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In this article we will present the natural and anthropic potential of Gorj County. The studied area has a diversified tourist potential which is represented by a picturesque natural setting, by monuments of architecture and art of great artistic value, some of them of international interest, but also by a valuable folklore and ethnographic heritage. The present paper aims to stimulate interest and draw attention to the existing tourist attractions in Gorj County and highlights the fact that tourism represents an important lever for the local development of urban and rural localities.

The trends of the main demographic phenomena provide useful information about the future evolution of the number and age structure of Romania’s population. The mutations in the social-economic structure of the country have led to a dynamic territorial mobility of the population; at the same time, they have direct consequences upon the socio-demographic structure of the population. In the past years, demographic migration has become a common fact. The young and mature population migrates from the rural to the urban environment, motivated by the living and working conditions in the urban centers. Consequently, the remaining rural inhabitants are mostly old-aged. The aging of the rural population is also caused by a series of demographic and social-economic factors. The economic effects of the demographic evolution will be seen in time and will bring about changes in the various subpopulations (school children, fertile population, inhabitants able to work).

The global organic market is increasing constantly, organic sales reaching over USD 5 billion per year. Organic Monitor estimates that international sales amounted to about USD 38.6 billion in 2006, more than the double of USD 18 billion in 2000. The organic demand is concentrated in North America and Europe, these two regions comprising 97% of the global revenues. The European organic food and beverage market is the largest and most complex in the world, evaluated at USD 20 billion in 2006. Many European countries offer grants to organic farms to support organic production. This production-oriented strategy will have guaranteed success if the market structures and the marketing channels will be able to face the rapidly increasing demand and if the sellers adapt their products, sales channels and prices to the consumers’ demand

In the past years, the population of the West Region has experienced a decline, under the mixed influence of the different level of the natural growth, domestic migration flows and intense external migration. The demographic and economic effects of the reduced young population will be felt in time and will lead to changes in subpopulations (school population, fertile age population, employable population). The effects of the demographic aging process upon the development of the economic and social life have been felt after 2005, when the generations born after 1990 joined the employable population. The transition to the market economy has had a strong impact on the characteristics of the labour market, causing significant changes in the size and structure of the main labour force indicators (activity rate, employment rate, unemployment rate).

From the perspective of human development indicators during the past 15 years, Region North-West has undergone a series of negative processes, which are the most significant demographic decline due to negative natural growth and increased migration of people, especially those assets. Region North-West faces a negative demographic trend, with life expectancy of 71.38 years, the national average (72.22 years) with high external migration, especially of highly qualified workforce. Analysis of employment trends of population in Region North-West shows a downward trend and projections for the development for years emphasized the decrease in employment. Estimates on the evolution of the population in Region North-West during 2005-2013 reveals a total population decreased by 4.2%.

The present paper is presenting some statistics relating to knowledge in the field of information technology and communication. Data presented were taken following the processing of 63 questionnaires. Questionnaires have tried to include a higher sphere on IT & C knowledge of the persons interviewed, from what is known as a simple user of programs considered usual, passing over aspects of knowledge minimum hardware and ending with the e-commerce. The study revealed a basic knowledge that allow writing, technical, calculations, surf the Internet and transmitting/receiving e-mails. In other areas (accounting, databases, CAD etc.), only those who work day by day in that domain, have knowledge about the software. The situation is the same at hardware chapter, where the vast majority of persons interviewed are not interested in this type of knowledge, even though in most cases would save time and money. The situation is worse in rural areas, depriving here very often even the knowledge base. However, compared to previous years, there is a knowledge increase and a bigger interest for IT at rural level.

