Search Results (900)

According to the degrowth concept, it is necessary to reduce material consumption and the use of natural resources in order to achieve a more sustainable and equitable economy. Consumers in wealthy countries should consider reducing their consumption levels, which can be hard to accept in these societies. The objective of the current study is to examine the role of environmental self-efficacy in building intention to reduce consumption voluntarily. The analysis was based on data collected from 705 respondents across Poland and Spain. To test the hypotheses, we used the PLS-SEM algorithm and IPMA. The current research results showed that both environmental concern and social norms lead to the intention to reduce consumption through environmental self-efficacy. The mediating effect of self-efficacy in the case of environmental concern’s influence on intention to reduce consumption is stronger in Poland than in Spain, whereas the same effect in the case of social norms’ impact on intention to reduce consumption is similar in both countries. We also observed that the direct effect of social norms on intention to reduce consumption was noticeable in both countries separately but not found after combining both countries’ samples. Full article

With the rapid development of the digital economy, digital technologies have become a key driver of rural revitalization. To systematically analyze the enabling mechanisms of digital technology for rural revitalization, this study utilizes panel data from 30 Chinese provinces spanning 2014–2023. It measures digital technology levels through the number of digital economy-related invention patents granted annually, constructs a comprehensive evaluation index system for rural revitalization, and employs fixed-effects models, mediation models, and spatial Durbin models to explore the direct impact, indirect effects, and spatial effects of digital technology on rural revitalization. The findings reveal that the following: (1) Digital technology significantly empowers the rural revitalization strategy, effectively promoting the comprehensive and sustainable development of the economic, social, and cultural sectors in rural areas. (2) Digital technology exerts partial mediating effects through cultural industry development and higher education advancement, thereby indirectly supporting sustainable rural revitalization. (3) At the spatial level, digital technology exhibits a significant positive spatial spillover effect on rural revitalization overall. Further regional analysis reveals positive spatial spillover effects in the eastern and central regions, whereas the western and northeastern areas exhibit negative spatial spillover. The study concludes that optimizing the spatial layout and promoting coordinated development of digital technologies across areas should be tailored to local conditions. Strengthening cultural industries and educational systems is essential to fully harness the enabling potential of digital technologies for rural revitalization and to construct a rural revitalization path characterized by regional coordination and multidimensional sustainability across the economy, society, and environment. Full article

The expansion of digital technologies has led to a digital transformation of the economy and society. E-commerce, driven by new digital technologies and the restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, has increased its share in the overall trade of goods and services, influencing economic growth. This article examines the impact of emerging digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, the Internet of Things (IoT), and cloud computing (CC) on the e-commerce sector. Within this study, we explore the digital transformation of the EU economy, focusing on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), big data, the Internet of Things (IoT), and cloud computing (CC) on e-commerce development and sustainable economic performance (GDP). The methodology employs a multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network to model the non-linear, predictive relationship between digital adoption and e-commerce. Subsequently, hierarchical cluster analysis groups countries by digital maturity. The findings confirm that digital adoption is a significant and non-linear predictor of e-commerce, while the clustering reveals a pronounced regional heterogeneity in the capacity to translate technology into macro-economic performance. The research results show that by understanding and adopting these technologies, companies in the e-commerce field can gain a competitive advantage and better meet customer requirements and expectations. This adoption can lead to improved personalization of the shopping experience, increased operational efficiency, and enhanced customer satisfaction, ultimately resulting in better and sustainable economic performance. Full article

Road transport constitutes a crucial element of the European economy, but it also generates significant external costs. In the process of reducing the impact of road transport on the environment and society, numerous actions are being undertaken to implement the concept of sustainable transport development in the Member States of the European Union. A key measure in this area is the introduction of low- and zero-emission propulsion systems in vehicles intended for passenger and freight transport. This article focuses on electric vehicles powered by battery energy storage systems. An essential component of these efforts is the development of alternative fuels infrastructure, which is expected to enable the operation of such vehicles by providing access to battery charging facilities. The development of infrastructure in the form of electric vehicle charging stations, initially concentrated in urban areas, has been extended to the network of European roads. The driving force behind this expansion is the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, which, on the basis of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), stimulate the development of alternative fuels infrastructure along the TEN-T network. The aim of the article is to present selected challenges related to the electrification of road transport infrastructure in the context of the sustainable transport development concept and the construction of alternative fuels infrastructure along the TEN-T network. The research focuses on forecasting the demand for alternative fuels infrastructure along the A1 and A2 motorways, which form part of the TEN-T network within the territory of Poland. The research process stems from the implementation of the AFIR in the EU Member States. Full article

