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The central element of a housing market crisis is the unmet housing demand of the population, especially for the socio-economically disadvantaged. In the Austrian province of Tyrol, unmet housing demand has long been a social and political concern particularly in relation to housing affordability. Despite the ongoing construction and completion of housing units, many people find it difficult to find adequate housing. As part of a study to assess future housing in Tyrol, we took a closer look at the prevailing understanding of what is understood as housing demand and how this understanding can be distinguished from housing needs and housing aspirations. The article is based on the results of a goal-setting workshop with public policy stakeholders. By reflecting on the results, the paper sheds light on how unmet housing needs may represent not only a mismatch between supply and demand in the housing market, but also a mismatch between past, present and future aspirations and realities. The findings show that the question of what housing demand should be met by public policy, and whether this demand represents a need or an aspiration, is central to public housing policy and requires further consideration. The findings help to reflect on common theoretical and empirical conceptualisations of housing demand, need and aspiration, and how they can be assessed and identified in practice.

This paper explores the financialisation of housing in Germany’s social rental housing sector, focusing on the lived experiences of tenants. Drawing on a relational feminist lens, the study examines how macro-level policy shifts, financialised management practices, and tenants’ lived experiences intersect to drive housing precarity. Through the case study of Vonovia, Germany’s largest financialised landlord, the paper illustrates how institutional investors maximise profits by upgrading properties, increasing rents, and displacing vulnerable tenants. The research, based on tenant interviews and document analysis, sheds light on the emotional and material impacts of housing financialisation and the growing disconnect between tenants and their homes. The findings reveal that the financialisation of social rental housing undermines social cohesion, disrupts everyday life, and deepens feelings of alienation and fragmentation

Land and housing are in crisis. Rising rents and land prices have triggered severe housing problems, particularly for low-income and average-income households. In addition to residential apartment distribution, land speculation has become increasingly relevant. Since affordable housing is dependent on the availability of land, this reinforces existing housing difficulties. To understand some basic implications of the crisis, it is necessary to examine the political-economic entanglements of land and housing within the capitalist economic system. Two crucial questions are who owns the land and how it is distributed. Accordingly, landownership plays a crucial role in urban political economy as ownership influences who can and cannot live in central areas of a city. Based on these assumptions, this article aims to reveal some of the basic entanglements of land and housing and explains why one can speak of a crisis. It situates the topic in a broader context to raise fundamental questions about property. It will also provide insights into how property dynamics affect residents and their access to urban spaces by taking a closer look at the Italian city of Venice.

Although the private rental sector has registered growth in recent years, knowledge about small-scale landlords (SSL) as key actors in housing provision is still scant, especially when it comes to their social position. From an inequality perspective, the phenomenon of letting is characterised by two dimensions of asymmetries: an everyday asymmetry due to legal imbalances and an inequality in the resources that can be used to assert claims and interests, both in letting practice and at the level of housing policy. While previous research has focused on the former, this article examines the social positions of SSL and asks whether tenancies are characterised by a twofold inequality: legally and socially. This is based on the conflict-theoretical assumption that letting is not only an output of housing systems but that SSL, depending on their capital resources, can also be an input factor in the emergence of housing issues. This is the first cross-country study in landlord research portraying SSL and their social position on the basis of harmonised and representative data (Household Finance and Consumption Survey 2021). Despite country-specific housing regimes, SSL are mostly at home in the upper social strata regarding their economic and non-economic capital. The landlord-tenant relationship is marked by a twofold asymmetry because of legal and social advantages. The work provides fundamental insights into SSL and can serve as a basis for further research on the interrelationship between SSL and the constitution and development of housing systems.

Everyone has visited a train station and travelled through a railway at least once. These structures are among the most common and cheaper means of transport that have accompanied our species over the years, allowing the movement of many goods and (hu-man) passengers. If, on the one hand, railways shaped European societies and cultures, on the other hand, train lines had – and still have – consequences even for non-humans. Since the climate crisis we are living in imposes a change of paradigm in our reading of the world, we need to investigate how the infrastructures we usually repute “neutral” entail meanings and usages for other species. In the following paragraphs, I will explore what a railway rep-resents for non-human organisms. I will support the idea that rail lines can be borders to some animals, dividing ecosystems, potentially harming species and reducing their essen-tial adaptive abilities. On the other hand, trains allow the migration and propagation of other living forms, like plants. This double function can, therefore, summarise the role of railways in ecosystems and may stimulate reflection on the consequences of future networks’ exten-sions. Indeed, the interests of many species and individuals must be considered when plan-ning and administrating territories since they are not white papers on which to draw projects but, on the contrary, tangles of sometimes extremely fragile balances.

This contribution draws a comparison between railways and logical reasoning – both go straight from one premise to the conclusion. In such a scenario, train stations are the very important place in which these premises are chosen and evaluated.

LEGO is an influential cultural product, circulating worldwide in several forms beyond plastic toys (for example, images, movies, TV series, videogames, discussion forums, etc). Put in this light, LEGO products arguably play a role in shaping and influencing cultures and imaginaries. This contribution focuses on railway stations, looking at the evolution of sets since 1968 to suggest potential lines of research on LEGO urbanism and how apparently innocent cultural products may mirror or actively reproduce – or potentially contest – hegemonic ideologies.

