Purpose: This paper aims to emphasize how economics courses offered at higher education institutions can influence sustainable development, in general, and Romania’s sustainable development, in particular.Design/methodology/approach: The conclusions are based on a pilot questionnaire conducted by the authors on the level of Romanian students enrolled in public and private economic faculties. The results were based on a sample of 1,250 respondents – students, master and PhD – from the economic faculties of some prestigious Romanian universities. To identify differences between some groups,t-test analysis and ANOVA were conducted.Findings: Education is an important pillar for ensuring sustainable development because through education, people understand and learn how to become more responsible toward the environment. Studies conducted in the twenty-first century are showing a direct link between the investment in education and economic, social and human development. The present study revealed that the economic higher education system in Romania has started with small steps to adapt to the environmental requirements. Unfortunately, the efforts still required to be made are significant, since it is observed that all undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD require a change of attitude and mentality. Romanian public universities are more involved than private universities in the implementation of programs, projects, debates and courses on sustainable development and students’ reactions are positive.Originality/value: This paper provides useful insights, allowing a better understanding of the role of universities in fostering sustainable development. This research is useful to find solutions for developing education for sustainable development in Romania and it can be a starting point for ESD programs and policies.

The development of renewable energy sources is justified by keeping a clean environment, by assurance of energy security, by job creation, all these contributing to sustainable economic growth. The paper presents the development level of renewable energy sector in Romania and the benefits of its extension, starting from the potential of Romania in this field. From natural point of view, Romania has a high potential for development of renewable energy, in the hydro, wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass fields. The research results show that even if there are certain limitations in expansion of this field, the natural potential and the advantages obtained by development of renewable energy sources require continued investments and public–private efforts to support it.

The study aims to analyze the importance of renewable energy and to assess the progress made by Romania comparing to European Union and to targets set by Community institutions. We consider that both economic issues such as job creation or reduction of import dependency, but also ecological issues including reducing greenhouse gas emissions are important in discussions about renewable energy in rural areas in Romania. By using linear regression it has been identified a strong correlation in Romania, for period 2004–2014, between share of renewable resources in gross final energy consumption and import dependency. Taking into account that energetic independence is a problem of great importance for each country, the paper aims to identify unused renewable energy potential in rural areas and also opportunities for developing renewable energy sector based on the resources that can be exploited with high efficiency, action that will generate economic and social positive effects. Our results reveal that Romania has a high development potential of rural areas using renewable energy because Romania has a high volume of renewable resources (sun, wind, water). Under these circumstances it is necessary to adopt the policies in order to support projects referring to these types of energy.

The paper aims to examine the new trends of immigration and their implications on the economy of the host country, particularly on economic growth and unemployment. As the effects of aging population can be felt in many countries, especially in developed ones, migration will continue to play an increasing role in the economic growth of all countries, either sending or receiving. Given the changes in migration trends and migration policies, the impact of the process should be revised. One of the main characteristics that significantly impacts economic growth is the education and skill level of immigrants. In the light of this fact, the research aims to identify the impact of immigration on growth through the skill composition channel. We analyzed the impact of skilled and unskilled immigration on growth, also including the unemployment rate as a relevant factor for the labour market. We estimated six dynamic panel models using the system of generalised method of moments (GMM) to take into account the risk of an endogeneity bias of the migration variables. The results indicate a positive and significant effect of skilled immigration on the economic growth of the receiving country. The results also point to a 1.3 percent β-convergence rate consistent with the values found in the convergence literature which are around 2 percent.