Following the required adjustments made by the European Union (EU) to adequately absorb the negative social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU is once again confronting a crisis. The extended fiscal instability and environmental imbalance resulting from the energy crisis, primarily caused by rising energy prices owing to geopolitical upheavals (the Russian invasion in Ukraine), have been compounded by rising inflation. The main research objective of this paper is the analysis and evaluation of the effects of the current energy crisis on the Greek economy through the perspective of energy poverty, energy dependence, and climate change. Greece has been negatively impacted by the significant rise in energy costs. In 2022, the percentage of the general population that faced difficulties in paying energy bills exceeded the European average, reaching the level of 34.1%, while almost 19% of the population could not keep their homes sufficiently warm. Additionally, in 2022, Greece was one of the countries most energy-dependent on Russia. Greece achieved most of its targets regarding climate change, with the most representative example being the reduction of GHG emissions by 42% from 2000 to 2022. However, this reduction did not come from the successful green transformation of the Greek economy, but instead was due to the reduction in overall energy consumption that came from the prolonged economic crisis, combined with the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the majority of Greek buildings are still not considered to be energy efficient, while the transportation industry continues to rely heavily on oil, coal, and natural gas.

The manifestation of the world economic crisis at 2007 and its consequences have brought the European economy and, more specifically, the Greek economy in front of new challenges for adjustment to the new era. In 2010, Greece adopted a fiscal adjustment programme in order to fix the fiscal weaknesses of its economy. This fiscal adjustment programme was completed on 20 August 2018, eight years after its adoption. Adopting the fiscal consolidation process had certain implications for specific sectors of the Greek economy. For this reason, the aim of this article is to examine the political economy of the health sector in Greece, and the implications of the economic crisis. The health sector is crucial for the productive capabilities of a national economy. The study of the health sector of Greece after the adoption of the fiscal adjustment programme is going to reveal the extent to which it is capable of confronting public health challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis focuses on the economic effects of the economic crisis on the health sector and the prospects of the Greek economy’s productive capabilities.

This paper deals with the creation, in realistic terms, of an offshore wind farm between the Greek islands of Karpathos and Kassos in the Dodecanese complex. In this context, the terms and conditions for the possible existence of an offshore wind park in Greece are analyzed; the technical components of such a project are described; the offshore wind farm, which was designed by the authors, is presented in detail; and the location selected for its installation is assessed. Moreover, the benefits for the islands of Karpathos and Kassos and for the Greek State, as well as financial data adapted to this specific offshore wind farm and SWOT analysis for the two phases of the project, are presented. The authors conclude that an investment in this project would be viable in economic terms and feasible, despite it being a small-scale project.

We argue that culture is an endogenous force of economic development. As such, it should be integrated into the framework of analysis of the dynamics, mechanisms and processes that lead to sustainable development. This shift in contemporary development thought is not random, since the concept of culture has acquired a new dynamism. Development and culture strengthen one another, but also one is a prerequisite for the other. This paper aims at illustrating the need for a composite analysis framework related to the impact of culture on sustainable development, based on dynamics, mechanisms and processes defining the relations between economics and politics, state and market along with values, ideas, principles, perceptions and local culture.