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Subject and purpose of work The European Union’s energy policy focuses mainly on three areas: reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector by increasing the use of RES, reducing emissions of harmful pollutants, and increasing the efficiency of the electricity used. Sustainable energy use, on the other hand, is clearly associated with an increased use of renewable energy sources, which ensures energy security, as well as diversification of energy supplies that sustain and improve the quality of the environment. The purpose of the paper is to present the diversity of the countries of the European Union in terms of the actions they take in the field of energy and climate policy resulting from the European Union directives. Materials and methods Based on the goals of energy policy presented in the EU directives a number of indicators were selected in order to describe the actions taken by EU member states. After a substantive and statistical verification, 6 variables were left. The use of the Ward’s method made it possible to create groups of countries that are similar in terms of their energy and climate policies. Conclusions The most favorable situation in terms of the effects of the climate and energy policy can be observed in the current leaders, that is in Sweden and Finland as well as in Estonia. Central European countries, mainly Poland, have high-emission economies, accompanied by low investment in modern environmentally friendly technologies. This is manifested, among others, in high concentrations of particulate matter, which contributes to poor air quality, categories in which Poland has some of the worst results in the entire EU.

The aim of this paper is to present the position of Poland against the backdrop of other European countries affiliated with the European Microfinance Network (EMN). In many cases, microenterprises have a problem obtaining external financing for their businesses. Support for small entrepreneurs is provided by microcredit institutions, which in many cases do not require a credit history or collateral from their clients. Microfinance, by limiting the phenomenon of financial exclusion and facilitating access to financial resources for those in need, can become a tool to stimulate entrepreneurship. Most of the institutions providing loans are affiliated with the European Microfinance Network. Analyses were conducted on three levels: activity of microenterprises in obtaining support for starting a business, loan portfolio quality, and the financial efficiency of institutions providing loans. Comparing Polish micro-entrepreneurs with companies from other European countries, it can be observed that Polish entrepreneurs pay their liabilities on time, as evidenced by the low percentage of lost loans, and institutions providing microloans generate small profits, but are able to finance their activities on their own. Poland also has favourable interest rates on microloans compared to other European countries. However, information showing a decrease in the number of borrowers and the value of loans provided in 2017 compared to 2016 can be assessed negatively.

The aim of the article is to evaluate the economic situation of food sector enterprises listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. For the purposes of the study a synthetic indicator was used. It was formulated with the use of classic financial analysis indicators and the Multidimensional Comparative Analysis instrument. The analysis covered the following groups of ratios: accounting liquidity, indebtedness, profitability, productivity and turnover. The indicator enabled the evaluation of the situation of companies on the basis of financial data from the last five years and the presentation of findings in the form of a single synthetic variable. The resulting ranking of companies demonstrated the biggest differences in profitability values. Food sector public companies are characterised by financial soundness and indicators show that such public companies are in a better situation than other companies in this sector. The analysis was carried out on the basis of operating results of food sector companies in the period of 2014-2018.

The functioning of various agroecosystems is nowadays shaped by different farming systems, which may impair their functions, as well as being beneficial to them. The benefits include ecosystem services, defined as economic and noneconomic values gained by humans from ecosystems, through supporting soil formation and nutrient circulation, and the impact of agriculture on climate and biodiversity. Their mutual flow and various disturbances depend on the agroecosystem’s management method, which is associated with the type of management of agricultural land (AL) in individual farms. This paper raises a problem of transformation in the structure of three main farming systems in Poland, in 2004–2018, in relation to the implementation of 16 selected ecosystem services and their scale. Special attention was given to organic farming, as the most environmentally friendly and sustainable. The analysis demonstrates the increase in ALs in that type of production during the analyzed period of time. Disparities of transformation associated with the type of agricultural system were noticeable at the regional level, which were presented in 16 Polish voivodeships. The results of the analysis confirm that the organic system, which is an important carrier of various ecosystem services, gained a stable position. Moreover, areas with integrated farming still do not exceed 0.5% of total agricultural lands in such voivodeships. The analysis of factors influencing the deterioration or disappearance of selected environmental services characterizing agricultural systems indicates the need to depart from an intensive conventional management system.