Gold mining has played a central role in shaping Peruvian society from pre-Inca civilizations to the present. However, existing literature offers fragmented perspectives, often focusing on isolated themes such as metallurgy, colonial mercury use, or environmental degradation, without integrating these across time and territory. This review addresses that gap by offering a place-based synthesis that combines archaeological, historical, legal, environmental, and comparative insights. Drawing on both Spanish-language sources and international literature, the paper reconstructs Peru’s gold mining trajectory through five historical phases—pre-Inca, Inca, colonial, republican, and contemporary—highlighting continuities and ruptures in governance, labor systems, and environmental impacts. The analysis reveals persistent challenges in Peru’s gold sector, including informality, mercury pollution, and weak institutional capacity. Compared to other mining economies such as Chile, Ghana, and South Africa, Peru exhibits greater fragmentation and limited integration of mining into national development strategies. The review also explores the role of gold in the global energy transition, emphasizing its relevance in clean technologies and green finance, and identifies policy gaps that hinder Peru’s alignment with sustainability goals. By bridging linguistic and disciplinary divides, this synthesis contributes to a more inclusive historiography of extractive industries and underscores the need for interdisciplinary approaches to mining governance. Ultimately, the paper calls for a reimagining of Peru’s gold sector, one that prioritizes environmental justice, social equity, and long-term resilience. Full article

Rapid urbanization has brought severe threats to regional ecological security. Most research regards ecological security pattern (ESP) focuses on the current situation and ignores future land use and land cover (LULC) impacts. Therefore, this study proposed an ESP construction framework that integrates multi-scenario patch-generating land use simulation (PLUS) with ecosystem service value (ESV) evaluation based on the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model. Taking Hefei City as a case study, this study predicts land use types under the natural development scenario (NDS), ecological protection scenario (EPS), and economic development scenario (EDS) in 2030. Afterwards, ecological sources are identified by selecting four types of ecosystem services. Ecological corridors and nodes are identified by combining circuit theory and ecological resistance surfaces. The ESP is constructed based on a generic, landscape-scale connectivity-oriented perspective. The results showed that: (1) the LULC in Hefei City underwent significant changes between 2000 and 2020. The main manifestations are the reduction in cropland and increase in construction land. The expansion of construction land under EDS is the most significant. (2) The spatial distribution patterns of ESV for 2020 and three scenarios in 2030 exhibit marked heterogeneity. (3) According to the simulated scenarios in 2030, ecological corridors form a structure that is sparser in the central region and denser in the southern region; ecological pinch points are predominantly located within the Zipeng Mountain and the region situated to the south of Chaohu; ecological barrier points are mainly distributed at the edge of the built-up area and in the middle of long-distance ecological corridors. The ecological network structure under EPS has been expanded and reinforced. (4) Hefei City exhibits an ESP of “Four zones, Three screens, One network, Multiple nodes” as a whole, indicating an ecological security pattern with relatively higher potential ecological connectivity at the city scale. This study aims to provide scientific support for the development of Hefei City in society, economy and ecological security. Full article

The dual Hukou system, originating in China’s planned economy period, structured Chinese society into separate urban and rural segments, thereby generating distinct sets of rights and benefits for agricultural and non-agricultural residents regarding land, social security, education, and healthcare. Urban home purchase is a pivotal indicator of social integration for rural–urban migrants in destination cities. While the literature has extensively examined migrants’ residential conditions in China, the institutional impact of the agricultural hukou system—a core constraint—on their urban homeownership, along with its underlying mechanisms and heterogeneity, remains underexplored. To address this gap, this study adopts a twofold approach: theoretically, it employs the separating equilibrium model in housing markets with incomplete information to verify that agricultural hukou acts as an institutional barrier to migrants’ local home purchases; empirically, it uses data from the China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS) and applies the Fairlie decomposition method to quantify the constraint effect. The empirical results suggest that agricultural hukou exerts a 29.72% suppressive effect on migrants’ urban home purchase behavior. This effect operates indirectly by weakening migrants’ long-term settlement intention, which serves as a mediating variable. Moreover, the hindrance of agricultural hukou varies heterogeneously across groups, differing in education level, generational cohort, and regional distribution. To advance the fair and sustainable development of the real estate market, we advocate accelerating hukou reform by decoupling public services from residence status, fostering inclusive urbanization, and ensuring equitable development of housing markets. Full article

