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Agri–food sector is one of the biggest and most supported economic sectors in the EU. It is a key sector for sustainable economic development and food safety and security. The EU Common Agricultural Policy (hereinafter CAP) is its backbone – it helps farmers with income support and market measures on the one hand and, on the other hand, it ensures sustainable rural development in individual EU countries. Despite of the huge support agricultural sectors in Member States are facing serious problems – in Slovakia it is especially the low level of domestic agricultural production, low quality of food products, high unemployment rate especially among young people, ageing of population and abandonment of rural areas. Looking for solutions for these problems mentioned there is a great challenge for relevant public authorities and for the academic sector, as well. Based on these facts the initiative to submit a project proposal has arisen within the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence – which would respond on challenges in this field. The project (Centre of Excellence for European Agri-Food Chain – CEEAG 611446-EPP-1-2019-1-SK-EPPJMO-CoE) has been granted and its main focus will start from important and irreplaceable role of agriculture and food industry in national economies of (not only) Member States via ensuring their food security under conditions given by the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) – one of the most supported policies in the EU.

Multifunctionality is one of the most important aspects of the sustainable development. There are essentially two approaches to the analysis of multifunctionality. One is to interpret multifunctionality as a characteristic of an economic activity. The second way of interpreting multifunctionality is in terms of multiple roles assigned to agriculture. In this view, agriculture as an activity is entrusted with fulfilling certain functions in society. Social functions are linked to employment and income generation in rural areas and hence sustaining the viability of rural communities and maintaining rural society. The study focuses on social aspect of multifunctional agriculture in Kopanice region located in western part of Slovakia near borders with Czech Republic. The region is according to OECD regional typology being considered as intermediate one approaching the category of predominantly rural region. In spite of the fact, that the share of the primary sector in economy of the region is decreasing, the agriculture still plays an important role from aspects of employment and building of social capital. The paper evaluates the influence of external and internal factors on the development of social capital in the selected region and authors will focus mainly on the impact of local stakeholders and policy measures. The interaction between relevant stakeholders as public sector, civil society, local business sector and primary sector is expected to be beneficial for development of social capital.

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Climate change and shrinking supplies of fossil energy resources mean that lately more and more attention is given to issues of environmental technologies and renewable energy sources not only at the level of national governments of the EU countries but also worldwide organizations such as the OECD and the UN. The use of renewable energy sources significantly reduces emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, especially CO2, which is also one of the objectives of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The farmers are not only food producers but also those who can efficiently produce electricity and heat through renewable energy sources, and can also utilize renewable energy themselves. This article deals with the RESNET project in the frame of EU Leonardo da Vinci - Transfer of Innovation. The project is focused on the important area of the utilization of renewable energy sources, with emphasis on landscape development. The main aim of the project is to prepare an online course consisting of five modules focused on the use of renewable energy sources for landscape development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]