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Social work (SW) is criticized for its (i) inconsistent ontology, epistemology, and methodology and (ii) co-dependency with the capitalist hegemony, which is the main cause of multiple crises that primarily affect the most vulnerable. Addressing these issues is of paramount importance if SW is to achieve its core mandate of promoting social change, social development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people. The purpose of this paper is to assert that SW can address these issues by learning from the (i) Settlement House Movement (SHM), especially the Hull-House tradition of SW; and (ii) current endeavors of the Social Solidarity Economy (SSE). We were led to this assertion because we noticed in our research, in the area of SSE of vulnerable groups and SW, remarkable similarities and potentials of these two approaches to help transform SW. Our argument is based on data and insight gained from (i) a narrative literature review on the history of SW and the nature of SSE; and (ii) a systematic scoping review of the SSE of People of African Descent (PAD) in Europe. In this paper, we elaborate on our key arguments and provide examples and recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One quarter of global energy consumption goes towards meeting transport needs. In Europe, the share of energy for transport is much higher and accounts for about a third. Therefore, it is very important to monitor the sustainable development and progress of the sector. This paper seeks to develop a framework for the sustainability assessment of road transport in EU countries and to evaluate the countries' achievements in the last decade. The research adheres to the provision that the developed framework should be easily applied in future studies. Therefore, significant attention is paid to the selection of indicators and their availability, as well as the selection of the research instrument itself. The multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) technique TOPSIS has been applied for calculations and countries' ranking, in order to compare countries' achievements in the last decade (2010–2020). The last ten years' analysis allows us to identify the direction of individual countries in developing road transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When we talk about Space, our interlocutors think about planets, stars, asteroids, astronauts and, sometimes satellites. But, only a small percentage is aware of what satellite technology can do and the relevance of satellite applications in our everyday life. From satellite communication, to navigation and to earth imagery, satellites data and technology are contributing in improving our daily life, or businesses or helping the management of our cities. Often, the end users come across an obstacle in communicating their needs to the service providers. On the other side, the service providers themselves are not fully aware how to communicate with the end-users. In some cases, this lack of communication makes difficult to meet the demand of space applications from the user side with the supply from the service providers. Eurisy, an association of space agencies established thirty years ago, works to put the end users at the core of the space value chain. In this last decades, Eurisy has been attentive and responsive to the changes of the space sector trying to picture how end users are becoming familiar with space technology. In particular, how the democratisation of space is turning space, especially satellite technology, into an enabler to guarantee the development of a sustainable living, accessible to everyone. Eurisy recently started a review of the case studies collected over the last ten years thanks to direct testimonials, event and conferences, publications and surveys. The user-centred approach adopted is innovative in the space sector and over the years proved to be effective in connecting users and service providers in different contexts. The paper aims at: 1- Identifying challenges and barriers that characterise the relations between service and/or information providers and end users. 2- Analysing the changes occurred in the relations between end users and service providers from 2007 to date in Europe. 3- Presenting the reasons that motivates the use of satellite data and technologies and which of these is the most used. 4- Presenting Eurisy's approach as an applicable model outside the European borders and the benefits deriving from connecting space and society. Furthermore, the paper will briefly present the ongoing activities as examples of the work put in place by the organisation and how the user-centred approach is applied. • The so-called democratisation of space has consequences on the downstream sector. • End users are mostly local and regional public authorities. • Central Europe seems to be the most fertile area where to find use cases. • The main technology adopted is Satellite Navigation. SatComs are not common. • Eurisy works putting the end-users central in the space value chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU has committed to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Reaching this objective requires massive changes in the region. The biggest challenge is that the green transition happens without sacrificing economic progress and guaranteeing justice and inclusiveness. This pledge implies that every country be capable of addressing the trade-offs between targets while remaining committed towards the common decarbonisation goal. Our paper analyses the success with which countries are carrying out the energy transition. We propose an enhanced hyperbolic distance function and a stochastic frontier analysis approach to model the joint attainment of economic development, environmental sustainability, and energy equity. We apply our model to an unbalanced panel dataset of 29 European countries for the period 2005–2018. Our estimates show that the average performance of the economies has improved over time. The results also highlight the pivotal role of a sustainable economic development with clean energies for both slashing CO 2 emissions and fostering energy equity. Moreover, we find convergence in countries' performance, being this convergence slightly higher for the EU-15 countries compared to the rest. Finally, we show that a higher share of renewable energy sources helps countries that are lagging behind to reach their optimal performance level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been consolidated as a fundamental pillar of the new model of competitiveness and sustainable development of territories. However, there has still not been sufficient in-depth study of the role that geographical proximity plays in the digital inequalities that affect regional competitiveness. In this context, this paper aims to identify and characterise the clusters and patterns that define the spatial behaviour of ICT access and usage variables at household and individual level in the Technology Readiness (TR) pillar of the Regional Competitiveness Index (RCI). A database of 280 NUTS2 has been created in order to perform: i) an exploratory statistical analysis to show the regional behaviour of the ICT variables; and ii) a spatial autocorrelation analysis to detect the presence of spatial dependence. The results at regional level in Europe demonstrate that: i) the greatest inequalities occur in the ICT usage variables and not in those of access; ii) the indicators of TR create a spatial pattern with a gradient from the regions of the extreme north-west to south-western and eastern Europe; and iii) there is evidently an opportunity to incorporate other regional variables of ICT usage for future editions of the RCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of integration and future developments within the European Union (EU) covers the issues of environmental protection, sustainable development and energy efficiency. These issues are becoming a significant part of economic and social development and appear as a factor for assessing the competitiveness of the EU