È difficile stabilire se la centralità delle stazioni sia una condizione preesistente o se sia generata dall’essere una sintesi di un milione di cose. Un organo bionico, una promessa di futuro (ormai alle spalle), un concentrato di funzioni pubbliche, interessi economici e ricordi privati, un’eterotopia, un (ex)-nonluogo, e chissà cos’altro.

Any socio-economic processes occurring in the country and world have an impact on the standard of living of the population. There are many indicators that determine the standard of living of citizens, among which we can highlight the income of people as the main component of their financial well-being. In a period of global political and economic upheavals, the relevance of the topic of human quality of life is beyond doubt. During the economic war organised by the West against Russia, the countries participating in this war are of interest. These include New Zealand, although it is clear that due to the distance from Russia and weak economic ties between the countries, there will be no significant mutual influence of the sanctions restrictions. The study has analysed the income of the population of New Zealand over the past 10 to 15 years, considering differentiation by various categories, such as geographical location, qualification, and source of income. The analysis has showed a certain increase in the income and, accordingly, in the standard of living of the country’s population in the period under review. An insignificant impact on this indicator of restrictive measures during the COVID-19 pandemic is revealed, however, with the certain social policy of the state, fluctuations in the income of citizens during this period were hardly noticeable. Their assessment by sources has reflected the significant share of small businesses in the country’s economy, which shows a high degree of liberalisation of the national economy of the state. The analysis of the citizens’ incomes by geographic regions has revealed a significant impact of urbanisation on the standard of living of the New Zealand’s population, which is a global trend.

For decades, international trade has contributed to the reduction of global poverty and the income gap between countries, and the development of intercountry exchange of agricultural products has largely ensured the solution of problems of poverty and food security. At the same time, at the present stage, a high degree of dependence of many developing countries on food imports has occured, while its global exporters have faced a number of restrictions on the supply of their agricultural products. This article analyses the impact of geoeconomic fragmentation of the international trade on the development of exports and imports of products of the agro-industrial complex (hereinafter referred to as AIC). In particular, the problems of competition in the world agro-food markets are discussed in a new context, since the growing problems of monopolisation in certain segments of the AIC disrupt the stability of agricultural markets. Exclusive attention is paid to the key aspects of the application of non-tariff measures in regulating trade of the agricultural products, which, in addition to the protective role, can have a distorting effect on world prices. Our analysis places particular emphasis on the hidden costs of global agri-food systems, which necessitate their rapid modernisation to ensure sustainability in the development of the agricultural markets and to address global food security issues.

The article provides a scientific justification for the relevance of studying emotional distress of adolescents from dysfunctional families. The social significance of the topic is noted: the emotional distress of adolescent children not only makes unhappy themselves, but also reduces the level of social health of the family and the whole society, affecting social security. The purpose of the research is a theoretical analysis of sources of scientific information which, presumably, can form a methodological basis for studying family predictors of the adolescent emotional distress. The material in the article is presented in accordance with four research questions concerning the formulation of this scientific problem, its current state in domestic and foreign social psychology, and its poorly studied aspects. The definition of the concept of the emotional distress is clarified, its similarity to the concept of emotional modality is shown; the already established features of the emotional sphere of adolescent children are noted. It is concluded that by now there are prerequisites for studying families with adolescents simultaneously from the standpoint of socio-psychological and systemic approaches. A model of empirical research of the family predictors of the emotional distress of adolescents from dysfunctional families is proposed. The prospects of practical application of the study results are outlined.

The article is devoted to studying the influence of industry specialisation of the Kemerovo region – Kuzbass on the economic growth of the entity. The purpose of the study is to identify the most significant trends and problems of the industry specialisation that affect the development of the region. Using methods of scientific knowledge – description, synthesis and generalisation of the data obtained; literature review, graphical method – the following has been conducted: analysis of the dynamics of structural changes in the gross regional product (hereinafter referred to as GRP) of the Kemerovo region – Kuzbass; assessment of trends in the movement of main industry indicators and indicators of regional industry. The information base of the study consists of foreign and domestic publications devoted to the analysis of the GRP sectoral structure; statistical data from the Federal State Statistics Service and its territorial authority for the Kemerovo Region – Kuzbass. Based on the analysis of the structural changes dynamics, an increase in the contribution of the raw materials sector to the country’s gross domestic product and an increase in the share of mineral extraction in the industry structure of the GRP of the Kemerovo region – Kuzbass have been revealed. The trend of decrease in the industrial production index is analysed, it is shown that it has a trend similar to the dynamics of the decline in mining production, and the reasons for the decline are described. The strengthening trend of economic growth in the Kemerovo region – Kuzbass based on the raw model has been determined. East Asian models of economic growth are considered. The expediency of using international experience in the design of high-tech industries on the basis of private investment in the research and development sector, and its adaptation to the realities of the development of Russian regions is indicated. A conclusion is drawn about the need to support the technological sovereignty of the country and the transition of the development of the Kemerovo region – Kuzbass to a non-primary model.