Transformations in HEIs (Higher Education Institutions) in recent years have positioned education alongside research, development, and innovation, creating the necessary framework for achieving a positive impact on society and economies. A Principal Factor Analysis was employed using 19 variables from eight Eastern European countries over a three-year period (2022–2024). The six main factors are noted with F1 (innovation and collaboration in R&D), F2 (performance and investment in academic research), F3 (advanced technological production and talent influx), F4 (evolution over time/systemic progress), F5 (cluster development), and F6 (investment in education). These explain over 83% of the total variance, ensuring a robust representation of the original data. The results of the analysis show, in some countries, strengths in specific areas (e.g., EE in innovation, CZ in academic research, and SK in high-tech manufacturing). Meanwhile, a general trend of decreasing scores at the systemic progress level can be observed in most nations, suggesting a slowdown in the overall development momentum. At the same time, significant volatility was observed in cluster development (F5) and investment in education (F6) across the sample. These findings provide a condensed, multidimensional framework for comparative analysis and policy formulation, highlighting specific strengths and vulnerabilities in the regional innovation landscape. Full article

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of international tourist arrivals in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) is studied in this paper using the seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model comprising a pulse function covariate vector evaluated via trial and error as an exogenous variable (SARIMAX). This paper provides a methodological innovation that combines outlier detection with intervention quantification so that tourism academics and practitioners can correctly capture estimated economic losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the response to it. In the pre-intervention modelling, four additive outliers and innovative outliers were detected and incorporated into the SARIMAX$(1,1,1)({0,1,2)}_{12}$ model, which significantly lowered the model’s evaluation metrics, making it the best fitting pre-intervention model. Next, from March 2020 to June 2025 (end of dataset), it is shown that the estimated total losses amount to 7,328,919 tourists compared to if there been no pandemic. This means that the number of tourist arrivals in the RSA has not yet returned to the pre-COVID-19 forecasted path as of June 2025, indicating that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have long-term negative effects on the RSA’s number of tourist arrivals. Therefore, more efforts must be focused on developing innovative and advanced statistical models to assist the RSA government and private entities in creating incentives for investment, planning more effectively, providing societies reliant on tourism with more resources, and creating suitable regulations that boost the economy through the tourism sector. Full article

Crisis situations highlight the need for timely planning to mitigate their impacts on the economy and society. The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the importance of prevention, preparedness, and effective communication in tourism crises. As tourism involves numerous stakeholders, transparent communication and cooperation are essential for coordinated crisis responses. The aim of this work is to examine management’s perception of the relationship between crisis planning, communication, and cooperation with the achievement of sustainable destination management, and to identify key factors in the preparatory and reactive phases of a crisis. The questionnaire was distributed online to 533 directors of Croatian tourist boards, of which 165 responses were valid and analyzed using regression analysis. The results confirmed a statistically significant connection between planning for crisis situations, communication, cooperation with effective tourist destination crisis management, and the contribution of these factors to resilience and long-term sustainability. Crisis management in tourism contributes to the preservation of the social, economic, and ecological values necessary for sustainable development. To align economic growth with environmental and social concerns, coordinated action by governments, the private sector, and local communities is required. Enhanced education, trust, and systematic cooperation help build resilient destinations that are prepared to respond effectively to short-term shocks and long-term challenges. Full article

This entry presents the history, geography, business, regulations, and the roles of gig workers, platform/algorithms, and employers, focusing primarily on the USA and the EU. The gig economy is informally referred to also as the fourth industrial revolution or the 1099 economy, emphasising sharing, freelance, or platform work; it is a complex and changing business model and regulatory environment. In practice, the gig economy refers to a tripartite relation between workers, platforms/apps, and employers, leading to a two-sided market, where algorithms match supply and demand for paid labour and clients. It is only recently that the gig economy has started to be conceptualised, and its implications, challenges, and impacts are captured in economic law and society, including the power dynamics related to the interplay between economics, technology, regulation, and communities. Conceptually, the gig economy is important, as small paid work has always been present in society for all types of workers and beneficiaries. This new business model of on-demand work has some perceived advantages, such as freedom of work, under-regulation, efficient use of capital, driving down costs, and improving services. However, there is a dualisation of anti-power between workers and non-employers that may lead to precarious work, less free workers, and shadow corporations that distort the market using game changers like digital management algorithms. Currently, the size of the gig economy comprises 154–435 million gig workers out of the world’s 3.63 bn workers, with a market size of USD 557 bn, and is still expanding. Full article

