One of the main challenges affecting development opportunities of peripheral areas, particularly the development of tourism, includes the provision of satisfactory solutions for mobility and transport accessibility. Therefore, there is a high demand for innovative and sustainable transport solutions, which would increase the competitiveness of these regions, as well as reduce the negative impact of transport on the environment. This paper includes indications of the main directions of research on sustainable transport, the analysis of innovative solutions for improving the tourist accessibility of peripheral areas, and the development of an intermodal model of tourist mobility. The developed model was verified in terms of tourists’ needs for sustainable and innovative transport solutions. The region of the Białowieża Forest, exhibiting high potential for tourism development due to its natural values—unique at the European and global scale—was selected for verification. The Białowieża Forest was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as one of the few cross-border World Heritage sites. The study applied heuristic research methods, including brainstorming, the Delphi method, case studies, and a diagnostic survey (421 respondents). The developed model of tourist mobility is based on the combination of the public transport network and the availability of electric bicycle and electric car rental. The survey of tourists in the region of the Białowieża Forest showed the demand for new mobile solutions, particularly in the field of e-mobility. The results of quantitative research indicate that around 40% of respondents express high and very high demand for sustainable and innovative mobile solutions, including e-mobility.

Research background: Cooperation within the public and the private sectors is one of the conditions for a tourist region to achieve a competitive advantage, and it is one of the most important aspect for building a regional tourist brand. Research studies often raise the issue of tourism cooperation; however, there are few papers undertaking this topic in the context of place branding. The issue of benefits and barriers of this type of cooperation seen from the perspective of the involved stakeholders is rarely the sole object of research and is often presented indirectly or implicitly. Purpose of the article: The aim of the paper is to identify the benefits and barriers of cooperation seen by the local government and other representatives of regional tourism organization in the process of developing a regional brand. Methods: To achieve the aim of the paper, the authors conducted a case study of a region, specifically Podlaskie Voivodship in Poland. This case study involved individual in-depth interviews conducted among representatives of organizations ? members of the Regional Tourism Organization. Findings & Value added: The findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of cooperation between tourism entities in the process of regional place branding. The authors established a conceptual framework for systematization of benefits and barriers of cooperation as seen by regional stakeholders. The benefits were grouped into the following categories: economic, organizational, marketing and social; and the barriers included economic, organizational, socio-cultural and political determinants.

Stakeholder participation is particularly important when dealing with mobility problems in touristic remote areas, in which there is a need to find sustainable solutions to increase transport accessibility. However, the literature lacks research linking the issues of establishing stakeholder groups with the most desirable level of involvement and methods ensuring involvement on the indicated level. The aim of the paper is to fill this gap on example of project dedicated to six Baltic Sea Regions. In the first stage key stakeholder groups were identified, then different methods and tools were proposed depending on levels of engagement of given group of stakeholders on solving the problems of local mobility. Two research methods were implemented–the case study and the content analysis of documents. The results of the research point to the existence of five key groups of stakeholders interested in solving transport problems of touristic remote areas: authorities, business and service operators, residents, visitors and others (like experts and NGOs). Among the five–authorities and business representatives–should be to a higher degree engaged. However, the main conclusion is that engagement local government units, when developing their own, long-term strategies for social participation, should adapt the selection of participation methods and techniques to a specific target group and the desired level of their involvement so as to include stakeholders in the co-decision processes as effectively as possible and achieve effective regional co-management.

This paper addresses the problem of transport systems in remote areas, defined by a set of constraints deriving from a sparse population, infrequent transportation location means stops and cost-effectiveness of the system. Remote areas attractive to tourists additionally require transportation services designed with respect to changeable demand and the necessity to provide transportation solutions limiting detrimental influence on the environment. This paper aims to identify and assess the perspectives for developing innovative mobility solutions for residents and tourists in remote areas in line with sustainable development and evaluate factors supporting or hindering the development of the selected perspectives. The results of a Delphi study with 23 experts from seven EU Member States, Russia and Norway, enabled the identification of factors shaping the future of mobility in peripheral areas, including IT-supported multimodal transport systems, demand-responsive transport and transport services tailored to the specific needs of different user groups.

Universities have an important role to play in the process of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in its 2015 Declaration, which specifically addresses their contribution in the areas of education, research and social impact. The main objective of the article is to review the approaches of Polish higher education institutions (HEIs) to the formulation of sustainable development strategies by reference to their position in international rankings. The study focused on three international rankings: UI GreenMetric, THE Impact Rankings and QS World University Rankings: Sustainability. The methodology used included literature review and critique, analysis of documents and other source materials, descriptive analysis and comparative analysis. The paper contributes to deepening and advancing the academic debate on the role of universities in achieving the SDGs and improving institutional governance to accelerate progress towards their implementation.

In recent years, the growing importance of religious tourism in the broad sense has been noted, both as an area of scientific research and in the practical sphere. Places of religious worship often become tourist destinations, giving many regions an opportunity for development. The direct and indirect impact of tourism permeates the economic, socio-cultural and environmental spheres. The aim of this article is to define the role of religious tourism in the sustainable development of a region, with particular emphasis on its impact on the preservation of cultural heritage. The study was qualitative in nature and used a case study method – Podlaskie Province. The method of Individual In-Depth Interviews (IDI) was used, and respondents representing various types of economic activity in the field of religious tourism were purposefully selected. The original nature of the research stems from the inclusion of different types of service providers representing different religions, reflecting the multicultural nature of the region. The research showed that religious tourism can contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals in tourist regions. In the social sphere, the results of the research inspire improved cooperation and awareness among all tourism stakeholders in the region, both in terms of the uniqueness of religious, cultural and natural heritage values and the benefits of developing religious tourism.