In the context of accelerated transformation of the domestic economy, attempts at economic and socio-political isolation of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as RF, Russia), the question of rethinking the role of social protection in the development of the RF arises. The purpose of the work is to develop recommendations for increasing the adaptability of the domestic social protection system to future possible shocks, with consideration to modern practices used in developed economies. The object of the study is social protection systems. The subject is measures of adaption of these systems to consequences of financial crises. When conducting the study, the following methods have been used: analysis, induction, measurement, comparison, computational and constructive, statistical and economic. The main results of the study include identification of the basic channels for the transition of a financial crisis into a social one, and assessment of the fiscal impulses of the European Union countries, United States of America, and Russia in order to mitigate the negative shocks of financial crises. The practical significance of the work is due to the possibility of using the results in the activities of government bodies as part of improving the domestic social protection system. The similar nature of consequences of global financial crises has allowed us to draw a number of conclusions. Firstly, job retention schemes and social support measures for the unemployed population make it possible to create an effective system of income support for workers, especially for vulnerable groups. Secondly, increasing the targeting of social support measures will lead to the performance growth of social protection system, allowing for a more rational distribution of limited budget resources. Finally, this social system can effectively reach the target segment of beneficiaries only if means-testing information systems are of high quality.

The article presents the results of studying the possibilities of an ecosystem approach to career planning by students at the State University of Management (hereinafter referred to as SUM). At first, the gap between the level of practical training of graduates of Russian universities and the requirements of employers has been actualised. Then, the need for joint efforts of all interested labour market participants to create conditions for students’ conscious planning of career growth at all stages of education is emphasised. The experience of intra-university cooperation using the STC (student team consulting) method between the marketing department and practical training department in 2022–2023 has showed that solving this problem involves integrating, on an ecosystem basis, activities for the study of professional academic disciplines, project-based learning, practical training, and employment. As an experiment, 6 student consulting teams have solved a set of interrelated tasks, including the creation and ongoing maintenance of the Career Centre page in the VK social network, advertising campaigns and interviews at “Career Day in Transport and Logistics”, surveys on the employment of graduates and assessment of student satisfaction with practical training, analytical review of the labour market in Russia in 2020–2023 with a report at the All-Russian scientific and practical conference, examination of 5 ideas for marketing research projects in the field of career planning by students of the SUM with testing in social networks and assessments of the influence of actors in its ecosystem. In conclusion, based on the results of the research, the directions for the ecosystem approach to career planning by students at the SUM are formulated.

Event tourism is a dynamically developing sector of the global tourism industry, the share of which increases by 1.5% annually. This segment plays a key role in stimulating the local economy, attracting investment and developing cultural exchange. In Azerbaijan, which has a rich historical and cultural heritage, event tourism has significant potential. However, its development in the regions faces a number of problems that need to be addressed for more efficient use of existing opportunities. This article discusses the current state of event tourism in Azerbaijan, studies certain events held in the republic, substantiates its importance for the socio-economic development of the country’s regions and proposes mechanisms for its improvement based on international experience. The purpose of this article is to analyse the current state of event tourism in Azerbaijan, assess its potential for the socio-economic development of regions and develop recommendations for its improvement, considering existing problems and prospects. The object of the study is to identify problems and explore opportunities related to the development of event tourism in Azerbaijan. The subject of the research is the mechanisms for improving event tourism in the regions of Azerbaijan, including the analysis of current problems, assessment of potential and development of recommendations for improving the accompanying infrastructure, financing, marketing and other key aspects in the context of studying and applying foreign experience. The work uses an analytical research method based on a review of scientific papers in the field of event tourism.

The article discusses the features of currency regulation and foreign economic relations of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as RF, Russia) in the context of the introduction and growth of anti-Russian sanctions by the United States of America, European Union countries and other unfriendly countries, issues related to ensuring the sustainability of the Russian economy and its ability to withstand negative internal and external influences, issues of financial security, which is an important component of the country’s economic security, issues of the current state of the state’s banking system and the Russian economy as a whole. The article also discusses the possible expansion of international economic relations between Russia, China, North Korea and other countries. The purpose of the article is to identify directions for the transformation of the currency regulation regime and foreign economic relations of the RF in the context of the expansion of anti-Russian sanctions. The subject of the study is the currency and foreign economic relations of the RF with friendly and unfriendly countries in the current conditions of growing anti-Russian sanctions and the conduct of a special military operation in Ukraine. In conclusion, the article highlights key changes associated with changes in Russia’s foreign exchange and foreign economic activeities, promising opportunities for further expansion of international economic relations with China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and other friendly countries.

The article presents the results of using the Russian-language version of the “Big Five” personality questionnaire, in which personality is considered as a structure consisting of 5 factors, including many secondary factors. The subject of the study are psychological characteristics of the personality of dog handlers of law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as RF) at various stages of professionalisation. The author emphasises the relevance of studying and further psychological support of the professional development of dog handlers, with consideration to the fact that specifics of their service and professional activities in order to ensure the security of the country have no analogues and are unique. The results of a focused interview with experienced dog handlers with extensive experience in service cynology have formed the basis for constructing a psychograph for a specialist in the profile in question. Using the “Big Five” methodology, it is possible to identify the characteristic features of cadets studying in the field of training “Animal Science”, profile “Cynology”, and employees of canine services of the law enforcement agencies of the RF. The author correlates the results obtained and notes the correspondence of the psychological qualities of both groups of respondents to the professionally oriented qualities presented in the psychograph of a specialist dog handler of the law enforcement agencies of the RF. The five-factor questionnaire adapted by A.B. Khromov adequately describes the psychological characteristics of an individual and can be used in the study of various aspects of its professional development.

