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Landscapes constantly change under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors. They can be destructive as well as leading to regeneration of landscapes which have been imbalanced. When this process occurs in a natural or human-controlled manner with the use of natural elements of the environment, it is called renaturalisation, and the resulting landscape - renaturalised landscape. Where landscape restitution occurs under the purposeful, sustainable and rational human influence, we talk of the recultivation process and the resulting landscape is termed recultivated. Examples of both of these terms added to landscape classification have been described based on several quarries existing within the City of Krakow.

This study analyzed 350 companies based in the Śląskie Province that received financial aid to avoid the negative impacts of COVID-19. This study focused on the structure of companies receiving public support due to their business being at risk of negative impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of the amount and type of support. It also classified industries by the amount of subsidy. When analyzing the available data, the Kruskal–Wallis test was applied, which is a nonparametric equivalent of the one-way analysis of variance. It was used to test whether the selected factors significantly affect the values of individual measures. Although the amounts of subsidies received vary, they have contributed to preserving at-risk jobs due to the public health crisis and maintaining the competitiveness of affected micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article contains the findings of geoarchaeological research conducted by means of geoinformatics, related to various aspects of territory occupied in early Middle Ages by the so-called Cherven Towns. The issues presented in the publication concern the complex aspect of the borderland between Poland and the Rurik Rus during the formation of these two monarchies. The main objectives include: presenting the diverse time of strongholds' use over the centuries within the early medieval borderland of south-eastern Poland, demonstrating the relationships between them, as well as visualizing the research findings by means of geoinformatics tools, based on geoarchaeological data. The article presents maps and visualizations that can help understand how medieval societies functioned. These maps and visualizations have been developed by means of GIS and graphical software. Data was verified by means of field research carried out in 2021 directly on the selected fortified settlements. The result comprises a variety of maps and models. The main outcome of the research is a mapped diversification of the termination of existence of the discussed defensive structures, for example, in the Wiar river catchment, which took place from the 11th century, near Sanok, until the 13th/14th century. This indicates a change in the defense strategy of these areas within the quoted territory of influence of medieval Poland and Rus, including within the range of the Carpathian arch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GeoDesign is a set of techniques and technologies allowing to combine geographic analysis with the design process. It has an interdisciplinary character and is used to create projects of both natural and socio-cultural nature, on the basis of which it is possible to make the most rational decisions. As part of creating a sustainable Campus of the 600th Anniversary of the Jagiellonian University Revival, and at the same time in response to the prevailing trends in planning space for education and communicating the values of higher education, a concept of creating a geodesign laboratory will be presented. It is designed for the community of the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, and, more broadly, for the Faculty of Geography and Geology of our University. Scientific research confirms the effectiveness of space organized so as to stimulate creativity, encourage teamwork, and give an opportunity to apply methods in the field of geodesign, design thinking and learning by doing. Creating space for design activities is a noticeable trend at modern universities. The publication presents several examples of spaces with a similar function from Poland and abroad. The last part of the article presents a proposal of the appearance and functioning of the designed space for creative work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the beginning of the 21st century, south of Chełmno in Poland, interdisciplinary, archaeological and natural research was conducted on a large scale. At that time, extensive research material in the field of archeology, botany, geoecology, geomorphology, palynology and pedology was acquired. On its basis, and taking into account the relations of natural and anthropogenic components, the authors attempt in this publication to reconstruct the landscape from the beginning of human activity. The results of the study are presented on landscape profiles. They indicate the progressive evolution of the landscape from a Primeval landscape at the beginning of the Atlantic period, through a Natural (quasicultural) landscape in the Neolithic Age and an Agricultural-settlement cultural landscape in the Bronze Age and Iron Age, to a Settlement-agricultural cultural landscape in the Early Medieval Period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artykul stanowi glos w dyskusji nad aktualnym problemem ksztaltowania srodowiska geograficznego Polski w aspekcie lokalizacji elektrowni wiatrowych. Przedstawiono w nim metody analizy kryteriów lokalizacyjnych o charakterze prawnym, srodowiskowym, spolecznym, technicznym i zasobowo-uzytkowym. Kompleksowo ujete czynniki oraz zwiazane z nimi bariery zostaly ukazane na przykladzie podkarpackiej gminy Rymanów. Za pomoca narzedzi GIS przeprowadzono analize danych przestrzennych pozyskanych w postaci map, cyfrowych baz danych oraz numerycznego modelu terenu. Wynikowa mape oceny przydatnosci terenu do rozwoju energetyki wiatrowej opracowano z wykorzystaniem analizy wielokryterialnej (MCA). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small cities are an important part of the settlement system, a link between rural areas and large cities. Although they perform important functions, research focuses on large cities and metropolises while marginalizing small cities, the study of which is of great importance to progress in social sciences, geography, and urban planning. The main goal of this paper was to verify the impact of selected socio-economic factors on the share of built-up areas in 665 small Polish cities in 2019. Data from the Database of Topographic Objects (BDOT), Sentinel-2 satellite imagery from 2015 and 2019, and Local Data Bank by Statistics Poland form 2019 were used in the research. A machine learning segmentation procedure was used to obtain the data on the occurrence of built-up areas. Hot Spot (Getis-Ord Gi*) analysis and geographically weighted regression (GWR) was applied to explain spatially varying impact of factors related to population, spatial and economic development, and living standards on the share of built-up areas in the area of small cities. Significant association was found between the population density and the share of built-up areas in the area of the cities studied. The influence of the other socio-economic factors examined, related to the spatial and economic development of the cities and the quality of life of the inhabitants, showed great regional variation. The results also indicated that the share of built-up areas in the area of the cities under study is a result of the conditions under which they were established and developed throughout their existence, and not only of the socio-economic factors affecting them at present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amidst the changes and adjustments