Today the world economy is handling an economic crisis caused by the pandemic of a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), announced by the WHO, as well as by fluctuations in the international energy market and by the development of “green energy”. The crisis, named the “2020 crisis”, is notable for the divergence of the sectoral dynamics of development, with a declining development trend in some industries and the rapid growth of others. The crisis is etymologically relevant to the energy sector, a sector which is important for the survival and specialization of the Russian Federation. This research is aimed at describing the status and highlighting the socioeconomic effects, constraints (economic and social risks), and “growth points” of the energy sector in the modern realities of the 2020 crisis. Methods. The method of in-depth interview was used. The need for studying expert opinion is based on the fundamental principles of implementation research, according to which the success of state sectoral policy depends on its perception and support by stakeholders. Top managers of energy enterprises acted as the experts (N = 10). The interviews were conducted in April 2020. The method of incremental approximation and coding (open and axial) were used for a high-quality discourse analysis. Results. The conducted study revealed divergence of sectoral dynamics of energy consumption, which is a translation of the immanent features of the 2020 crisis into the energy sector. The detected constraints are reserved development prerequisites of “green energy” and reduced investments in development programs. The potential “growth points” include intensified digitalization of the energy sector and the need for institutional changes in taxation in the energy sector, recognized by experts.

The digital economy implies structural transformation in many industries, including the energy sector, without considering the state specifics of the industry, for which full-fledged digitalization can be harmful. The aim of the study is to develop a methodology and to determine the level of digitalization in the energy sector in an intercountry context. Based on the methods of comparison and analysis, the work analyses the concept of “digitalization” and defines the indicators applied to the assessment of digitalization. The developed methodology is based on the index method, which makes it possible to assess the rating of countries by the level of digitalization in the energy sector. The article discusses modern technological development and socio-economic aspects that determine theoretical research and the development of digitalization in the energy sector. The reasons and stages of digitalization in the energy sector are highlighted. Using the comparison method, the analysis of existing approaches to assessing the digital energy of enterprises is carried out. End-to-end technologies are highlighted, as well as their practical application at the enterprises of the energy sector. An analysis of the key areas for the development of digital energy is presented. Conclusions are made about the feasibility of developing microprograms and the main directions of digitalization are highlighted.

Organizational transformation for digitalization is a daily challenge for organizations. Successful change can be defined as the combined result of a number of factors, in which the attitude, trust and/or distrust of employees towards technology is of paramount importance. The aim of this study was to explore which factors most influence employees’ trust in technology and how the risk they pose can be mitigated. The quantitative research analyzed 473 respondents (Smart PLS3, using SEM model) and came to the following conclusions. Employees’ trust in technology depends primarily on the supportive role of management, and to a lesser extent on the digital readiness of the company and the training provided in the organization. The supportive role of management is a key element in the model, as it affects trust not only in a direct way, but also indirectly, through several pathways in the model. This means that the supportive role of leadership is clearly a decisive influence and its importance helps to assess the risk of trust or lack of trust.

The paper considers the problem of adolescent and young students’ personalities’ development in the conditions of face-to-face and distance school learning. The scientific novelty of the study is the proposed classification of pedagogical technologies according to the degree of their novelty: modernized technology, combinational technology, progressive technology, pedagogical technology of the combinational type, the essence of which is shown in its title. A specific model of pedagogical technology of the combinational type “Teaching in cooperation, in a team using flipped classroom” was developed. The developed technology was implemented during the classes of the humanities and natural-mathematical cycles. Nine hundred and eight adolescent and young students (divided into experimental and control groups) and 32 teachers participated in the experimental work. To analyze the differences between the experimental and control groups in terms of the student’s personality manifestation, several criteria and indicators were considered. For mathematical and statistical processing of the obtained results, the multifunctional statistical Fisher’s F-test was used. Analysis of the implementation of the developed technology in the conditions of face-to-face and distance learning showed a positive dynamics of experience formation of the student’s personality manifestation. This allowed the authors to consider the developed pedagogical means effective.

The trends of sustainable development and green agenda transform the production processes, leading industries, and regional markets, and reveal objective contradictions in ensuring the ecological safety of certain territories. This study aims to develop a methodology and assess ecological safety at aggregated system levels, taking into account natural and socioeconomic factors as well as the factor of human capital development with specification of the place of ecological safety in the concept of sustainable development. The objects of empirical research are the EAEU and CIS countries for the period 2010–2019, as well as 85 Russian regions. The scientific research toolkit is based on the methods of structural-logical, economical-statistical, and comparative analyses, and expert judgments. The concepts of sustainable development and human capital and the theory of the national school of ecological safety are analyzed using the systematic approach. The mixed methodological approach showed the interconnection of four approaches of assessing ecological safety (technogenic, environmental, institutional, resource-based). The authors developed a method for assessing ecological safety taking into account the contribution of human capital. The assessment results are typologized and grouped according to the dynamic trend. For the majority of the considered countries, changes in the level of ecological safety correlate with changes in socioeconomic indicators. The same trend is observed when considering the Russian regional formations. The contribution of human capital was recorded to a lesser extent. For several regions, the increased number of objects polluting the environment is accompanied by a decreased volume of polluting emissions into the atmosphere.

This article examines the features of the heat supply organizations (HSO) anti-crisis management, which has become relevant due to the pandemic in the spring of 2020. It is noted that the spread of coronavirus and the related economic problems had a negative impact on the sustainable development indicators of both countries and organizations. HSO, which are rarely considered in modern publications, are positioned in the study as the most important part of the economy of any country, on which the future stabilization of the economic situation among heat consumers depends. This study made it possible to draw a conclusion about the strengthening of the HSO engineering systems technical state role in the anti-crisis management of these organizations. The study summarizes and presents the main characteristics of the heating networks technical condition and systematizes all types of diagnostics that are encountered in practice. The characteristics of HSO management choices of the technical state monitoring methods is given. The authors propose a generalized model of the diagnostic methods choice, taking into account the sustainable development of a specific HSO. Perspective approaches to the improvement of the HSO heat supply systems state are determined, which will ensure the development and increasing reliability of urban infrastructure in the context of achieving sustainable development goals.