As a consequence of increasing air pollution, the European Commission has decided to introduce special directives laying down the measures to achieve climate and energy neutrality. Renewable energy (RE) sources play an important role in the pursuit of these goals, which has been taken into account in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The aim of this article is to describe patterns and trends in the achievements of the energy policy of European Union (EU) countries in the field of renewable energy in sustainable development. The identification of leaders in this field gives the possibility to analyse actions taken by the governments of these countries and the possible implementation of the introduced solutions on the ground of individual Member States at the regional and national levels. At the beginning Main goal of energy policy on the field of renewable energy sources (RES) is to increase production from environmentally friendly sources that is why trends were determined in order to assess the rate of achievement of the national target for changes the share of energy from renewable sources in total gross energy consumption. Groups of similar countries were then identified on the basis of three indicators corresponding to the targets set in the climate and energy package. In the group of analysed countries, 14 have achieved the 2020 targets and 4 have exceeded the 2030 targets. The main renewable energy sources (RES) are biofuels, wind, and hydropower. In the assessment of the achievement of energy policy targets, the best situation was observed in the case of Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. These countries have significantly increased the share of renewable energy in total energy consumption. Compared to other EU countries, they have reduced the economy’s energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions the most.

Public companies are a subject of the public interest. Voivodships adjacent directly to the eastern border of Poland are industrialized less than the mean for Poland. This article to analyse changes of the financial conditions of the companies quoted at the Warsaw Stock Exchange (Giełda Papierów Wartościowych w Warszawie) from these voivodships in 2013–2017. Findings prove that these companies are not endangered by bankruptcy. Their situation is average, stable in investigated period.

The main purpose of the article is to present a measure of the company’s attractiveness, useful for investors. The study applies a synthetic measure using the indicators of classical financial analysis and the tools of Multidimensional Comparative Analysis. Its construction was based on elements of fundamental analysis. It was modeled on the Taxonomic Measure of Investment Attractiveness (TMIA) by Tarczyński. The utility of the measure was verified for building the ranking of companies from the IT indus-try, taking into account their income potential for investors.The analysis shows that the presented index properly reflects the ranking of companies in terms of their attractiveness for investors. As a simplified measure, it requires less data and it is less labor-intensive than the classic TMIA. In addition, it is not sensitive enough to the extreme and unusual elements to lead the user to erroneous conclusions.IT joint-stock companies are in good condition and can be considered attractive for investors.

Celem pracy była ocena różnorodności florystycznej ekstensywnie użytkowanych łąk trwałych Beskidu Sądeckiego. Badania florystyczne prowadzono w latach 2017–2019. W runi wybranych łąk stwierdzono 169 gatunków roślin naczyniowych należących do 110 rodzajów i 33 rodzin botanicznych. Wyróżniono związek Arrhenatherion elatioris, reprezentowany przez zespół Gladiolo-Agrostietum capillaris, z liczbą 128 taksonów, oraz związek Calthion, należący do zespołu Cirsietum rivularis, w którym stwierdzono 74 gatunki. Zespół Gladiolo-Agrostietum capillaris odznaczał się wyższym wskaźnikiem różnorodności florystycznej niż zespół Cirsietum rivularis. Rośliny obu analizowanych zespołów w większości preferowały umiarkowane światło i gleby o odczynie obojętnym. W zespole Cirsietum rivularis wyróżniono najwięcej roślin o preferencjach względem gleb zasobnych i wilgotnych. Natomiast w zespole Gladiolo-Agrostietum capillaris stwierdzono najwięcej taksonów o preferencjach gleb umiarkowanie ubogich oraz świeżych.