In the world, population growth phenomenon is accentuated, being estimated an increase of 30% over the next 40 years, leading to more than 9 billion people by the year 2050. In this period, mankind will face a exploitation without preceding of its natural resources, them being finite. There will be significant climate change, loss of biodiversity, increasing pressures on the environment, threatening, thus, the stability of living systems. In this context, Europe needs to change the manner of approaching to production, consumption, processing, storage, recycling and disposal of biological resources. Bioeconomy is the key element for smart growth in Europe, aspect pointed out in the Europe 2020 strategy adopted by the European Commission. This strategy is based on the Seventh Framework Program for Research and Technological Development (FP7) and the EU Framework Program for Research and Innovation (Horizon 2020). Bio-economy represents a cost savings in using the soil and sea biological resources, including the production of renewable biological resources and conversion of those resources and waste to value-added products (food, feed, bio bioenergy). Bioeconomy include sectors like agriculture, forestry, fisheries, food industry, as well as parts of chemical industry biotechnological and energetic. Bioeconomy relies on life sciences, agronomy, ecology, food science, social sciences, biotechnology, information and communication technologies and engineering. The bioeconomy support granted in the European Union offers many opportunities for Romania. Through bioeconomy specific approaches, the bioresources production potential in Romania could be exploited. Developing and implementing new solutions for better exploitation of this Romanian potential requires a significant investment in education and research. For Romania, the bioeconomy is a chance, an objective for a more innovative economy, smart, low emissions and with more sustainable use of renewable resources.

One of the main problems of the world in the coming years is food security. The main problem of agriculture in the future is not only to produce more, but to do so in a sustainable way. European Innovation Partnership called "Productivity and sustainability of agriculture" aims to provide a working interface between agriculture, bio-economy, science and other disciplines at national, regional and EU level. European Innovation Partnership is a new concept that was introduced in Strategy Europe 2020 of the European Commission. In this document, the Commission underlines the role of research and innovation as key elements in adapting to future challenges of the European Union. This partnership will also serve as a catalyst to increase the effectiveness of actions related to innovation supported through rural development policy, EU research and innovation. It has been identified two main objectives for the European Innovation Partnership: promoting productivity and efficiency of agriculture and durable agriculture sustainability in all Member States. It aims to create a better cooperation between research and agricultural practice, namely farmers. Through National Program for Rural Development 2014 - 2020, can be financed such initiatives, through Measure 16, sub-16.1 - Support for the establishment and operation of operational groups of the EIP for agricultural productivity and sustainability and sub-16.2 - Support for pilot projects and development of new products, practices, processes and technologies. The purpose of these sub-measures is to support the establishment of operational groups between partners coming from research: research institutes, research stations or centers, higher education institutions that have research in agriculture or which can be applied in agriculture and agricultural producers (farmers, companies, cooperatives and producer groups). Development and innovation activities would enable farmers to capitalize on joint the produced products, to adapt production to market requirements, have better access to inputs, equipment, credit and marketing, to optimize their production costs, create short supply chains and handle with various market challenges.

Globally, the concern for the environment is continually growing, among travel and tourism industry operators. Each unit hotel has its identity, its characteristics, and therefore, it is necessary to use and apply specific information about the environment, so as to create their own proactive environment protection policies. It must be performed an overview of environmental issues affecting the company and the performance that it has. Each unit hotel policy must be based on actual consumer demand for tourist services - as an active and conscious part - along with unit staff. Environmental action planning of a hotel unit has to go through several stages. The preparation of environmental actions of a hotel unit, involves biological control, which should help in making decisions on the most important measures that would benefit. Implementing the concept of environmental management in the hospitality unit requires including and taking the following steps: motivation, actions planning, analyze their performance and progress. They form an annual cycle of environmental management, which will go each year, to identify both the difficulties that have arisen and achievements and recommendations for the future.

Organic production systems are based on specific and precise standards of production, pursuing the achievement of optimal agro-systems, easy to sustain in terms of social, environmental and economic. Organic production systems plays a dual social role, because, on the one hand provides for a specific market that is responding to consumer demand for organic products, and on the other hand delivers public goods, contributing to environmental protection, animal welfare and rural development. The main goal of organic agriculture is to optimize the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil, plants, animals and humans, providing new guidance of agricultural diversification in a general context of protecting the environment and promoting the development of sustainable agriculture. In 2013, the continent with the largest organic cultivated surface was Australia / Oceania, over 17.3 million, up to 5 million hectares compared to 2011, followed by Europe with 11.4 mil. Ha, Latin America - 6.6 million ha, Asia - 3.4 million ha North America - 3.0 million ha and Africa - 1.2 million ha of the 43.1 million total hectares grown in organic management system, almost two thirds are permanent pastures (27 million hectares), followed by agricultural land area totaling 10.9 million ha (arable land - 7.7 million ha permanent crops - 3.2 million ha).