countries. Therefore, this paper focuses on: the implementation of achieving the climate and energy objectives in line with the Europe 2020 Strategy, the environmental sustainability of EU countries under the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) and the assessment of the competitiveness of the EU countries on the basis of ecological development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2018 European bioeconomy strategy sets a new vision for Europe's sustainable development: a transition to regenerative resource usage that embraces circular principles. Similarly, various member states have developed national bioeconomy strategies. To be effective, such strategies require methodologically sound monitoring tools that support the alignment of national and urban policies. Indeed, cities are central to the bioeconomy, mobilizing ever increasing amounts of biogenic materials. To better understand the suitability of national bioeconomy strategies for guiding urban circular bioeconomy transitions, this paper examines the composition, features, and topical coverage of national bioeconomy indicator sets with a threefold analysis: (1) assessment of the integration of circularity principles in the sets and their alignment with existing policy frameworks; (2) appraisal of quality and the fulfillment of the sets' functional purposes; (3) evaluation of the breadth and depth of tackled issues. Of the 27 EU member states, only nine have a dedicated bioeconomy strategy, of which four propose an indicator set. While there is a general lack of sophisticated monitoring, the tools proposed after the publication of the 2018 bioeconomy strategy (Germany and Italy) follow indicator development standards rigorously. They include circularity in their notion of bioeconomy and combine indicators for a comprehensive, substantial, informative and politically relevant analysis. These characteristics strongly improve the potential for alignment and coherence with urban-level bioeconomy monitoring efforts. Although national measuring tools are not intended to cover all urban needs, the findings of this paper give insight into their remaining gaps and highlight improvement pathways for an efficient EU-wide circular bioeconomy transition. [Display omitted] • Most EU national bioeconomy strategies lack sophisticated indicator sets. • National bioeconomy strategies should favor alignment with other policy levels. • Thoroughly developed indicator sets allow targeted answers to environmental change. • Recent strategies follow indicator development standards more rigorously. • Recent indicator sets enable monitoring of urban circular bioeconomy transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a systematic literature review of how market-based instruments can influence the development of sustainable innovation. Our analysis of empirical papers published in selected peer-reviewed journals from 1992 to 2021 shows that contextual factors such as geography and industrial sector impact whether market-based instruments successfully stimulate firms to adopt sustainable innovation. Interestingly, while most of our selected papers on East Asia report positive effects of market-based instruments, about half of the papers on Europe report negative or non-significant effects. Moreover, we appear to uncover a link between the research method they use for analysis and the observed effectiveness of market-based instruments. We reflect on the limitations and bias in current methodological approaches and discuss explanations for our findings, implications for policymakers, and avenues for future research. • We review the effect of market-based instruments on sustainable innovation. • Results from 76 empirical papers show mixed effects. • The observed effect appears to depend on geography and the research method applied. • Instruments appear more effective in East Asia than in Europe. • Reported effectiveness is higher in studies using patent data versus surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

End-of-life vehicles (ELV) represent a relevant waste source in Europe, even if ELV recycling is a priority of the European Union waste legislation and Environment Action Programmes (EAPs). End-of-Life Tires (ELTs) constitute a relevant portion of ELV waste. Textile fibre, which is a relevant portion of the ELT material, is considered as a special waste (European Waste Catalogue – EWC code 19.12.08). The main problem related to textile fibre is its contamination with rubber which does not allow to obtain a pure product economically and qualitatively useable. The aim of this paper is to illustrate an innovative technology for ELT fibre's recycling, which allows to transform textile fibre into a useful secondary raw material for different applications. In particular, the use of ELT fibre as additive for bituminous conglomerates has been investigated. The different processes have been analysed from an environmental point of view, applying the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. It came up there is an impact reduction in case the ELT fibre is reused as additive for bituminous conglomerates, instead of disposing it (through incineration). Moreover, the financial and economic sustainability of the related technological process has been evaluated to check whether the process is sustainable in the long term. Starting from the results of the Life Cycle Assessment, economic performance indicators have been calculated, by applying the European Commission methodology for cost-benefit analysis. According to the present cost-benefit analysis, in the medium and long term the system is financially viable, and the high economic profitability makes the process economically sustainable. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis as well as a risk assessment have been carried out in order to identify critical variables, evaluate risks and define risk mitigation measures. According to the sensitivity analysis performed, the project is not highly risky since even in the worst scenario the possible loss is moderate. Based on the results of this analysis, it can be concluded that this ELT fibre's recycling system can be replicated across Europe, conveniently fostered by national policies (such as subsidies, value added tax etc.). • A crucial technological add-on to existing installations is illustrated. • The aim is to transform ELT textile fibre into a useful secondary raw material for different applications. • ELT fibre's reuse presents a reduced environmental impact in comparison to the fibre's incineration. • The high economic profitability makes this recycling system economically sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the technological advance in electricity generation techniques and the prevailing need for sustainable development of countries, the massive use of alternative energies has been in force for the last 15 years, with clear goals towards 2020 for sustainable development. At the regulatory level, Colombia cannot be left behind in the regulation, and progress has already been made on the subject with law 1715 of 2014 and several decrees of incentives in the promotion of renewable energies. The objective of this paper is to show the state of the art on the way in which the net balance and residential energy self-consumption by DER is handled by several tax regulations in different countries of Europe; moreover, it will also go into detail about the advantages offered by using a selected methodology to consider fair charges of support for the use of the electrical network by generators distributed from photovoltaic solar energy, all this as a contribution to advances already made in this field. This is provided from a network planning approach, in which a long-term methodology is selected that efficiently integrates the distributed generation into the interconnected system and allows transition periods in its implementation to avoid disruption of network operators (ORs). Likewise, this analysis is supported by the simulated operation of a system with DER together with the changes in load flows due to decongestion and surplus injection that the