and the method of in-depth interviews with representatives of the aviation industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]