of the international energy situation, the leading trend is to shift from fossil fuels to low-carbon fuels, and ultimately, to enter the era of sustainable energy, based mainly on renewable energy. The ongoing changes in global security of energy supply and the high volatility of fossil energy prices also stimulate investment in alternative energy sources, making renewable energy sources (RES) one of the rapidly growing elements in the global energy system. This article fills the research gap by analyzing the potential of using renewable energy in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in the years 2015–2018. The authors address the energy potential in the years 2015–2019, and energy consumption in the years 2015–2018 as the potential of RES in the CIS countries was not researched after 2014. Please note that the study covers the CIS countries, along with Georgia and Ukraine, which are no longer formal members of the Community, but have been included for cognitive and comparative purposes. Upon comparing the increase in energy production in the CIS countries to the average increase for the European Union (EU) countries, the value of this increase is observably higher than the average for the EU countries only in Ukraine. However, the average for the entire CIS is much lower than the EU average, therefore in CIS countries, the changes in the volume of RES energy production are varied. In some countries, there is a significant increase in the production of this type of energy (e.g., Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Georgia). However, there are also countries in which the changes are negligible, or which noted significant drops in RES energy production (Uzbekistan, Moldova, Russia, Armenia). The findings contribute to the RES market debate and the international relations theory by comparing political factors with territorial and economic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promotion of renewable energy is a key concept in the European Union for both environmental and economic reasons. It contributes to securing the objectives set out in the Kyoto Protocol. In addition, it brings various social and economic benefits, e.g., diversification of the energy offer, new jobs, improvement of regional and local development opportunities and building a solid national industry. The main purpose of the article is to contribute to the debate on the instruments promoting renewable energy sources (RES) by emphasizing its importance within the technology transfer network. The subject is an empirical study of an actual technology transfer network. Its international activity promotes RES among entrepreneurs. Data related to meetings as part of brokerage events (BE) and company missions (CM) were subject to statistical and visual analysis, based on the data obtained from the Enterprise Europe Network from the years 2017–2018. The presented results are the foundation for future theoretical and practical studies. One of the important aspects to be examined is the intensity of cooperation launched during CM and BE. It is related to the results of partnership agreements and the importance of increasing the knowledge flow and creating opportunities for partners to acquire foreign technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The type of the HPP operation affects the water and sediments flow changes. • An RAV method was used to assess flow regime changes below the dam. • Both hydropeaking and run-of-river HPP systems determine variability in river flows. • The HPP operation affects the evolution of the anastomosing fluvial systems. The commission of the Kaniv dam in 1973, as the last of the six dams on the lower Dnieper River cascade, changed the river regime completely. A description of these changes and their impact on the evolution of the fluvial anastomosing system form the aims of the study. The operation of the hydroelectric power plant (HPP) in Kaniv significantly affected the erosion and accumulation of sediment on valley floor and thus changed the fluvial system of the Dnieper River below the dam. The HPP initially operated on a hydropeaking system (until the early 1990s) and then on a run-of-river system. This study used the indicators of hydrologic alteration (IHA), the RB flashiness index, archival topographic and bathymetric maps, hydrological and sedimentological field studies, and satellite images to assess how the magnitude and duration of changes in the flow regime affected erosion and accumulation processes on the river bed and changed the pattern of channels as well as the landforms separating them. Until the commission of the dam in Kaniv, the fluvial system of the Dnieper River in its undisturbed state was a sand-bed channel but was then transformed from a braiding to an anastomosing river system. This was achieved by bars where consolidation of vegetation on fine clastic deposits created interchannel areas and islands. During the operation of the hydropeaking system, characterised by frequent artificial flows of short duration, channels became incised and narrowed. Interchannel areas were divided up into islands. Then, after the HPP switched to working a run-of-river system, the islands began to merge again into interchannel areas. This happened as a result of intensified erosion processes in both the main and the side channels. The operation of the HPP, by changing the flow regime and sedimentation processes in the river valley, modified the natural process of evolution of the fluvial system of the Dnieper River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The operation of dam and reservoirs is one of the main reasons for the transformation of river runoff. The change in the hydrological regime affects a number of other processes taking place in the river channel, including the transformation of its geomorphological features. The article presents the impact of the Włocławek Reservoir on the hydrological regime of the lower Vistula. The alterations of the river flow downstream of the dam in the conditions of the hydropeaking regime of hydroelectric plant operation and after its change to the run-of-river and interventional operation were characterised. It was assessed how the change in flow conditions in connection with the deficit of sediments affected the transformation of the Vistula river channel downstream of the dam. The nature and magnitude of changes in the Vistula river flow regime caused by the functioning of the "Włocławek" dam were determined using IHA (Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration) and the RVA (The Range of Variability Approach) method. It was demonstrated that the operation of the hydroelectric power plant in the hydropeaking system is the cause of a large flow alteration in respect of the frequency and duration of low- and high-flow pulses and the rate and frequency of change in the flow. The change in the manner of operation of the hydroelectric power plant affected the reduction in the degree of transformation of most features of the flow. The increase in water erosion force downstream of the dam led to the deepening and narrowing of the river channel. The presence of more resistant formations at the bottom of the river channel inhibited riverbed erosion, at the same time intensifying lateral erosion, which increased the width of the river channel. During the operation of the reservoir, the river channel downstream of the dam evolved towards the anabranching type system. Unlabelled Image • The flow regime alteration was assessed with the use of a Range of Variability Approach method. • The type of operation of the hydropower plant affects the size of flow alteration. • The hydropeaking regime of the hydropower plant increased water flow variability. • Increased flow dynamics intensified the erosion of the river channel. • After forming the dam, the river channel evolves towards the anabranching type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]