electric system has in the scenario of massive use of these resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the data collected through a survey which examined attitudes of participants in the costal maritime traffic of the Republic of Croatia on the introduction of electric ships in the system. Croatia has one of the most indented coastlines in Europe and the world, and 2.92% of its total population lives just on the islands. An important factor for the life of the island's population and sustainable development of the island is certainly public traffic in the coastal maritime traffic services which includes 51 state line and serviced by 14 shipping companies with 77 ships. Permanent and regular lines between the islands and mainland and between the islands is essential for sustainable development of the islands, but it must not ignore the negative impact of maritime traffic on the environment. Croatian's strategic goal is safe and environmentally sustainable maritime traffic and space which includes an active change in the system of the the coastal maritime traffic. A prerequisite change is to raise awareness about the environment and causes of pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the economic crisis that started in the United States in 2007, economic growth has become of great importance for the countries affected by the crisis further to their confrontation with lower growth rates of GDP per capita. At national level, governments are searching for that mix of optimal economic policies that would revive economies on the upward and also sustainable trend. One of the key policies in this regard, especially for the countries in Central and Eastern Europe which intend to adopt the euro currency, is the tax policy. Its main instruments are taxes. In this paper, we pay special attention to these instruments and to the connection that they have with the economic growth. This paper is divided into three parts. The first part presents a few ideas related to the importance of taxes at national level, the second part is an analysis in terms of taxation of the Central and Eastern Europe countries, while the third part consists of a panel-type assessment of the relation between economic growth and taxation level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development as a concept that aims to enhance the quality of life without affecting environment has been in focus in European policies since the last decade of 20th century. The objectives of EU Sustainable Development Strategy (EU SDS) are grouped into ten thematic areas, where almost each theme has at least one headline and several operational sustainable development indicators (SDIs). A large number of SDIs is needed to evaluate all EU SDS goals, which imposes the use of multivariate data mining techniques. This paper presents an empirical study carried out to assess the sustainability performance of European countries using the differential multi criteria analysis (DMCA) technique. The PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organization MeTHod for Enrichment Evaluations) was applied on 38 headline and operational SDIs defined under the EU SDS. This DMCA was applied to 30 European countries over a 10-year period (2004–2014) with the aim to determine the theme specific, as well as, overall sustainability progress. The DMCA reveals that the majority of European countries have made progress in sustainability in the studied period, where Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary and Sweden, have enhanced their sustainability performance concerning all themes. There are only two countries, namely Greece and Ireland, which have not made overall progress in this period. Also, above the average progress has been made concerning social inclusion, sustainable transport, and climate change and energy, while in all other themes additional efforts should be made in order to ensure sustainable performance progress in future years. Although the progress in reducing uneven development between EU members has been made, after 2009 a positive trend can be observed only in a limited number of SDS themes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union Regions of Development are characterized by substantial social, economic, and territorial disparities. There also recorded large economic disparities between rural and urban areas. The Romanian rural areas includes: 2860 communes, 12,956 villages, representing around 90% of the Romanian territory and 45 % of its population. It has the main agricultural and forestry resources and over 9.6 million inhabitants. Of these, 506 communes and 2414 villages are located in the 6 counties of The North East Region of Development, one of the poorest regions of development within European Union. This paper is focused on the regional development issues in the rural areas of this region and is aimed to evaluate the resources that haven't been enough capitalized in this region and to indentify solutions to improve the socio- economic situation in the next years, through a balanced development strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction and adoption of green technologies are considered the most cost effective way to reduce environmental pressure without compromising economic competitiveness. The scientific literature has emphasized the crucial role played by diffusion pathways of green technologies along the supply value chain, but empirical quantitative findings on the effectiveness of green technologies in improving environmental performance are scarce. The objective of this paper is to highlight the role of inter-sectoral linkages in shaping the influence played by eco-innovations on sectoral environmental performance. Empirical findings show that both the direct and indirect effects of eco-innovations help reducing environmental stress and that the strength of these impacts varies across the value chain depending on the technology adopted and the type of pollutant under scrutiny. The main implications we can deduce are that, first both corporate and policy governance strategies should specifically address the goal of maximizing environmental gains that can be achieved through the development and adoption of clean technologies along the supply chain, and second both strategies should be coordinated in order to minimize the costs for reducing environmental pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development has become one of the burning issues on a global, local and individual levels as a result of climate changes, pollution, rapid development and changes in the global information, economic, industrial and business sectors and value systems. In this sense, education for sustainable development, as part of lifelong learning, has become one of the most important strategic and educational policy issues in Serbia. The aim of this paper is to highlight the potential of geography as a school subject, with special reference to the role of the subject matter of geoheritage and geodiversity in education for sustainable development. The aim of pointing the benefits of integrated and out-of-classroom approaches in teaching geography, which favour an active, experiential and exploratory approach to learning about geodiversity and geoheritage, is that students can acquire competencies in sustainable development. As outcomes of geography classes, competencies also represent a basis for raising awareness and increasing accountability and responsibility in individuals for preserving geoheritage and geodiversity as part of the Serbian national treasure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a point of view regarding nowadays global and European context and of relevant institutions involved in providing sustainable development. The analysis of different models gives the future trends of sustainable development, from my point of view. The main question of the paper is to find out whether the new economy creates sustainable development in the regions. The problems we face are complex and serious - and we can't address them in the same way we created them. But we can address them. What kind of Europe