Lately, there is more and more talk about the notion of entrepreneurship, which is the occupational and social impact of entrepreneurial activities and what are the benefits and risks of a person who decides to start a business on their own. Therefore, in this article we set out to present the importance and role of entrepreneurship for young people in Romania. Entrepreneurial activity has a major impact on the economy, because they are the ones who make the world move forward and things move in the right direction. According to our studies, one in two urban Romanians would like to become an entrepreneur, even if they encounter several obstacles when they decide to open a business, regardless of their field of activity. In 2019, 134,220 companies were established, and in 2020, due to the pandemic, their number decreased to 109,939.

The „EUROP” grading system supplies the opportunity of generalising pork quality in the E.U. The market price of Romanian pork carcasses in 2009 has some characteristics depending on quality classes. Among member states of the E.U., Romania ranks 9 from the point of view of the share (4.0%) of establishing market price for pork carcasses. In Romania, in 2009, they graded over 2.8 million pork carcasses, but only about 2.3 million made the object of commercial transactions as carcasses. The price of pork carcasses in Romania in 2009 varied between 554,840 Lei/100 kg carcass in the Dobrogea County and 872,633 Lei/100 kg in the Arad County, the pondered average being 662,736 Lei/100 kg of carcass. If the price of pork carcasses in Romania is lower than that of other E.U. member states, their quality reaches the level of the most performing states in the field of pork. Romanian experience and tradition in the breeding and exploitation of swine are now, together with the implementation of the EUROP system, considered as most valuable.

The decreasing total population has had major repercussions on the labour force market as well. The difficulties that Romania’s South-East Region has to deal with characterise the whole country and have arisen as a result of the decline in the active and employed population. In the South-East Region, the dynamics of the active population decreased – as it did at national level – from 1,276 in 2004 to 1,240 thousand people in 2009. The declining trend affects both the population structure on residential areas and on sexes. The reduced active population is an obvious sign of a low activity rate with long-term effects on the economy of the region. On analysing the structure of the active population on residential areas, one can notice a slight increase in the urban active population: 708 thousand people in 2009 compared to 694 thousand people in 2003. However, the rural active population is decreasing permanently, 732 thousand people in 2009 compared to 586 thousand people in 2003. A significant decline was also visible in the employed population both at regional and national level: from 1,151 in 2004 to 1,151 in 2009. The regional and national dynamics of the employed population on residential areas is decreasing chiefly because of the decline in the rural employed population, which decreased with 20,000 people from 2009 to 2004. In the past years, the urban employed population has increased from 626 thousand people in 2004 to 642 thousand people in 2009. In 2009, the distribution of the employed population on activities of the national economy in every county of the South-East Region underlines the sectors with the highest share of employed population in the following order, in thousand people: agriculture (304), processing industry (225), trade (138) and construction (101).

The sustainable development is a process taking place at the same time with the complex and sustainable agricultural development; agriculture and the rural area being interdependent sides specific to rural communities. When analysing economic activity in the rural area we should pay a particular attention to the identification of such alternative activities that have a real chance for development and create new jobs that compensate the diminution of labour occupancy degree in agriculture. Opportunities of rural economy represent a source of having alternative income for the population from rural communities in order to escape from poverty and in order to accelerate the social progress in the rural area. Alternative activities with economic, social and cultural impact, providers of jobs and incomes are: the development of agro tourism and rural tourism, processing and promoting foodstuff, local traditional drinks, ecological foodstuff, handicraft and silviculture. Improving the conditions for business in the rural area is a main condition for the generation of economic activities generating jobs in the rural area.