The relevance of the article is due to the insignificant contribution of microfinance to the development of the Russian economic system, especially in the context of supporting small and medium-sized businesses. However, the regulator sees it as a promising sector of the financial market and considers its progressive development necessary. The purpose of the work is to study the current state and identify trends in the development of the microfinance market in Russia. The methodological basis of the study includes empirical observation and analysis. During the work, official statistical data and scientific publications on the topic of microfinance have been used. The article provides a review of current legislative documents regulating the microfinance sector, and analyses the state of the market based on statistical data. It is substantiated that some elements of the monetary and financial policies pursued in the Russian Federation can be applied for the successful development of the microfinance sector, contribute to its effective and balanced work, and improve accessibility and sustainability. In the course of the work, key directions for the development of the microfinance market are formed: improving regulation and supervision; promoting financial literacy of the population; application of digital technologies; expansion and diversification of the product portfolio, development of partnerships, social entrepreneurship, which contribute to the sustainable development of this segment of the financial market. Particular attention is paid to a detailed analysis of improving the regulatory framework for microfinance in Russia from the point of view of legislation on bankruptcy of individuals, stimulating innovation and digitalisation, and supporting social entrepreneurship.

The paper considers the formation of a seamless multimodal passenger transportation in order to develop transport infrastructure not only at the regional but also at the federal level. The positive aspects and disadvantages of a multimodal transport system are considered. The paper presents a review of the scientific literature on the above issues. The research methodology is based on proven approaches. Founded on the analysis of the tourist flow, it is proposed to build a system of seamless multimodal transportation in the territory of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as RF). The relevance is due to the need to develop regional transport systems as well as consideration of this topic in the scientific literature, regulatory documents of the industry. Based on the Strategic direction in the field of digital transformation of the transport industry of the RF until 2030, the principles of multimodality are proposed to create a seamless system of multimodal passenger transportation. The development has been conducted for the transport system of the Altai Territory. Based on the data on tourist flows of the Federal State Statistics Service, the calculated route Moscow – Barnaul – Gorno-Altaysk is formed. The introduction of a digital platform for convenient search and booking of transportation is considered, the key points of working with requests are highlighted. The movement of financial and information flows and the algorithm of actions of the system participants are determined.

Employment of higher education graduates is a challenge for governments in both developed and developing countries. This article highlights factors that explain the professional integration of graduates leaving universities. This study demonstrates the variables influencing the employment of young tertiary graduates. The model used allows us to establish economic relationships between exogenous and endogenous variables. The variables are qualitative and dichotomous in nature with multiple modalities. The presented results allow us to determine which exogenous variable has a greater impact on the endogenous variable so that governments can consider it in youth employment policies. We also advise young graduates in terms of finding a job. The purpose of this study is to promote the professional integration of Guinean higher education graduates. The main objective is to identify the problems faced in the labour market by Guinean higher education graduates. Using SPSS software, we have obtained the following results: the higher the level of education, the greater the chances of finding a job; personal initiative gives a better chance of finding a job than any other method of finding a job; men have an advantage over women in terms of employment opportunities; married people are luckier than single people; those who have had a previous job are also more likely to find a job than those who have not had; graduates who have lived abroad are more likely to find a job than those who have not lived abroad.

Modern air cargo transport is an important part of global logistics and trade. They provide fast and efficient delivery of goods all over the world. In recent years, there have been several significant changes in the development of air routes both in the Eurasian Economic Union (hereinafter referred to as EAEU), and in Russia, in particular. Additionally, in light of recent global events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, air cargo has faced additional challenges related to restrictions on passenger flights, changes in airport operating hours and increased health regulations, while the geopolitical situation has had a significant impact on transport and development of transport infrastructure throughout the EAEU. All these challenges make this study relevant. In addition, the article examines the rules of law that regulate issues of economic and customs space, as well as solve the problems of applying bans on customs duties and other restrictions on the free movement of goods, services and financial resources. Ways have been proposed to overcome restrictions on air transportation within the framework of the EAEU.

In the era of globalisation, diaspora is seen as a driving force for economic development in the countries of origin and for positive changes in the host countries. The Algerian diaspora represents a real opportunity and potential of entrepreneurs that are not exploited. This article attempts to explore the factors that encourage or hinder the entrepreneurial activities of the Algerian diaspora in its country of origin through a field survey based on 142 entrepreneurs from the studied diaspora. To do this, a logistic econometric modelling has been implemented to explain the entrepreneurial event (business creation), and the explanatory variables are the following factors: psychological (experience, training), contextual (discrimination, opportunities, and patriotism) sociological (help of relatives and other contacts) and economic (personal resources and those of the state). It appears that the probability of the project in Algeria is stronger as its leader from the Algerian diaspora has a great entrepreneurial potential and financial means, is an opportunist and patriot, benefits from the help of the state and knows how to activate, in case of difficulties, their personal contacts.