do we want - for ourselves and for future generations? The research included a literature review of sustainable development, some interpretations of the SD and the EU instruments, the mechanism and the impact of some instruments on the sustainable development of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in traffic, freight and passengers has led to an overload of road routes that were no longer able to absorb the growing amount of traffic, and this resulted in unexpected problems related to traffic jams, increased costs and environmental pollution. It was very important to find a suitable alternative that would fully meet all users' criteria and would be able to follow current and future economic expansions, increase in trade and population growth. As a possible solution, the European Union proposed a program of short sea shipping connections, which represents a certain type of innovation. Its aim is to unburden the overloaded road routes and offer sea routes as an alternative. On its path of development the implementation of the program meets many obstacles. Firstly, it is necessary to identify these obstacles, and then to remove them, in order to enable faster and better progress. Therefore, this paper gives a special attention to identifying obstacles that impede the implementation of short sea shipping connection in developed countries of the European Union, and also in the Republic of Croatia. The paper also presents a part of the 'Motorways of the Sea' program, which refers to the introduction of a new intermodal logistics chain, based on ship transport, which should bring structural changes into the organization of European transport. Thus allow for successful functioning of the short sea shipping connections and overcoming the obstacles which impede its implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Urban sprawl (dispersed urban development) has increased at alarming rates in Europe and North America over the last 50 years. Quantitative data are urgently needed in monitoring systems for sustainable development. However, there is a lack of reliable measures of urban sprawl that take into account the spatial configuration of the urban areas (not just total amount). This paper introduces four new measures of urban sprawl: degree of urban dispersion (DIS), total sprawl (TS), degree of urban permeation of the landscape (UP), and sprawl per capita (SPC). They characterize urban sprawl from a geometric point of view. The measures are related through TS = DIS ×urban area, UP = TS/size of the landscape studied, and SPC = TS/number of inhabitants. The paper investigates the properties of the new measures systematically using 13 suitability criteria which were derived from a clear definition of urban sprawl as discussed in a previous paper. The scale of analysis is specified by the so-called horizon of perception. Second, the new measures are applied to three examples from Switzerland. Subsequently, the measures are briefly compared to other measures of urban sprawl from the literature. We demonstrate that UP is an intensive and area-proportionately additive measure and is suitable for comparing urban sprawl among regions of differing size, while SPC is most appropriate when comparing sprawl in relation to human population density. The paper also provides practical advice for calculating the new measures. We conclude that the new method is more suitable than previous methods to quantify the indicator “urban sprawl” in monitoring systems as this method distinguishes the phenomenon of urban sprawl from its various causes and consequences. This article is part II of a set of two papers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the future liquid biofuels will need to be renewable, sustainable, as well as technically and economically viable. This paper provides an overview of the challenges that the biochemical production of cellulosic ethanol process still faces. The main emphasis of the paper is on challenges that emerge from the scale of liquid biofuel production. These challenges include raw material availability, other consumables, and side stream handling. The pretreatment, C5 fermentation, and concentration of sugars in processing need improvements, too. Sustainability issues and greenhouse gas reduction also pose a challenge for implementation and require development of internationally recognized sustainability principles and standards, and certification of sustainable operation. Economics of cellulosic ethanol processes are still also an area under development and debate. Yet, the Energy Independence and Security Act mandate together with the European Union Renewable Energy Directive and other local targets are driving the development and implementation forward towards more significant contribution of biofuels in the transportation sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the LEADER+ programme and on the work carried out supporting rural communities in EU countries under the LEADER+ programme. This is a programme that supports development in particularly vulnerable rural regions of the European countries that are members of the EU. It supports creative and innovative projects that can contribute to long-term and sustainable development in these regions. In this paper, we will focus on three specific areas: networking, facilitation of groups, and information and communication technologies. Some case studies are shortly described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrative forest management approaches, aiming to combine the provision of multiple forest ecosystem services in the same forest area, are popular forest management concepts in Europe. Their understanding and application varies, however, across the continent. This paper looks at one dimension of integrative forest management approaches in particular – the integration of nature conservation measures into forest management; focusing on its understanding and application, as well as current and future social, technological, ecological, economic and political factors enabling or hampering this integration. Drawing on 42 qualitative in-depth interviews with national experts and forest practitioners, our study provides insights into the integration of nature conservation measures into forest management systems aimed at wood production and the provision of other forest ecosystem services under various conditions. Across the investigated countries, the main factors perceived to facilitate this integration are the personal motivations and knowledge of forest managers and their long-term economic thinking related to the resilience of the forest in the face of climate and societal change. In turn, the main factors perceived as hampering the integration are current wood-market demands, and a lack of (public) financial incentives. Public pressure is also perceived as an important influencing factor, which can both impede or support integration. Other ambiguous factors include societal knowledge and related knowledge gaps, relationships between local stakeholders, and the legal framework in which forest management operates. The study concludes with suggestions of how to enhance the uptake of the integration of nature conservation measures into forest management in Europe. • Societal pressure seen as an important driver for integrative approaches. • Societal pressure perceived to impact both uptake and method of conservation measures. • Intrinsic motivation of foresters and economic sustainability support measure uptake. • The wood market and lack of public finances hamper the integration of nature conservation. • Tension between uptake of integrative approaches and economic goals reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the risk transmissions across the green economy indices of three major regions which include US, Europe and Asia. The econometric analyses are conducted using DCC-GARCH and TVP-VAR connectedness approach to evaluate potential spillover effects within the context of oil and gold. Results indicate that green economy indices of US-Europe exhibit the greatest time-varying correlations among the three pairs during much