This study examined the effects of a 6-week Nordic Walking (NW) training, at the intensity corresponding to the dominance of lipid metabolism, on the levels of selected physiological indices, the haemodynamic indices of the cardiovascular system and physical fitness in sedentary women older than 55 years of age. In addition, the physiological response of the female body to the walking effort on treadmill with poles (NW) and without poles (W) was compared and the influence of training on this response was determined. A single group study with a pre-test/post-test study design was conducted. Eighteen women performed NW controlled intensity training 3 times a week for 6 weeks. Body composition, resting blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) as well as circulatory and respiratory indices in two graded walking efforts on mechanical treadmill NW and W were measured before and after training period. The intensity of workouts, which considered the dominance of lipid metabolism, was determined individually, based on the dynamics of changes in the level of physiological indices during the graded intensity NW. After the course of training, body mass, fat mass, resting BP and HR decreased significantly (p < 0.05). HR and respiratory exchange ratio recorded during NW and W at 1.75 m.s-1 walking speed decreased, while the oxygen pulse increased (p < 0.05). VO2max increased significantly (p < 0.05). Before and after the training period HR, oxygen uptake per minute, and energy expenditure during NW were significantly higher than in W (p < 0.05). The study showed that 6-week NW training at the intensity corresponding to the dominance of lipid metabolism can provide improvement in body composition, cardiovascular function and physical performance in previously sedentary women. NW compared to the regular walk with the same speed revealed higher energy expenditure.

The objective of the paper is to diagnose organisational culture of selected universities and analyse its impact on the innovation processes within them. The subject matter of the study was organisational culture and innovation at universities. The subjects were four selected universities in Poland, Austria, Germany, and Ukraine. The paper provided a definition of organisational culture and its typology. It further discussed the organisational culture of universities and the relationships between organisational culture and innovativeness. The literature review provided foundations for building a model for the formation of a type of organisational culture at universities that is innovation-friendly, which is the added value of the paper. It offers actions worth taking to shape innovation-friendly culture at universities. It is particularly important during difficult time of changing labour market, when universities greatly impact the attitudes of young people. The knowledge of how to shape innovation-friendly organisational culture at universities is necessary for academia to profile future employees in times of continuous changes. To investigate the relationship between organisational culture and the innovativeness of universities, we designed an original survey questionnaire [S1 File]. Organisational culture was diagnosed with the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument by K.S. Cameron and R.E. Quinn. The analyses were conducted in Dell Statistica v. 13.1 (StatSoft Polska). We normalised data from the Likert rating scale using Kaufman’s and Rousseeuw’s formula. We used Spearman’s correlation coefficient and Kendall’s W to calculate correlations. The research shows that the investigated Polish and Austrian universities are dominated by hierarchy and market cultures. On the other hand, the German and Ukrainian universities host all cultures, but clan and adhocracy dominate there. Moreover, the analyses demonstrated that although the adhocracy culture was the least visible in the investigated organisations, it contributes to university innovativeness the most. The conclusions were used to build a model for promoting innovation-friendly organisational culture at universities. The model contains answers to the research questions. In addition, it offers guidelines for shaping organisational culture to bolster innovation at universities. The research identified relationships between organisational culture and university innovativeness and components that create innovation opportunities at universities as its contribution to management theory. When applied in practice, the guidelines can help form the university’s organisational culture bottom-up.

The aim of the study is to present residents’ views on the perceived risks and acceptance of the maintenance and development of professional Urban Farming (UF) in selected Polish metropolitan areas. Attention was mainly devoted to exploring factors in the acceptance of UF, including the importance of perceived risks associated with urban farming, physical and social distance and the socio-economic characteristics of residents. We surveyed 577 participants from urban and peri-urban areas. The results obtained show that UF is accepted by residents: over 70% approve lasting maintenance of agriculture in metropolitan areas. The analyses show that acceptance of UF depends on two groups of factors: the perception of the risks of UF and the social distance from agriculture. People perceiving a lot of risks associated with urban farming and being characterized by a large social distance to agriculture, i.e. those who do not know farmers, do not take advantage of the offer of UF. Participants who are not involved in various forms of urban and peri-urban agriculture are skeptical about the development of UF. Conversely, those who see fewer hazards and are more closely related to this sector (low social distance) are advocates of this concept. The study shows that the socio-economic characteristics of residents, including age, education, and financial situation, do not differentiate acceptance of UF significantly. The formulated recommendations, i.e. regarding educational activities or the popularization of short supply channels, can help increase acceptance for the maintenance and development of UF.