The subject of the study is financial relations of municipalities in terms of income generation. The purpose of the article is to disclose and justify measures to increase fairness of the distribution of personal income tax by fixing the share of such a tax for the municipality in which the citizen lives but does not work. The research methods are general scientific (analysis, synthesis, deduction, classification, work with sources) and empirical ones (horizontal analysis). The article considers the problem of imbalance of local budgets caused by pendulum migration and, consequently, by outflow of income from municipalities. An information and software solution has been proposed to ensure the fair distribution of part of the personal income tax between municipalities by the place of residence and work of taxpayers. The logical model of the proposed solution and necessary changes in legislation for its implementation are described. The scope of application is the budget system of the Russian Federation, namely the spheres of municipal finance. Further research should be aimed at identifying additional reserves for strengthening the financial autonomy of municipalities. The expected results of the work include improving the financial situation of the population, optimising the budget system and leveling the level of development of municipalities. The importance of the proposed solution for balanced regional development and improving the quality of life of citizens is emphasised.

The article examines the main problems faced by older people and suggests innovative practices and technologies of social care at home in order to preserve their social capital. Due to age and health conditions, many older people are limited in their ability to leave home and perform daily tasks and functions. Senile problems represent negative changes that affect people’s lives and are associated with poor health. The key problems of the elderly have been identified. The article notes that senior citizens need timely and long-term care to preserve their social capital, which is best provided at home and with the support of their loved ones. To implement such care, it is necessary to create long-term care centres for the elderly and the disabled. The authors of the article propose to develop services for the elderly at home, introduce innovative technologies and improve the quality of services provided. Social services play a special role in this, which is confirmed by the experience of public service centers. The introduction of innovative service practices and technologies, and the expansion of the number of social services are promising areas for preserving the social capital of the elderly.

The article examines financial management of environmental enterprises from the standpoint of evaluating the results of financial analysis and specifics of its implementation. Increasing the competitiveness of environmental organisations in the Russian Federation and ensuring their prospects in the face of sanctions and restrictions at this stage of development is becoming increasingly relevant. The authors propose a methodology for financial analysis of industrial and environmental activities of an enterprise based on the calculation of key financial and private environmental indicators of environmental enterprises. The novelty of this study lies in an integrated approach to financial management based on the results of the analysis of financial and private environmental indicators of environmental organisations, covering the financial and environmental aspects of their activities. The integrated approach to financial management is innovative because it is founded on the close relationship between financial and environmental activities of enterprises. The presented article develops analytical support and methodological tools of the analysis for use by environmental enterprises, with consideration to their specifics, in order to improve the efficiency of financial management. The practical significance of this article lies in the analytical provision of effective financial management for the sustainable development of environmental enterprises.

The purpose of the study is to analyse the modern mechanism of identification and risk control in the payment system both in the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as RF, Russia) and abroad. The objectives of the study are to analyse a standardised approach to identification and risk control in the payment system of Russia and foreign countries, as well as a review of the estimated indicators of the identification and control system in the payment system of the RF. To achieve this goal, general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, generalisation, etc.) and a number of private scientific methods (systemic, comparative legal, statistical, etc.) are used in this work, necessary for a deeper consideration of individual issues on the research topic. The paper analysed a standardised approach to identification and risk control in the payment system of Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The review of the estimated indicators of the identification and control system in the Russian payment system is conducted. The theoretical significance of the research lies in expanding knowledge and understanding of modern mechanisms for identification and risk control in the Russian payment system, as well as international experience in identifying and controlling risks in the payment system. The practical significance of the study is to identify the features of a standardised approach to identification and risk control in the payment system in Russia and foreign countries, as well as to identify the estimated indicators of the identification and control system in the Russian payment system.

The relevance of the research is related to the need to substantiate the specifics of reproduction of the educational potential of workforce as a key resource that ensures generation of new knowledge, its successful implementation into practice, and innovative development of domestic enterprises. The purpose of the article is to identify and analyse modern conditions for the reproduction of the educational potential of the workforce. The research methodology is based on the use of an integrated and systematic approach to determining them, comparative and statistical methods of analysis. As conditions for the formation of the educational potential in the post-industrial era, the article considers: demographic conditions, globalisation, formation of a unified information space, and digitalisation of the economy, increasing demand for skilled labour, accelerated development of the service sector, and increase in labour migration. The results of the analysis show that in Russia, the reproduction of the educational potential is hampered as a result of the demographic crisis manifested in the continuation of the trend towards natural population decline and an increase in the number of people of retirement age; increase in the scale of external migration of skilled labour; average level of Internet accessibility to the population, and, as a result, insufficient formation of its digital skills. Attention is focused on the growing need of the national economy for personnel with a high educational and qualification level, digital skills, and information culture due to the formation of a unified information space and digitalisation of the economy, accelerated development of the service sector, globalisation, and the increasing role of universities in shaping the general culture of the population. The prospects for further research are to develop an organisational and economic mechanism for reproducing the educational potential of the workforce.