of 2010–2022 consistent with that of the general equity market. However, co-movements during the COVID-19 pandemic period seem to display a change in pattern for green economy indices. The strength of the co-movements between the US and Europe displayed a declining trend, while that between US and Asia was strengthened, suggesting greater interdependence between these two markets. TVP-VAR connectedness analysis revealed that US and Europe dominate the transmission of the shocks across the years in the green economy, similar to that of the equity markets. However, during the pandemic a pronounced shift occurred in green economies when considering the risk transmissions within the context of commodities: oil and gold. While Asian green economy index was persistently a receiver of risk transmission from oil unlike the other two regions, since pandemic, oil displayed an asymmetric effect and has become the net transmitter of risk in negative returns of the green economies of US and Europe. This may reflect the diversion in environmental policies of the two regions in the recent past, and point to the dominance of energy sector in the green economy. These findings have substantial implications for the development of green economy policies and from an investment perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the risk transmissions across the green economy indices of three major regions which include US, Europe and Asia. The econometric analyses are conducted using DCC-GARCH and TVP-VAR connectedness approach to evaluate potential spillover effects within the context of oil and gold. Results indicate that green economy indices of US-Europe exhibit the greatest time-varying correlations among the three pairs during much of 2010–2022 consistent with that of the general equity market. However, co-movements during the COVID-19 pandemic period seem to display a change in pattern for green economy indices. The strength of the co-movements between the US and Europe displayed a declining trend, while that between US and Asia was strengthened, suggesting greater interdependence between these two markets. TVP-VAR connectedness analysis revealed that US and Europe dominate the transmission of the shocks across the years in the green economy, similar to that of the equity markets. However, during the pandemic a pronounced shift occurred in green economies when considering the risk transmissions within the context of commodities: oil and gold. While Asian green economy index was persistently a receiver of risk transmission from oil unlike the other two regions, since pandemic, oil displayed an asymmetric effect and has become the net transmitter of risk in negative returns of the green economies of US and Europe. This may reflect the diversion in environmental policies of the two regions in the recent past, and point to the dominance of energy sector in the green economy. These findings have substantial implications for the development of green economy policies and from an investment perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, emphasis is placed on the complexity of rural-urban relations and their reflection on the important socio-geographical processes, from de-agrarian and migration to the creation of new settlements and strengthening nodality individual centres. A clear polarization in urban and rural areas is more difficult due to the lack of adequate statistical indicators or deployment of institutions with different degree of importance, population density and distance from major city, providing sufficiently clear evidence of the degree of urbanity of local communities. This can be best seen in the Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) which is sparsely populated country with an average of 74 inhabitants/km2. Since there is a clear correlation between this indicator and sustainable development, increasing urbanization rates, which can stimulate economic growth and reduce poverty, is set as the primary social objective. Many developing countries looking for a way better governance of rural-urban relations, as one of the elements of inclusive growth, as a crucial element in the development of any society through innovation (industry) and harmonious territorial relations (urban-rural). Since BiH has a negative historical heritage but also unfavourable indicators of the degree of urbanization (40%), macroeconomic stability (29% of the GDP of the EU average) and the degree of innovation (44% compared to Switzerland) it is clear that should be analyzed and rural-urban relations as one of the signposts along the way of creating a better and healthier society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the long-run relationship between venture capital investment and per capita economic growth in the 19 European Economic Area (EEA) countries for the period 1989-2014. We use three different indicators of venture capital (VC) investment, namely VC at early stage investment, VC at later stage investment, and VC total investment. Using cointegration technique, the study warrants the support of long-run relationship between VC investment and per capita economic growth in a few cases, typically with reference to a particular VC indicator and per capita economic growth we use. Using vector auto-regressive (VAR) model for testing the Granger causalities, the study acknowledges mixed evidence of the relationship between the venture capital investment and per capita economic growth in the selected EEA countries, both by individual country and at the panel setting. In some instances, venture capital investment leads to per capita economic growth, lending support to supply-leading hypothesis (SLH) of VC investment-growth nexus. In other instances, it is the per capita economic growth that regulates the level of venture capital investment, lending support to demand-following hypothesis (DFH) of VC investmentgrowth nexus. There are also circumstances, where venture capital investment and per capita economic growth are mutually interdependent. That is the situation where both are self-reinforcing and offer support to feedback hypothesis (FBH) of VC investment-growth nexus. In addition, there are also instances, where the venture capital investment and per capita economic growth are independent of each other. This is the situation where both are neutral and offer support to neutrality hypothesis (NLH) of VC investment-growth nexus. To summarize, Granger causality results vary from country to country within the EEA countries, depending upon the type of venture capital investment and per capita economic growth that we use in a particular empirical exploration process. The policy implication of this study is that the economic policies should recognize the differences in the venture capital investment and per capita economic growth in order to maintain sustainable development in these EEA countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities are the main consumers of energy and resources but at the same time are considered as centres for innovation which can provide solutions to unsustainable development. An important concept regarding energy and resource efficiency on the scale of the city and city-region is the compact city. Compact cities and compact urban development are thought to decrease energy and resource demand per capita and increase efficiency. At the same time trade-offs and potential rebound effects of increased resource efficiency question certain achievements of a compact urban structure. This paper reviews aspects of resource and energy efficiency in compact city development in a European context. We conclude that, if the idea of the compact city should have any effect on resource and energy efficiency, accompanying measures have to be implemented, such as e.g. efficient public transport systems to offer alternative travel modes. Also the allocation of efficiency gains due to compact urban development has to be taken into account in order to avoid direct and indirect rebound effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with problematic of sustainable development of rural tourism with particular focus on