Combating soil pathogens that disable plant emergence is among the most difficult challenges of global agriculture. Legumes, preferred in sustainable cultivation systems, are particularly sensitive to pre-emergence damping-off of seedlings. Seed dressing is therefore a very important element in the cultivation technology. The aim of this study was to compare the impact of biological (Pythium oligandrum) and chemical (carboxin + thiuram) seed dressing on the quantitative and qualitative composition of microorganisms participating in the epidemiology of this disease, under specific hydrothermal conditions and chemical properties of the soil (pH, humus, macro-, and micronutrient). Microorganism identification was done using the MALDI-TOF MS (Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry) technique. Species were assigned to frequency groups, and populations of pathogens, saprophytes, and antagonists were identified. The biodiversity of these communities was expressed with Simpson’s Reciprocal, Shannon–Wiener, and Evenness (Shannon) indices. In individual variants of seed pre-treatment, the correlations between individual edaphic factors and the suppression of pre-emergence damping-off, the number of isolates obtained from infected seedlings, and the share of individual trophic groups of fungi were assessed. The main causes of pre-emergence damping-off of broad bean seedlings are Ilyonectria destructans, Globisporangium irregulare, Fusarium equiseti, Rhizoctonia solani, and Fusarium solani. Eliminating seed treatment results in a seedling mortality rate of 33.5–42.5%. The effectiveness of the chemical protection product is 44.2% and 25.9%. Carboxin and thiuram reduce the diversity of microorganisms involved in the pathogenesis of pre-emergence damping-off and limit the presence of antagonistic fungi. Under the influence of P. oligandrum, there was a five-fold increase in the population of antagonists. An increase in humus in the soil reduces the percentage of diseased broad bean seedlings.

The purpose of this paper was to present results of the surveys according to opinions of Malopolska’s agricultural farms’ owners about amount and age of machines working in those holdings. The research included size of the farms and type of specialization. The analysis was conducted among 144 individual farm owners in 2017 year. According to surveyed people after integration with UE the advantage in investment in polish agriculture occurred, many farmers have bought tillage units, which are not older than 10 years. Almost 60% handling machinery, cold stores and vans in surveyed Malopolska farms are new, bought not later than 10 years ago. Among the oldest machines there are combine harvesters, on average their age is 15, but 30% of respondents owned machines which had over 20 years. Most respondents think that their farms are sufficiently or even well equipped with the requisite equipment, nevertheless they plan to purchase used equipment.

The paper presents the results of the surveys carried out in 2017 in 144 farms located in the Małopolska province. The results of these studies contain information about the number, the engine horsepower and the age of tractors working in these farms, taking into account farm size and the type of specialization. The test results indicate clearly that the higher horsepower tractors, the lower is their age. Most tractors up to 40 HP is in use for more than 20 years. The oldest machines are used in the small farms with the area less than 10 ha.

The main objective of this article is to present the differences in the structures of certified organic farms in the European Union (EU) countries within 2005—2013, using dynamic and spatial approach. The method of vectors elimination was used in a study. The analysis showed that changes in the structure of organic farms in the EU countries were not always reflected in the structure of their areas. More significant changes occurred in the structure of farm number, in particular with regard to the countries which joined the European Union in 2004. In 2013 it was possible to distinguish five groups of EU countries that are similar to each other in terms of structure of number and six — in terms of the structure of area. In the majority of EU countries, organic farms covered the area over 10,0 ha.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of grants received by companies on the formation of a business model. The study covered micro, small and medium-sized enterprises based in rural areas, which received support in the form of investment grants within the Regional Operational Programmes 2007-2013 for northern Poland. The research was done using a direct survey method, and covered a total of 155 companies. The results of the study indicate that the grant obtained affected implicitly the modification of the business model elements that are placed on the left side of the template of the Business Model Canvas. However, the tendency of enterprises to undertake an innovative activity usually means changes in their business model both on the left and right side. The greatest strength of the dependence was observed in the case of relationship between the size of the company and changes in the model elements. Mediumsized enterprises were the most active in this respect, when compared to comparison to micro and small businesses, and changed the largest number of elements of the business model due to the obtained grant.

