The significance of human capital for sustainable development has become a key area of research, especially in the context of regional disparities. The study contributes new knowledge by revealing statistically measurable links between the level of human capital development and the degree of achievement of sustainable development goals at the regional level. The main goal of this paper is to assess the impact of human capital on sustainable development across all 16 voivodeships in Poland, analysing the social, economic, and environmental dimensions. To provide a more comprehensive understanding, typological analyses were also conducted to classify regions based on synthetic indicators of human capital and sustainable development. Using cross-sectional data from 2022 provided by Statistics Poland, we employed partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to examine the structural relationships. Our results reveal a strong and statistically significant positive relationship between human capital and sustainable development (path coefficient = 0.875, p < 0.001). The social (loading = 0.912) and economic (loading = 0.884) dimensions strongly, positively reflect the sustainability construct, while the environmental dimension exhibits a moderately negative loading (–0.678), indicating possible trade-offs in policy priorities. The findings highlight regional variation, with Mazowieckie, Małopolskie, Dolnośląskie, and Pomorskie achieving the highest scores, and Lubuskie performing the lowest across both human capital and sustainability categories. This study contributes novel insights by applying a hierarchical PLS-SEM model and offering a regionally comparative typology. It underscores the importance of tailoring environmental policies to specific regional contexts to ensure that investments in human capital do not undermine ecological sustainability.
Michał Napierała, Karol Dawid Mrozik, Barbara Kęsicka
In the context of growing water scarity in agriculture the harvesting of rainwater from livestock buildings could be seen as a new opportunity. Based on the National Agricultural Census (2020), rainfall data (1991-2020) and the opportunity and investment costs related to the installation purchase, a prognostic analysis was conducted. The analysis revealed the immense potential of farms for rainwater collection. In Poland there are 201,980 cowsheds, 65,088 pigsties and 96,435 poultry houses, representing a total area of 8,820 ha, which allows additionally to retain over 41 million m3 of water per year. This amount will cover only 15% of the livestock total water demand. It should be noted that the average economic efficiency (EF) value for the entire country was 81.6%, and the differences in the analyzed animal groups reached a moderate level (CV=14.7%±0.1 depending on the groups). The unit price of tap water was the main determinant of the highest EF of investment in rainwater harvesting (RWH) in particular voivodeships.
This article examines the potential for integrating wind energy into the development of smart cities in Poland. The analysis combines a synthetic measure of smart city potential, a wind energy availability index, and GIS-based spatial analysis, drawing on data from the Central Statistical Office (GUS) and the Energy Regulatory Office (URE). The study offers a novel contribution by linking renewable energy planning with the spatial dynamics of urban transformation. A central focus is placed on inter-municipal cooperation, particularly between rural municipalities hosting wind farms and urban centres, supported by Integrated Territorial Investment (ZIT) mechanisms. Such collaboration could facilitate the incorporation of wind energy into urban energy strategies. The study identifies key challenges, including insufficient wind potential near cities, high energy transmission costs, and limited spatial availability. While wind power is predominantly generated in northern regions—particularly along the Baltic coast—southern urban areas also receive this energy, albeit at a higher cost. The potential for smart city development is regionally differentiated: northern and western cities may benefit from smart energy infrastructure, whereas southern regions might prioritise solar or nuclear energy and focus on governance or quality of life enhancements. Ultimately, the research underscores the role of wind energy in advancing sustainable urban development and advocates for region-specific, cooperative approaches to support the smart transformation of Polish cities.
Justyna Kozłowska, Katarzyna Czerewacz-Filipowicz, Luiza Kostecka-Tomaszewska
The ongoing transformation of the European energy landscape reflects a multidimensional shift toward sustainability, resilience, and decentralization. This study examines the relationship between changes in the energy mix, energy self-sufficiency, and the development of energy communities (ECs) across five EU countries: Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, and Greece. A hybrid methodology is applied, combining a systematic literature review, statistical analysis of national energy mixes (2015–2024), and an expert-based Delphi foresight study. The findings indicate that regulatory stability, civic participation, and institutional learning are key enablers of EC development, while fragmented regulations, limited local competences, and infrastructure gaps remain major barriers. Comparative analysis shows that ECs in Germany and Italy have reached higher maturity levels, whereas Greece and Spain represent emerging community-based models, and Poland remains in an early experimental phase. The study’s originality lies in integrating technical, institutional, and social dimensions to assess EC maturity in Europe’s energy transition.
Sylwia Pangsy-Kania, Justyna Biegańska, Floros Flouros
et al.
Energy consumption depends strongly on weather conditions. Thus, to formulate energy-related policy goals, it is crucial to monitor changes related to the heating degree days (HDD) and cooling degree days (CDD) – widely applied indicators of climate change. The study investigated the impact that climate change (global warming) exerted on the number of HDD and CDD, as well as the weather-related final energy consumption of the European households (EU-27 and Norway), based on data derived from Eurostat for the period 1979-2021. The results indicate that the changes in HDD and CDD constituted non-linear functions of the country’s average temperature, with the largest percentage changes observed in the warmest (in the case of HDD) and the coldest (in the case of CDD) portion of European countries. As indicated by estimations based on first-difference linear regression models, climate change has contributed so far to the net decrease in weather-related energy consumption of households.