building revitalization and integration of solar systems. The relevant principles and criteria are established and functional and aesthetic, energetic, economic, social and ecological aspects are considered. The possibilities and effects are presented. Several examples of sustainable building revitalization in Europe in rural tourism are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to explore whether the female share on the boards of directors of companies influences CO2 emissions in both developed and emerging markets. Furthermore, the influence of cultural diversity on the board of directors on CO2 emissions is analysed. A sample of companies belonging to the MSCI and MSCI Emerging Market indices in Europe over ten years (2010–2019) was analysed using regression models with panel data. The results demonstrate that in both developed and developing markets, the ratio of women to men on the board of directors is inversely related to the company's CO2 emissions, which support legitimacy theory in two aspects: it fulfils the right to equality and non-discrimination for women, and it also reduces CO2 emissions. In general, cultural diversity had a negative influence on CO2 emissions. This research is relevant for policymakers and managers seeking to improve sustainability and equality policies in companies. If gender equality in corporate monitoring roles is environmentally beneficial for the planet, legislators will support quota policies. In addition, shareholders will have an incentive to implement gender equality policies, as they will legitimise the company in the eyes of society, which has economic benefits. On a practical level, this work will contribute to achieving gender equality in corporate governance and improve the understanding of factors influencing CO2 emissions to the environment. This study contributes to previous research since it is the first time that developed and emerging countries have been analysed with the same methodology in relation to gender and CO2 emissions. Moreover, this research differentiates between emission-sensitive and insensitive sectors, and it is the only study to carry out a sector-by-sector and a country-by-country analysis. Furthermore, cultural diversity on corporate boards has been scarcely studied so far in relation to CO2 emissions. • Gender diversity on boards of directors is associated to lower CO2 emissions. • Cultural diversity on boards of directors is positively related to CO2 emissions. • Improving gender balances on board of directors is a sustainable strategy. • Gender equality policies on corporate boards favor climate action and life on land. • Legal gender quotas on corporate boards contribute to good health and well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impact of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) on sustainable transport development is indisputable. It can be tested through various methods. The identification and detailed analysis of specific types of ICT solutions, case studies approach or scenarios analysis are examples of perspectives for impact assessment that can lead to the proof that successful applications of ICT solutions entails optimised, more accessible, less resource consuming and less emission intensive transport. The impact of ICTs in travel induction and substitution and resulting decarbonisation effect is difficult to assess isolated from other social, economic and technologic drivers. Financial applicability reflects initial investment cost as well as operation maintenance costs. Organizational feasibility refers primarily to the necessary changes in organisation and conduct of operations created by introduction of ICTs. The social factor results from user and public acceptance or lack of it. User acceptance is combination of many sub factors of which most important are: D2D travel time, D2D travel costs, comfort and convenience, safety and security. The objective of the article is to present the applicability of ICT solutions in passenger transport from the perspective of transport users taking into consideration real case studies from different European background. These case studies were identified as a result of specific selection process in order to receive a complex and differentiated sample. The first element of the selection process was the identification of ICT solutions to be applied in case studies. The next element was the choice of regions corresponding to varied economic and geographic characteristics. In addition, cultural factors have a strong impact on the behaviour of users. The resulting multidimensional factor matrix allows for the selection of best fitting case studies, which have potential to cover most of the ICT applications. Five European settings are selected for in-depth research. Each case represents different geographic, social and economic area, which forms a good European sample across differentiated setups. Case studies are supported by user surveys. Surveys allow for direct answers regarding user attitudes towards proposed ICTs. Based on this approach findings could be reported. The main conclusion is that users in various regions with very different characteristics as to the wealth, GDP levels, geography, and cultural back-grounds represent surprisingly similar attitudes towards ICTs. Specific findings regarding different types of solutions and different type of users are presented in the article. The analysis of selected case studies shows also that they could offer solution to many of transport sector problems including key issues from transport policy agenda: environment, mobility or accessibility. The paper is based on the authors research conducted within COMPASS project (Optimised co-modal passenger transport for reducing carbon emissions, project co-funded by the European Commission within the Seventh Framework Programme). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article aims to analyze the evolution of the LEADER approach from the pilot project stage to the present. The article aims to the stages of the LEADER approach and their particularities from the timid beginnings of LEADER in Europe and emphasize the relevant aspects of this innovative approach: principles, eligible territory, added value. LEADER has emerged as a necessity of rural development policies regarding the objective of their interventions, interventions aimed at revitalizing rural areas and creating jobs. It follows the evolution of the relevant indicators of the LEADER approach in Europe and in Romania such: covered territorial area, allocated amounts. Also, some data are presented to highlight the LEADER financial allocation compared to the rest of the EAFRD budget allocated to that country. For the first stage LEADER the financial allocation was 442 million euros distributed to a number of 217 local action groups, the success of LEADER being proved over time by the increasing financial allocation, the covered area and the number of local action groups, respectively: 9,400 million euros and 2,784 LAGs in Europe in 2014 - 2020. In Romania, there are 239 LAGs that have financial allocation of 563.50 million euros and an eligible territory of 228,754 km². [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The average proximity to urban green is 13 times larger than to non-urban green. • Every European resident has access to non-urban green within 30 km. • 13% of Europe's population has access to both urban and non-urban green. • Within the rural-urban-interface 77% of the population has bad access to green. • 50% of European cities are well-supplied by green outside their boundaries. Improving Green Space Accessibility (GSA) in public spaces in cities and communities reduces disparities among people and fosters sustainable development. However, traditional mapping approaches in cities neglects green spaces in the hinterland and treats the geographical distance as a fixed quantity. This limits conclusions about spatial inequalities in Green Space Accessibility and influences the evaluation of current policies which seek to ensure a high local recreation quality for all residents irrespective of any administrative