The article considers innovations that are the flagship of the development of investment potential of Russian regions and regional economic systems as the main element of investment attractiveness of the regions. The conducted research examines the basic tools and methods for the formation of an effective assessment system for innovative regional development as the level of the investment attractiveness of Russian subjects and Russian regional systems within the framework of Russian and foreign practice and experience. Definition and evaluation of such an indicator as the level of development of the digital environment of business communications, stimulating the effectiveness of innovative activities of business entities, have been identified as the main approaches (or methods) in studying this problem. The conducted research has a significant impact on the further study of directions for the development of a mechanism for effective assessment of the innovative potential and innovative development of the region, which serves as the basis for increasing the investment attractiveness of the Russian regions. The application and use of various assessments, diagnostics and their implementation in considering the innovative potential and innovative development of the region are to analyse the prospects for its formation. The obtained results of the research can be used in assessing these two phenomena to increase the investment attractiveness of the Russian regions.

The article deals with problems of project management in the context of a shortage of human resources at enterprises in the real sector of the economy as well as with promising areas of development to improve the efficiency of project management. The necessity of conducting work on preliminary analysis and selection of candidates is noted, with consideration to individual characteristics and expected goals. Within the framework of the tasks set for the study, the authors have shown the possibility of a three-factor evaluation of candidates to achieve results sufficient from the practical point of view in terms of choosing the most promising candidate from the available staff, and the possibility of obtaining a reasoned decision on the need to involve an external manager for the project implementation in the absence of the required competencies in the company’s staff of the. A brief overview of the methodological framework of management is given, which allows solving the problem of a reasonable approach to the recruitment for appointment to situational positions. It is shown that based on the developed approach, reasonable and strategically correct management decisions can be made. It can be used at enterprises in the real sector of the economy when making decisions on the appointment of project managers to improve the efficiency of work to achieve the goals stated in the project as well as for educational purposes to form decision-making skills and evaluate candidates for leadership positions.

Personal income tax (hereinafter referred to as PIT), in interaction with other instruments, can have a significant impact on the implementation of social goals aimed at improving the quality of life of Russians, reducing poverty, overcoming monetary inequality, and supporting low-income citizens, including families with children. The article is aimed at studying the theoretical and practical aspects of taxation of personal income regulated by Chapter 23 of the Russian Tax Code. It reveals the significant role of the PIT due to its revenue potential for the budget system of the Russian Federation and its regulatory impact on socio-economic processes in conditions of geopolitical tension, describes the current system of tax deductions, the need and directions for its improvement. The methodological basis of the study is founded on the analysis of scientific publications and open data of public authorities posted on their official websites. The analysis has been conducted using comparison methods, systemic logical and semantic analysis, synthesis of theoretical and practical material. The purpose of the study is to propose a gradual improvement of the mechanisms for providing standard and social tax deductions by increasing their sizes, introducing a subsistence minimum as a non-taxable income for all categories of payers, expanding the scope of application with consideration to the results of the ongoing socio-economic policy. The conclusions and generalisations of the study can be used when legislative and executive authorities and the scientific community develop proposals for improving the provisions of Chapter 23 of the Russian Tax Code, which will create a socially oriented domestic tax system.

The purposes of the article are to study the content of labour productivity, generalise its main indicators, essence of constant trends manifested in the form of an economic law, disclose its forms of manifestation and ways to increase as well as to attract the attention of subjects of these processes to take regulatory measures. The object of the study is labour in the main link of the economy. The subject are political and economic, social and labour relations between participants of the production process regarding the increase in the labour productivity. Its methodological framework covers provisions explaining the nature of the continuity of labour processes based on the labour productivity. Its main sources are considered using the methods of scientific abstraction, comparison, logical, historical, causal, dialectical methods. Among the scientific results is the conclusion about the essence of the economic law of increasing productivity of social labour, about some properties of the forms of its manifestation, number of directions for accelerating the increase and continuity of the labour process. The scientific and practical significance of the article lies in the possible usefulness for the main link of the economy which corrects its own strategies and development programmes of authorities at various levels during the implementation of economic policy as well as of higher educational institutions of the country where economic theory and labour economics are taught.

The issues of economic inequality and justice were considered in the works of the philosophers of Ancient Greece. Over time, the problem of income inequality has not lost its relevance, which is confirmed by domestic and foreign studies. Until 2015, the capital of the Russian Federation had the highest value of the Gini index, which indicates a high degree of inequality in income distribution in the territory of this subject. Over time, the situation has changed, in particular, by increasing the incomes of the least well-off groups of the population, providing them with subsidies and payments. The purpose of the study is to analyse to what extent these changes have an impact on the socio-economic development of the region. With the help of econometric calculations, the degree of dependence between the equity index and the value of the gross regional product per capita has been determined. It is revealed that there is an inverse relationship between the considered indicators, that is, a reduction in income inequality has an impact on the growth of regional production. The high value of the coefficient of determination indicates the high quality of the constructed model. The possibility of using the simulation results in practice is confirmed by calculations of the average approximation error and the Fisher criterion.

