Cultural heritage consolidates regional cultural identity, expands social capital, and stimulates local communities. These functions make it an important component of sustainable socioeconomic development. The objective of the article is to identify vanishing components of cultural heritage in Małopolskie Voivodeship and propose ways to use them to enhance regional development and promote rural cultural heritage. Moreover, the article aims at identifying such components of cultural heritage that could be included and presented more extensively in future strategic documents despite being disregarded or only superficially acknowledged to date. The research involved a representative sample of the adult residents of rural areas in Małopolskie Voivodeship, Poland (n = 400) using the computer-aided telephone interviewing method (CATI). The research shows that the awareness of the people in Małopolskie Voivodeship is dominated by the ‘classical’ perception of cultural heritage components. The respondents confirmed that traditional professions were still practiced in the voivodeship, and that artisan products were available. The most common of these were beekeeping, sculpture, carpentry, lacemaking and embroidery, smithery, pottery, plaiting, weaving, and musical instrument production. According to the respondents, the most frequent components of vanishing cultural heritage were shrines on trees, old barns (69%), wells (55%) and old root cellars (40%). The respondents most often mentioned farmers’ wives’ associations as independent social and professional organizations in rural areas that promote food traditions. A survey, literature review, and study of strategic documents demonstrated that digital cultural heritage was absent in the responses and strategic documents, even though it is found in rural Małopolskie Voivodeship as rustic cyberfolklore, for example. It is a research gap worth investigating.

Energy security affects the functioning of countries politically, economically, and socially. Energy is an important factor in sustainable development efforts. Hence, countries are assessing their energy systems for compatibility with sustainable development goals by creating new concepts for energy development. Combining the concepts of energy security and sustainable energy consumption, an analysis of the differentiation of EU countries in terms of selected indicators indicated in Goal 7 of Agenda 2030 was carried out in dynamic terms. Two groups of indicators were distinguished. One group of indicators was selected to represent the changes in energy demand reported by final consumers, taking into account the use of energy obtained from renewable sources. The second group of indicators represents those relating to the security of supply of raw materials, i.e., energy dependency indicators broken down by major energy commodities and an energy productivity indicator. The analysis uses the coefficient of relative proximity of the facility to the ideal facility proposed in the TOPSIS method. The analyses carried out do not indicate that there is a relationship between the level of sustainable energy consumption and energy productivity or energy import dependency. A statistically significant correlation was observed between energy import dependency by oil and petroleum products and primary energy consumption, and between the share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption and total energy import dependency.

The article is devoted to presenting the topic of migration of Ukrainian nationals to Poland. The work makes use of a survey under a project carried out in Polish rural areas and small towns. Seven hundred interviews were held in total. We conducted a quantitative analysis of its results here. The employed methods involve variable frequency distribution. The independence of the features was tested with the non-parametric chi-square test of independence. The association of the investigated variables was determined with Cramér’s V. The research shows that the most numerous foreign nationals in the Polish labour market in 2021 were Ukrainians. The positive trend started in 2017. The respondents perceived the migration of Ukrainian nationals to Poland mostly positively, especially regarding seasonal work. They also emphasized that the Ukrainians performed work at variance with their qualifications. Only every fifth participant agreed that migrants took away jobs from Poles. Most of the respondents pointed out that small business owners benefited from employing Ukrainians. The overwhelming majority of the respondents noted an increase in migration from Ukraine after the full-scale invasion and that entire families of Ukrainians were coming to Poland. Nearly half of them agreed that the support system for Ukrainian migrants was a burden on municipal budgets.

In the 21st century, society has been undergoing a technology-driven transformation which heralds a new revolution that has potential to strengthen the position of an individual and community but may also lead to the marginalization of certain groups. The Internet of Things takes advantage of the technology’s potential to improve digital competencies and the quality of life in society. The purpose of this paper is to obtain information about the digital competencies and needs of contemporary seniors and pre-senior age people, as well as socially sensitive groups from Poland’s rural areas. To strength the level of internet infrastructure in rural areas, power line communication (PLC) systems that utilize high-voltage line(s) between transformer substations are presented as a cost-effective communication tool. PowerLink IP has made PLC systems today more attractive and efficient than ever before. Based on nation-wide representative surveys conducted in deliberately selected groups, we collected information on digital competencies and formulated recommendations pertaining to the structure and contents of an innovative internet portal as regards offering, sharing, and the availability of commercial and social services targeted at seniors and other dependent groups. The recommended portal combines the needs of target groups with interests of entrepreneurs, self-government authorities, and NGOs.

Demograficzne problemy współczesnego świata koncentrują się obecnie głównie wokół procesu starzenia się ludności. Nierównomierność tego procesu sprawia, że niektóre kontynenty, a w ich obrębie, regiony i kraje, starzeją się szybciej i w dużo większej skali niż inne. Z taką sytuacją mamy do czynienia w przypadku Europy. Zjawiskiem relatywnie nowym, obserowawanym zaledwie mniej więcej od dekady jest dynamiczny przebieg procesu starzenia się w krajach byłego bloku socjalistycznego, np. w Polsce, Czechach i Slowacji, będących przedmiotem zainteresowania niniejszego opracowania. Prezentowany artykuł opiera się na dwuetapowych analizach. W pierwszej kolejności scharakteryzowano różne kraje za pomocą wskaźników rozwoju społeczno-gospodarczego dla państw członkowskich UE. Analizy pozwoliły zidentyfikować grupy krajów podobnych pod względem poziomu rozwoju, w tym pozycję Czech, Polski i Słowacji. Drugi etap obejmuje badania pilotażowe w tych trzech krajach. Wyniki tych badań dotyczą aktywności edukacyjnej ludności w wieku 60 lat i więcej z obszarów wiejskich. Obszary wiejskie zostały wybrane do badania, ponieważ pomimo bogatej oferty edukacyjnej dla osób starszych w Polsce, Czechach i na Słowacji, to właśnie obszary wiejskie mają znacznie mniej do zaoferowania w zakresie edukacji, również w odniesieniu do seniorów. Dlatego ważne jest, aby poznać opinie i potrzeby starszych mieszkańców wsi. Działania edukacyjne są ważną formą spędzania wolnego czasu dla seniorów. Jednocześnie odgrywają istotną rolę w zwiększaniu ich uczestnictwa w życiu społecznym a także pomnażaniu kapitału społecznego i kulturowego społeczności lokalnych. Umożliwiają także zwalczanie ageizmu, czyli stereotypów związanych z seniorami. Ponadto udział osób starszych w różnych formach edukacji jest jednym z kluczowych elementów koncepcji aktywnego starzenia się.

Population ageing is just as important a modern phenomenon as it is global. However, the process is not uniform on a scale of continents and within Europe, with the latter exhibiting the most advanced and widespread population ageing. Nowhere is it as dynamic as in the former Eastern Bloc. It is true for Poland, Slovakia, and Czechia as well. The researches involves pilot surveys in the three countries of interest. The part of the survey results discussed here covers the educational activity of the population aged 60 and over from rural areas. Rural areas were chosen for the study because, despite the abundance of learning opportunities for older people in Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia, rural areas have much less to offer in terms of education, also regarding seniors. Hence, it is necessary to identify the opinions and needs of the older rural population. Participation of older people in any form of education is a critical component of active ageing. Importantly, learning is a way for older people to be active in society. The educational activity is not just a fun way to spend time for seniors, but it can help improve their social participation, fend off ageism, and enhance the social and cultural capital of local communities. Still, for educational activity to play all these roles, a broad educational offer is needed fit for specific needs and capabilities of all groups of society, including rural seniors.