Three-quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions come from burning fossil fuels for energy. To confront climate change, the world must move away from fossil fuels and decarbonise its energy systems. In the light of European Union documents, decarbonisation signifies the elimination of CO₂ emissions on account of their harmfulness to the environment. The European Union is planning that by 2030, these emissions will be 40% lower in comparison to 1990. A fundamental query arises here: do the achievements of EU countries give cause for optimism in this regard? The aim of the study is an attempt to determine the tendency of changes concerning energy decarbonisation as well as to distinguish typological groups of bodies (EU countries) with similar dynamics in the researched phenomenon. Trend functions and the distance matrices of the growth rate of the researched phenomenon were used for the dynamic classification. The conducted research confirmed that EU countries indicate spatial differentiation in terms of CO₂ emissions. It is related to the general socio-economic development of countries, their level of industrialisation, the quality of their natural environment, their degree of urbanisation, etc. The most favourable situation, in terms of the analysed phenomenon, i.e., the largest average decrease in CO₂ per capita in the analysed period, was characteristic of Ireland, Greece, and Cyprus. On the other hand, an adverse situation relating to an increase in the indicator occurred in five EU countries, specifically in Luxembourg and Lithuania.

Russia’s armed attack on Ukraine on 24 February 2022 started one of the worst refugee crises of the 21st century. It caused involuntary migrations of Ukrainians to other countries, mainly to Europe, and caused the refugees to face the challenge of integrating with the host countries’ labor markets. The aim of this study was to analyze the views of the Ukrainian refugees who migrated to two European countries: Poland and Hungary. We took into account self-esteem, social support, good job expectations, and submissiveness in the labor market. The data were obtained via a survey method using the modified CAPI (Computer-Assisted Personal Interview) technique between 21 November and 20 December 2022 from 807 adult Ukrainian refugees. Results show that disability fosters lower self-esteem, self-assessment of resources, and job demands. Among those who have children, the mean value of self-esteem was higher than in the group without any children. No statistically significant differences were found in the area of professional work. According to the estimation of structural model results, expectations of a good job have a significant, negative effect on the tendency toward submissiveness. The assessment of personal resources and the level of self-esteem have a significant and positive effect on the expectations of a good job. Both a higher level of personal resources and a higher level of self-esteem resulted in higher good job expectations. The assessment of personal resources also has a positive effect on the level of self-esteem. We also found a direct relationship between personal resources, self-esteem, and the tendency toward submissiveness.

Due to many restrictions in Central and Eastern Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic, the area of formal education of young people was dominated by remote (on-line) classes. Although, research has been conducted on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education and social inclusion of young people, their families and teachers, most of the studies only included urban youth with access to digital technologies and infrastructure. However, there are no studies of young people from rural areas, small towns, and less developed areas. The article presents the conclusion from analyses using the desk research technique of the existing documents and research results of the effect of the pandemic on teachers, students and their families from different groups and backgrounds from the area of Visegrad Region countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia). The desk research was the initial stage for further research on peripheral regions of the countries. The further research methodology is also presented in the article.

This article refers to the results of research that was conducted on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland, shortly before the first confirmed laboratory case was registered. The research was carried out with 240 people who dealt daily with youth, including NEETs activation, through work or volunteering in various types of institutions (public, NGO, and private). The results allowed us to back upthe hypothesis that people who deal with NEET youth support on a daily basis value traditional methods of professional activation more than digital methods. The analysis also answered the question of which demo-social variables among the respondents had an impact on their assessment of the methods used for professional activation. The variables that were found to significantly differentiate the respondents’ assessments included gender, education, place of residence, the type of institution in which the respondents worked, and the age range of the respondents.

Start-ups that utilize modern technologies and innovative solutions in various areas of their activities gain an advantage over their competitors. This chapter presents examples of innovative solutions for start-ups in selected countries of the European Union and indicates those solutions that can be considered as the indicators of the changes that are taking place in the economy within the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Through extensive research, different patterns of start-ups functioning have been distinguished while taking each branch and country into account. These results can be helpful for researchers in developing hypotheses that are useful for creating business models. An interesting observation is that in the European Union countries the success of start-ups does not depend on the development level of these countries. <!----> <!----> <!----> <!---->