The basic foundation of plant production consists in plant protection treatments, which largely shape the quality of plant raw material intended for the food industry. Due to its long growing season, horseradish requires more treatments than average. Intensive protection based on synthetic pesticides favours the accumulation of their residues in plants and generates serious environmental problems. We have examined the effect of chemical protection and its reduced variant as well as three variants of biological protection, differentiated in terms of preparations used for seedlings treatment (Pythium oligandrum, Bacillus subtilis, and Ecklonia maxima), on the content of dry matter, protein, fat, carbohydrates, and the disease severity index (DSI) of Verticillium wilt of horseradish roots. The quantitative and qualitative changes in the microorganism communities associated with this disease were determined. Thirty-four species of fungi and Globisporangium irregulare have been shown to contribute to the pathogenesis of Verticillium wilt. The following were found with the highest frequency: Verticillium dahliae (14.37%), G. irregulare (6.87%), Ilyonectria destructans (6.73%), Fusarium acuminatum (6.53%), Rhisoctonia solani (6.75%), Epicoccum nigrum (5.56%), and Alternaria brassicae (5.36%).We found that water deficit promotes the increase of DSI and reduces the number and richness of fungal species isolated from diseased roots. The variant of biological protection with treatment of seedlings of E. maxima extract and with reduced chemical protectionin dry seasons give the best protective effects. Under conditions of optimal water supply, biological protection (P. oligandrum) is more effective than chemical protection. Biological protection increases biodiversity in the population of microorganisms that contribute to blackening of the conductive bundles of horseradish roots. There is a significant negative correlation between the number of isolated microorganisms and the DSI value. Increasing the number of the CFUs is accompanied by a reduction in the symptoms of Verticillium wilt of horseradish roots. Biological protection in years with sufficient water supply results in a significant increase in the content of dry matter, protein, and carbohydrates in horseradish roots. Under the influence of protective treatments, the ash content in the roots and its alkalinity decrease.

In the world there is still growing interest in agricultural production system in accordance with the criteria of organic farming. In 2005, the world ecological area remained at the level of more than 29 mln ha, and in 2012, was already more than 37 mln ha. Its participation in relation to the total agricultural area increased in those years from 0,67% to 0,85%. The number of organic producers in the world increased almost three times. The aim of this paper was to present the development of organic farming in the world between 2005 and 2012, taking into account such characteristics as: ecological area of agricultural land and crops, the share of organic area in the overall area of the utilized agricultural area, the number of organic producers and the average size of organic land, as well as the area of organic agricultural land per 100 inhabitants.

The article presents an assumption that the characterization of regional innovativeness requires an assessment on many levels, mainly at the regional level. For this reason in this research paper is applied the linear method of ordering objects as an instrument for assessing and comparing the level of innovativeness on the example of Polish voivodships. The aim of research is to present the TOPSIS method as an instrument for assessing and comparing the level of innovativeness of Polish voivodships. Research object: innovative potential of Poland voivodships. The results allowed identifying the level of differentiation among Polish voivodships in terms of distance of the object from the “ideal” and “undesirable”, as well as making their hierarchy and arranging them in 3 groups of innovativeness. The research and its results lead to the conclusion that the proposed method is a useful tool in evaluating the regions according to their innovativeness level. JEL Codes: Q16, Q12, M10.

In this paper there was analyzed the issue of the selection of linear ordering method based on synthetic variable. The research of the status of waste management in Polish voivodeships in 2012 showed that selection procedures for the construction of synthetic variable affects the ranking of the objects under investigation. In the paper authors proposed a method supporting decision to select linear ordering procedure based on between ranking linear comparison measure (Kukuła, 1989). The choice of ordering methods with the use of the proposed procedure, of course, depends largely on the output of the set of ordering procedures. The test results indicate that there is no universal method.

Competencies are a set of distinctive resources and opportunities. They relate to specific capabilities of management and to performance of management methods. In the catalogue of existing managerial competencies, an increasingly important role is played by trust. The deep insight in this field of literature gives grounds for the inference that trust is rather a means to achieve public organisations’ goals, than being the end in itself. Therefore in this article we have assumed, that contemporary competencies, to a large degree, rely on trust which is rationally and relationally rooted. The main aim of this paper is to identify and evaluate components of trust with reference to the competences of public managers mirrored in their new profiles. To achieve the goal of the article, publications of the field of organisational studies and public management which aim to show the importance of creating trust within an organisation were reviewed to identify main managerial competences analysed in the context of public trust as an important factor of improving public organisations. Moreover, the results of a survey with 93 respondents carried out in 2014 in 8 units of local public administration from the Malopolska Region were used. As a result the main components of trust in new public managers’ profiles have been identified and assessed.