boundaries. This paper aims to detect spatial inequalities in Green Space Accessibility for urban green (UG) and non-urban green (NUG) across Europe, and reveals the role of the rural-urban interface (RUI). The approach taken here calculates Green Space Accessibility across administrative boundaries, which enables distance to be treated as a flexible variable. The results highlight major inequalities between and within regions and countries. However, unequal Green Space Accessibility for urban green is compensated in most countries by more equal one for non-urban green, which is of particular relevance in the rural-urban interface. The combined perspective on both relative and absolute Green Space Accessibility suggests a new perspective on the rural-urban interface that is critical for equitable green infrastructure planning. This paper concludes that, in order to bridge the urban-rural-divide, monitoring and planning tools that examine the arbitrary use of thresholds and existing administrative boundaries are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable and responsible production and consumption are at the heart of sustainable development, explicitly mentioned as one of the sustainable development goals (SDG12). Life cycle assessment, with its integrated holistic approach, is considered a reference method for the assessment of the environmental impact of production and consumption. This paper presents a study on the environmental impacts of final consumption in Europe in five areas of consumption: food, mobility, housing, household goods, and appliances. Based on the selection of a set of representative products to meet food, mobility, housing, and other consumers' needs, environmental impacts of products are assessed over their full life cycle: from raw material extraction to production, distribution, use, and end-of-life phase. Life cycle inventories of representative products are multiplied by consumption statistics to assess the impact of an average European citizen in 2010 and 2015. Impacts are assessed considering the sixteen impact categories of the Environmental Footprint method. Results reveal that food is the most relevant area of consumption driving environmental impacts. Use phase is the most important life cycle stage for many impact categories, especially for the areas of consumption housing, mobility, and appliances. For the areas of consumption food and household goods, the most important life cycle phase is related to upstream processes, which corresponds to agricultural activities for food and manufacturing of products components for household goods. Apart from the results, the paper includes a detailed discussion on further methodological improvements and research needs to make use of the Consumer Footprint as an indicator for monitoring SDG 12 and for supporting sustainable production and consumption policies. Image 1 • A method for assessing the Consumer Footprint using life cycle assessment and covering 16 environmental impact categories is proposed. • Impacts of five areas of consumption are assessed: food, mobility, housing, household goods, and appliances. • The indicator allows for assessing impacts of changes in consumption over time. • Food is the area of consumption driving the overall impact for several impact categories. • The indicator may be useful to monitor the Sustainable Development Goal 12 (responsible production and consumption). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past few decades, solid waste management systems in Europe have involved complex and multi-faceted trade-offs among a plethora of technological alternatives, economic instruments, and regulatory frameworks. These changes resulted in various environmental, economic, social, and regulatory impacts in waste management practices which not only complicate regional policy analysis, but also reshape the paradigm of global sustainable development. Systems analysis, a discipline that harmonizes these integrated solid waste management strategies, has been uniquely providing interdisciplinary support for decision making in this area. Systems engineering models and system assessment tools, both of which enrich the analytical framework of waste management, were designed specifically to handle particular types of problems. Though how to smooth out the barriers toward achieving appropriate systems synthesis and integration of these models and tools to aid in the solid waste management schemes prevalent in European countries still remains somewhat uncertain. This paper conducts a thorough literature review of models and tools illuminating possible overlapped boundaries in waste management practices in European countries and encompassing the pros and cons of waste management practices in each member state of the European Union. Whereas the Southern European Union (EU) countries need to develop further measures to implement more integrated solid waste management and reach EU directives, the Central EU countries need models and tools with which to rationalize their technological choices and management strategies. Nevertheless, considering systems analysis models and tools in a synergistic way would certainly provide opportunities to develop better solid waste management strategies leading to conformity with current standards and foster future perspectives for both the waste management industry and government agencies in European Union. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper the relevant legislation for the geothermal energy in the European countries and Serbia is reviewed. There is a variety of the incentives for the geothermal production which are well known throughout the European Union. The governmental policies for the support of the geothermal development have so far focused on the power generation only. It is necessary to make serious efforts in order to harmonize the legislation and to simplify the procedures of establishing and implementing the policies for boosting the direct use of the geothermal energy. The Law on Energy of the Republic of Serbia which was adopted by the Parliament and the Energy Development Strategy of the Republic of Serbia until 2015 have defined the privileged power producers, but only by passing the Regulation on the incentive measures for the production of electricity using the renewable energy sources combined with the production of electricity and the thermal energy, which came into force on January 1st 2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper combines engineering and social science approaches to enhance our understanding of industrial energy efficiency and broaden our perspective on policy making in Europe. Sustainable development demands new strategies, solutions, and policy-making approaches. Numerous studies of energy efficiency potential state that cost-effective energy efficiency technologies in industry are not always implemented for various reasons, such as lack of information, procedural impediments, and routines not favoring energy efficiency. Another reason for the efficiency gap is the existence of particular values, unsupportive of energy efficiency, in the dominant networks of a branch of trade. Analysis indicates that different sectors of rather closed communities have established their own tacit knowledge, perceived truths, and routines concerning energy efficiency measures. Actors in different industrial sectors highlight different barriers to energy efficiency and why cost-effective energy efficiency measures are not being implemented. The identified barriers can be problematized in relation to the social context to understand their existence and how to resolve them. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Shaping change such that it avoids losing potentially useful options for future development is a challenging task in the face of complex, coevolving socio-ecological systems. Sustainability appraisal methods, which open up dialogue and options before closing down and making suggestions, pay attention to the inclusion of various and conflicting points of view and address uncertainty, are increasingly used in the science, environment and energy policy domains. The quality of the process is seen as key to high quality appraisal outcomes. Dimensions of quality include learning opportunities which are seen as ways for addressing complexity and uncertainty. Participatory sustainability appraisal methods intend to support social learning among participants. Despite high expectations, social learning processes in sustainability appraisals are poorly conceptualized and empirically understudied. This paper (1) briefly reviews theories of social learning; (2) develops a conceptual framework for the analysis; and (3) presents an empirical application of the framework by use of data obtained from three energy and natural resource management case studies around Europe. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Climate change research is currently a topic of great interest for economic researchers. In particular, environmental input–output analysis increasingly plays an important role in measuring the economic and environmental effects of sustainable development policies in Europe. Other approaches also exist, such as econometric modelling, in which impacts are quantified on statistical grounds and with certain desirable properties (efficient estimates, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, etc.) that are not found in the input–output approach. Consequently, this paper merges the two approaches to address the calculation of unbiased and consistent carbon dioxide emission multipliers for Denmark and their respective confidence intervals. The use of the supply and use system instead of the symmetric input–output table also presents the opportunity to avoid the common problems associated with the construction of technical coefficients (technology assumptions, negatives, etc.). Moreover, a new policy-relevant application of these multipliers is introduced: the quantification of the performance of the carbon dioxide emission reductions carried out by industries via external trading. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Providing more affordable and cleaner energy for all raises complex and significant financial, political, technical, and institutional issues, which must all be addressed to ensure sustainable development. Energy technology innovation has a critical role to play as one of the best pathways to achieve the transition to a global clean energy system. This paper is an endeavor to study the impact of government energy technology research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) budget, which is the primary input of energy technology innovations on cleaner energy supply and carbon footprints (CFP). In this study, a cleaner energy supply is measured as the contribution of renewable energy to total primary energy supply (RE). We assumed that the effect of energy innovation is not uniform but varies according to the descending and ascending movements in a government's energy technology RD&D budget. To this end, we distinguished the impact of the descending and ascending movements in government energy technology RD&D budgets on cleaner energy supply, and CFP in Europe over the period 1985 to 2016. Additionally, we carried out a comparative examination of the effects of energy technology RD&D expenditures on RE and CFP under both linear and nonlinear panel techniques. To increase room for policy implications, we also controlled for the role of economic growth and trade openness and performed several robustness check analyses. We found that the reduction of carbon footprints associated with an increase in public support to energy technology RD&D is more pronounced than the contribution of energy technology innovation to the deployment of renewable energy in Europe. This study provided little evidence in favor of the effectiveness of a government energy technology RD&D budget to substantially boost renewable energy in Europe. Following these results, we suggest that the knowledge of the asymmetric linkage between public energy technology innovation, RE, and CFP is a starting point to achieve win-win solutions that favor clean energy and environmental sustainability. • Optimizing the nonlinear effects of energy technology RD&D budgets over different time horizons. • Asymmetries in the responses of RE and CFP to shocks in energy technology innovation budgets. • The influences of energy technology innovation vary over different time horizons. • The public budget devoted to energy innovation is fundamental for curbing CFP rather than boosting RE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stable and sustainable economic development—including that of renewable energy resources (RES)—requires institutional support of an environment that would enable market operations, and support them in case they are ineffective. Innovation brokers, including structured technology transfer networks, play a key role in promoting, disseminating, and liaising between the parties in the RES sector. The aim of the paper is to present the structure of events used to promote RES in Europe by the Enterprise Europe Network in the years 2017–2018; to verify whether the type of promotion instrument used is significantly related to the location of the events organized; to research whether the selection of the supporting partner is determined by the organized event's geographical location. The analysis is carried out by means of an empirical study of the network of innovation brokers, i.e., the Enterprise Europe Network. Additionally, the available data are analyzed in terms of the type of the partner supporting individual events. It has been shown that there is a significant variation in the structure of the types of events for individual regions of Europe. This could mean that the organizers' decisions as to the type of events organized in particular regions of Europe are deliberate and in some way adjusted to the region in which they take place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite existing policies of regional development and cohesion at the national and the EU level, economic regional inequalities or disparities stay relatively high or decrease too slowly. In this context, policies to reduce economic regional disparities in the European Union are a constant concern both for policy-makers and for theoretical and empirical research because of the strong impact on sustainable development in general. In this study we combine elements of theoretical and policy discussions with the empirical assessment of economic regional development in the European Union in order to identify the state of regional disparities, what factors are favouring unbalanced growth in different regions of the EU and to find an appropriate theoretical setting to understand, explain and reduce with regional inequality in the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within Europe, processes of economic convergence and divergence operate at various geographical scales, resulting in a very uneven geographical landscape. As mentioned in the international literature, the European economic space is characterized by a core-periphery structure. From this point of view, tourism has important significance since it is a noteworthy activity in the European Union and contributes to employment, income generation, overall development and economic rejuvenation of rural, peripheral or underdeveloped areas. There has been a shift in the nature of tourism demand driven by changes in consumption patterns, namely an increasing emphasis on more personalized or on specialized forms of tourist packages. This aspect required smaller and more flexible provision that created niche markets capable of providing peripheral areas the opportunity to capitalize on their comparative advantages associated with their natural environments, cultural heritage, and the role of local food in reinforcing personal identity and authenticity. The purpose of this study is to analyze EU's Eastern periphery (Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) niche tourism markets potential and identify a few guiding principles that may lead to sustainable economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]