Features of the current stage of development of Russia increase the relevance of studying problems associated with the expansion of internal sources of financing economic growth, one of which may be citizens’ savings. To attract private capital more widely, the national financial system can and should provide a large range of tools for private investors that meet the needs of citizens in terms of profitability and safety of funds. The paper has considered the key tools of retail investment, which are currently widely used in domestic practice. Alternative ways of private investment have also been explored. They can be applied depending on the needs of specific actors, market participants, or citizens. The development of a line of instruments for the retail investment – deposits, long-term individual investment accounts, products of research and production associations, insurance products, etc., their availability is one of the conditions for the effective functioning of the domestic financial market and, as a consequence, the Russian economy as a whole. The analysis of the essence, trends, opportunities, and risks of the retail investment instruments will allow us to assess the effectiveness of the activities of financial regulators in this area and identify promising and appropriate areas for its improvement.

The article analyses the key aspects of changes in international agricultural trade patterns, with the main emphasis on the analysis of modern factors shaping the agricultural market situation. The analysis of international trade is conducted in the context of the need to ensure food security and counteract various exogenous shocks (decreasing crop yields, escalating geopolitical conflicts, food crises). This analysis has allowed us to formulate the main determinants that will have a decisive impact on international agricultural trade in the future. It has been established that as a result of international trade, global demand for agricultural land has decreased, and imports are increasingly used by developing countries to solve food security problems. It is shown that geopolitical restrictions and climatic shocks are a key factor influencing global supply chains and changing patterns of international trade in agricultural raw materials and food. The uncertainties that have arisen make it difficult to adequately forecast global flows of agricultural exports and imports, while the current agricultural policies of countries around the world remain virtually unchanged. In prospective studies of international agricultural trade, considerable attention should be paid to issues of supply stability.

Stazione Termini has always been at the center of urban and architectural debate in Rome. Over the years, it has undergone many transformations that have altered its spaces and uses. Today, it repre-sents a crucial hub for the city, welcoming hundreds of thousands of people daily, including travelers, commuters, tourists, passersby, and migrants. Vittorio De Sica's film Stazione Termini, set and entirely filmed within the station in 1953, offers a snapshot of the life and society of that era, representing a val-uable document for spatial and social comparison to observe the invariants and changes concerning the station's role within the city. The article examines the architectural development of the station, highlighting the crucial steps in its evolution from a monument embodying symbolic values to its progressive transformation and adapta-tion from a space exclusively linked to transit and movement to a multifunctional place, primarily fo-cused on commerce and consumption. Through the analysis of the film and the spatial changes, the essay underscores how, both in the past and present, Stazione Termini represents an urban micro-cosm reflecting the social and cultural contradictions of society. The station is configured as an ever-evolving palimpsest that layers and integrates urban life; a complex heterotopia that embraces multi-ple possible narratives, where the different communities that inhabit it contribute to defining a system of values and meanings, granting it the role of a contemporary public space.

Full of paradoxes, characterized by the co-presence of contrasting realities, the territory of Termini Station is a threshold and an extreme mirror of processes that characterize in different ways the con-temporary world, a place which, through its socio-spatial morphologies, deeply and in many senses interrogates the urban dimension and the relations with other elements that compose the making of the city. Located in the heart of Rome, it is a territory in ongoing transformation, daily crossed by thou-sands of passengers and city users, while, at the same time, it is a place innervated by social margins inhabited by different populations; a place where transit, marginality, informality, control, and consump-tion intermingle. Through the words of some social workers of services for homeless people in the ter-ritory, the station area is sketched as a liquid borderland, a sea, a place of conjunction, in which, how-ever, emotional charges, memories, social and symbolic ties are projected, nuances and historical stratifications take body - deflating the classic notion of “non-place.” The station becomes a central hub of a myriad of maps marked by the routes of those who transit there, and those who, for various rea-sons, spend most of their time in the area; it becomes the center of formal and informal practices, mi-gration paths, plural geographies, and forms of belonging, illuminating a tension between different ways of practicing the same space.

This exploratory paper focuses on Rome's Stazione Termini, a large railway station and a site of mobil-ity and marginalization. Termini represents a microcosm of contemporary urban challenges, character-ized by development pressures and the ongoing exclusion of homeless people – most of whom are migrants. The article begins to explore the concept of ‘whiteness’ as manifested in both physical de-sign and social control of the station. The station's sanitized aesthetics and emphasis on commercial activity evoke a normative white/Italian/European identity, alongside general policing strategies and re-stricted access that creates a hostile environment for many. Drawing on scholarship on public space and race, the paper highlights the historical roots of exclusion in the station, tracing Termini's fascist-era origins and its ongoing role as a node in migration routes through Europe. I finish by positioning Termini within a wider European context, where railway stations serve as contested spaces grappling with commercial interests, urban development, and the needs of marginalized populations. It calls for further research into the policing of public spaces and the experiences of minoritized groups within them – and building on the work of Sara Ahmed, keeping complaint alive.

We work at a train station. Not at the ticket counter, the bar, or the toilets, but at a grassroots commu- nity academy called La Foresta, located right next to the office of the railway police. We have worked here since 2017, first around and now in our local train station, as a group of actively engaged citizens, freelance educators, researchers in the wild, and change-oriented feral entrepreneurs. In this text, we share three vignettes and the respective key learnings of the collective process of creative and transformative instrastructuring that we are driving in and around the train station of Rovereto, a town with 40,000 inhabitants in the Italian Alps.

In Trento's railway station there are plaques, images and objects that tell the story of the city and its territory. Exploring the station as if it were a museum, however, requires a different intention from that with which one usually frequents the place.