The paper aims to confront consumers’ and businesses’ perspectives on the circular economy (CE) R-strategies' and to indicate the level of their implementation in value co-creation. The analysis are based on empirical studies conducted among companies and consumers in Poland in 2022 and 2023. The results indicate the initial stage of implementing the R-strategies among both groups. This demonstrates the continued need for their dissemination. Moreover, the actions taken by companies and consumers are only partially in line. Despite its great potential, the value co-creation process seems underestimated. The CE transition requires reconfiguring the activities carried out in companies in the offered value proposition, carrying out the company's processes and relations with external stakeholders, organising business architecture and its environment, and adjusting the company's individual functions and activities. However, before all, the companies must include consumers in planning R-strategies.
El derelicte Deltebre I, descobert de forma casual l’any 2008 proper a la desembocadura de l’Ebre, vas ser objecte d’excavació en extensió per part del Centre d’Arqueologia Subaquàtica de Catalunya entre els anys 2009 i 2016. El fet que poc després de l’enfonsament quedés colgat pel sediment va generar que les restes quedessin protegides i en un estat excepcional de conservació.
El seu estudi ha permès conèixer que es tracta d’un vaixell de transport de munició i pertrets militars que s’enfonsà l’any 1813, en el context de la Guerra del Francès, juntament amb 3 transports més. Formava part del comboi aliat que es trobava navegant de retorn a Alacant després d’una operació amfíbia fallida per assetjar la ciutat de Tarragona.
El present treball és la conjunció de la recerca arqueològica juntament amb l’estudi de les nombroses fonts històriques de l’època, amb l’objectiu d’intentar dilucidar la identitat del derelicte Deltebre I.
Education for sustainable development is still developing as a broad and comprehensive concept that includes related content on the environment, economy and society. Key issues of sustainable development include, among others, economic issues, production and consumption models, natural resource management, environmental protection, development models, poverty reduction, civic rights, democracy, governance etc. These issues are very diverse and require a holistic approach to teaching. The objective of this article is to diagnose and evaluate the current state of education for sustainable development in Polish higher education institutions, with particular emphasis on the EU in Katowice and to identify the directions of change. This article was written based on the Authors’ many years of scientific and teaching experience. It was also supported by a survey conducted in the year 2020/2021 among the students at the University of Economics in Katowice, which allowed them to identify directions for future educational activities.
Adriana Dowbysz, Bożena Kukfisz, Mariola Samsonowicz
et al.
The aim of this study is to assess the environmental performance of the manufacturing process of glass/polyester laminates as well as estimate their fire behaviour and smoke release. The Life Cycle Assessment was conducted according to the ISO14040/44 standard by using the CML-IA 2000 Baseline Midpoint method. The cone calorimeter study was conducted using a cone calorimeter method according to ISO 5660. The tests were performed under 25 kW/m2 heat flux 50 kW/m2. The results showed that according to the requirements of the Fire Test Procedure (FTP) Code examined, laminates in this form cannot be used in some applications. The LCA study showed that the highest impact is attributed to marine aquatic ecotoxicity (88.3%), with the highest contribution of the unsaturated polyester resin and the glass fibre.
There is no detailed legal regulation, which directly refers to nature conservation in context of use of
nanotechnologies. European Commission is fi nalizing the few years long review, assessing the adequacy of EU
legislative framework including the nature conservaion laws to the use of nanomaterials. In 2012 European
Commission has fi nished the second regulations review in fi eld of nanomaterials, proposing legal actions and
approved the need of using unifi ed defi nition of nanomaterial. “Precautionary principle” forms the basis for all
environmental directives that are under consideration or have been issued by the EC
Today, waste is a source of raw material and energy that can be recovered. Economic value of waste results in the formation of informal groups of pickers appropriating material waste in developing countries. These types of situations are analysing in the literature. Using Ostrom's SES analytical framework, the authors show that municipal waste in developing countries can be treated as a common good (CPR). The aim of this paper is to answer the question: whether municipal waste in developed countries, can be treated this way, although here the activities of informal collectors are marginal. The analysis also uses the analytical scheme of Ostrom’s SES. However, due to the different organization of the waste management system in developed countries, the individual elements of the scheme were defined differently than in the literature. This resulted in a different schema of municipal waste as a common good. This approach allows the schema to be applied both locally and more broadly and to all types of municipal waste, not just material waste.
This article analyze on how nationalism which is product of nineteenth century in Europe can be revitalized in facing the challenge of globalization. In Indonesian context, this issue is very urgent to be discussed considering the fact that the process of globalization tends to be confronted with the spirit of nationalism. Sometime nationalism is viewed as an obsolete tradition that should be revitalized. But there are still many people who believe that nationalism is still indispensable in the face of an increasing wave of globalization. However nationalism must be revitalized in order to be able to face the challenge of globalization.For this purpose, it is very interesting to strengthen the spirit of nationalism by revitalizing it for improving the nation competitiveness in facing the expansion of globalization. The questions are in what wayscouldnationalismbe revitalizedinorder to improve thenationcompetitivenesstoface theglobal competition?In addition, the fundamentalquestionto be askediswhydoes Indonesiannationalismneed to be revitalized? What is wrongwithIndonesiannationalism?IfIndonesiannationalismcan berevitalized, howis it done?Those are set of questionsthatwill bediscussedin thispaper.
One of the areas using the supply function of surface water ecosystems is agriculture. In the case of a lack of a sufficient amount of water for plants, it is necessary to supplement this amount through irrigation of agricultural land i.e. using the ecosystem service – water collection. The aim of this article is to determine the surface water ecosystem services connected to water collection for irrigation of agricultural land in the area of Podlaskie voivodship and to present a method for estimating the requirements for such services as a tool for water management within municipalities.