Construction is one of the largest industries, exerting a significant influence on the environment, economy, and society. With the growing emphasis on sustainability, efficiency, and minimizing negative impacts, it is essential to apply innovative tools and approaches across all phases of a building’s life cycle. This article focuses on the life cycle of buildings as a comprehensive process, covering stages from planning and construction to use and eventual disposal. Special attention is given to the integration of Life Cycle Costing (LCC) as a key methodology for evaluating both the environmental and economic aspects of sustainability. The presented case study compares two construction variants a prefabricated timber structure and a traditional masonry system highlighting the differences in cost distribution and economic demands. The findings confirm that the construction and operation phases account for the dominant share of life cycle costs, with their significance particularly increasing in larger projects. These results underline the necessity of comprehensive life cycle evaluation and emphasize the importance of modeling economic aspects as an integral part of sustainable construction. Full article

In recent years, European cities have experienced rapid changes in their functional and spatial organisation, which have affected, among others, the natural environment, the economy and society. The intensive and often uncontrolled growth of residential development associated with suburbanisation significantly impacts areas located around urban areas. Growing investment pressures usually lead to the transformation of rural and naturally valuable areas, altering their character and functions. Solving these problems requires developing a method to determine the main directions and intensity of land use changes in the context of urbanisation pressures and sustainable spatial development. This article presents the results of a spatiotemporal analysis of the dynamics of built-up area development in rural and suburban zones, utilising Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology. The study focused on the expansion of single- and multi-family housing around the city of Białystok, Poland, between 1997 and 2022. The analysis was based on spatial data, including available orthomosaics and cadastral data from the Topographic Objects Database (BDOT10k). The GIS-based analysis covered an area of nearly 2000 km² and included methods for change detection, analysis, and land cover classification. The results indicated a marked intensification in landscape transformations, particularly in transition zones between rural and urban areas. At the same time, forests and protected zones significantly influenced the direction and pace of development, acting as natural barriers limiting spatial expansion. The results indicate the need to consider environmental factors (e.g., protected areas and forests) in spatial planning processes and sustainable development policies. The study confirms the high usefulness of GIS tools in monitoring and forecasting spatial change at both the local and regional scales. This research also contributes to the discussion on urbanisation, its characteristics, causes, and consequences, and highlights the role of green spaces in limiting sprawl. Full article

Enhancing the supply chain resilience of the information and communications manufacturing industry is closely related to the competitiveness of enterprises and the security of the national economy, and has attracted widespread attention from all sectors of society. This study develops a multidimensional synergistic resilience framework based on the Technology-Organization-Environment theory. Using panel data from 29 Chinese provinces over the 2011–2022 period, it empirically examines the impact of artificial intelligence technology on supply chain resilience in the information and communication technology manufacturing industry and investigates its underlying mechanisms. Research findings: Artificial intelligence significantly enhances supply chain resilience, and this conclusion holds after a series of endogeneity and robustness tests. Mechanism analysis reveals that artificial intelligence promotes the low-carbon transition by optimizing energy intensity and synergistically enhances resilience effects through technological innovation. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the impact of artificial intelligence on supply chain resilience is stronger in eastern China, significantly outperforming western China, but its effect in central China is not significant. Supply chain disruptions weaken the positive effects generated by artificial intelligence when they occur. The research provides a theoretical foundation and practical basis for improving the resilience of information and communications manufacturing supply chain networks, thereby contributing to the development of intelligent, resilient and sustainable supply chain networks. Full article

The emergence of energy communities in the energy transition world could be beneficial for sustainable development, particularly in ancient town centers. The interaction between energy groups, renewable energy sources, and electric vehicles in Italy’s historic cities is the primary concern of this work. It examines the potential for these interconnected components to collaborate to revitalize Italian historical sites and ensure their sustainable management. This study focuses on the overall potential of energy communities to boost democracy and energy security, and decrease negative environmental impacts. It is studied by analyzing rules and regulation along with new technologies and changes in society and economy that are affecting the energy sector. This paper focuses on approaches to the application of renewable energy resources and examines electric mobility and its role in realizing ecologically sustainable transportation in cities. It also demonstrates the needs to occur with infrastructures, use rates and policies that must be implemented to get a person to drive electric cars around historic districts. This improves the management’s capacity to implement an easy transition to low carbon because, related to energy production and consumption, techniques of comprehensive planning should be adopted. Full article