The study presents an analysis of satirical images published during the election campaign in May 1946. Both the National Socialists and the Communists addressed their readers in their party newspapers with humorous images that not only illustrated the main ideas of the political subjects, but also became an important part of the electoral contest. The images mocked current events and political actors in an ironic way and engaged readers directly in the campaign. The party newspapers were not restrained about attacking their opponents and associating them with the tragic events of the Second World War. The objective of the study was to subject the images to a discursive and comparative analysis and to ascertain whether there were similarities in the published drawings during the election campaign that could assist in comprehending the manner in which political communication was conducted at the time.

The phenomenon of motoring represents one of the most significant developments of the 20th century. As a research challenge for historians, it offers a wealth of potential avenues for investigation. The automobile has been shaped by dynamic interactions with broader economic, social, and cultural structures. In the historical sciences in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, motoring has been a marginalized subject for an extended period. At the outset, Czech historiography commenced an investigation into the phenomenon in question. Prior to 1989, however, it was perceived primarily as a technical artefact with its own internal genesis. Over time, the prevailing trends shifted in favour of a more comprehensive integration of the motoring sector within broader socioeconomic, cultural, legislative and political structures. In Slovakia, historical scholarship has gradually begun to address these trends, yet the research into this particular issue remains the exclusive domain of a relatively limited number of scholars. Consequently, a considerable imbalance existed between Czech and Slovak historiography, and this remains the case to this day. The objective of this study is to analyse the initial state and the subsequent shift in the interpretive frameworks of research into the history of motoring in Czech and Slovak historiography. Another objective is to identify and illustrate the aforementioned shifts in the perception and interpretation of motoring, utilising illustrative examples of key works in the Czech-Slovak comparative context.

The paper focuses on the work of historical sociology professor Siniša Maleševič and his findings in the field of organised violence, especially genocide. Maleševič identified three main long-term historical processes responsible for emergence of special societal conditions that enabled a rise of genocides. The article discusses Maleševič’s approach to the study of violence, the role of the long-term historical processes triad in relation to the most extreme form of organised violence – genocide, and finally offers a detailed explanation of Maleševič’s theory supplemented by a graphic scheme. The article also compares the author’s claims with the arguments of other leading researchers in the field of violence and genocide research.

The paper focuses on a hitherto untapped source of a subjective nature, which is on the borderline between private and institutionally requested provenance. Two manuscript memoirs of Emil Kellner, a long-time railway employee, can be found in the State Regional Archive in Prague within the fund of České dráhy, a. s., Prague [Czech Railways, JSC]. They were written in 1954 and 1955 at the instigation of the Railway Archive and the Ministry of Railways. They cover the period from the last third of the 19th century with gaps until 1941. The memoirs provide some interesting facts that were not previously known or, on the contrary, confirm some things already known. The memoirs give an insight into the (everyday), routine life on the railway. The characteristics of the employees and their fates, not excluding the social dimension, are extremely interesting. The memoirs also provide details of dealings with superiors (requests, personal presentations, interventions, patronage, visits to railway management in Vienna or Prague) and transcribed documents (correspondence) depicting railway administration during the monarchy.

The paper introduces sound studies as a field of interdisciplinary historical research and demonstrates how the history of sound and hearing can be explored in the historical record, using the example of the early Calvinist Reformation in Geneva. It argues that hearing difficulties were the central theme of early Calvinism that significantly shaped the character of its religious and material culture, and proposes to study the Reformation as a process of systematically creating a new culture of attentive listening. It shows that the Calvinist Reformation played an active role in constructing historical categories such as deafness as well as in defining distinctions between good and bad hearing and sound, contributing to the broadly defined history of acoustics.

Book review on Josephine Quinne: How the World Made the West: A 4000-Year History

Editorial

Utilising the early modern witchcraft prosecutions as historical evidence, this article proposes a reconfiguration of Norbert Elias’ theory of The Civilizing Process to include ‘religious de-centralisation’ as a necessary ‘third pillar’ within long-term European development. It is argued that, given the significance of the medieval church and the threat to monarchical power posed by that same institution, decentralising organised religion from the functioning of the state was required in order to allow state formation to proceed. This is evidenced by the early modern recategorization of ‘magic’ as witchcraft and the resulting extension of state jurisdiction into the prosecution of witches to the disadvantage of the church courts.

This paper focuses on the concept of figuration, which was an innovation of Norbert Elias, from the standpoint of sociological theory. Among today’s followers of this approach to sociology, considerable emphasis is placed on the explanatory potential of this concept, reflected, among other things, in Elias’s processual approach to the investigation and explanation of social reality being referred to as “sociology of figurations” (Figurationsoziologie). The author of this contribution considers the content of the concept in a systematic way to present its strengths and weaknesses. This is done by confronting figuration with the dilemmas and antinomies that sociological thinking traditionally encounters, assessing it from the perspective of: a) positivism and antipositivism, b) statics and dynamics, c) individualism and holism, d) consensus and conflict, e) micro and macro perspectives, f) the relationship between spirit and matter, g) social masses and great historical personalities. The contribution concludes by stating the necessity to additionally think about discussions and aspects of the concept of figuration that its creator did not catch or clarify sufficiently.