The present paper looks at the competitiveness from a regional perspective and examines the basic factor which have influence on this phenomenon. This article aims at evaluating Poland’s regional competitive performance by constructing an overall index, which is composed in accordance with the Huggin’s Institute approach. The purpose of the paper is both rank the 16 Polish regions (voivodships) according to their competitive position and see whether Huggin’s approach was appropriate for measuring Polish competitiveness. This article also aims to make a contribution to the debate surrounding the state of Polish regions competitiveness. Der Beitrag betrachtet die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit von Regionen und bestimmt Faktoren, die darauf Einfluss haben. Es wird versucht, die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit der Regionen Polens mit einem zusammenfassenden Index zu messen, der dem Ansatz des Huggin’s Instituts entspricht. Ziel dieses Artikels ist es, sowohl die 16 Regionen (Woiwodschaften) Polens nach deren Wettbewerbsfähigkeit zu ordnen als auch festzustellen, ob der Huggin’s Ansatz geeignet ist, die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit polnischer Regionen zu messen. Außerdem soll dieser Artikel einen Beitrag zur Diskussion um die aktuelle Situation der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit der Regionen in Polen leisten.

The article deals with the competitiveness of regions in the face of climate change. The aim was to present the concept of measuring the Regional Climate Change Competitiveness Index. We used a comparative and logical analysis of the concept of regional competitiveness and heuristic conceptual methods to construct the index and measurement scale. The structure of the index includes six broad sub-indexes: Basic, Natural, Efficiency, Innovation, Sectoral, Social, and 89 indicators. A practical application of the model was presented for the Mazowieckie province in Poland. This allowed the region’s performance in the context of climate change to be presented, and regional weaknesses in the process of adaptation to climate change to be identified. The conclusions of the research confirm the possibility of applying the Regional Climate Change Competitiveness Index in the economic analysis and strategic planning. The presented model constitutes one of the earliest tools for the evaluation of climate change competitiveness at a regional level.

Polityka Spójności oraz Europejski Instrument Sąsiedztwa i Partnerstwa jako narzędzia wsparcia współpracy transgranicznej na wewnętrznych i zewnętrznych granicach Unii Europejskiej

Demographic problem areas are perceived as one of the most important types of problem areas and require special research interest. Problem areas conditioned by population factor most often refer to rural areas. Presented article aims to identify and delimit rural demographic problem areas in Poland. The study covered rural areas distinguished on the basis of the classification of the European Commission DEGURBA The analysis enabled to identify depopulation areas, areas with disrupted population reproduction (ie areas of permanent natural decline), areas of permanent outflow of population, areas with impaired population structure by age and areas with disrupted population structure by sex in the group of people of marriage age (20-34 years). To indicate clusters of communes characterised by the presence of the unfavourable demographic phenomena and processes (rural demographic problem areas) the measure of local spatial autocorrelation (Anselin Local Moran's I) was applied. The application value resulting from the research may be the improvement of the effectiveness of public intervention carried out as part of the development policy.

The present paper concerns the analysis and evaluation of the performance of regional agro-clusters in Poland and also the examination of the significant basic factors which have influence on it. The objective of the paper is both to rank the 16 Polish regions according to their competitive position in the agrocomplex and to present their economic and social position, show differences and regional contrasts. Also, we compare the outcomes with the overall Polish regional competitive index, which was created in accordance with the Huggins Institute approach.

This paper identifies the most influential factors in shaping the climate change competitiveness of the EU regions. We conducted multiple linear regression, geographically weighted regression and polynomial best subset regression analysis to explore the variability in regional competitiveness by economic, environmental, social, innovative and technological factors. The results of the study provide rigorously tested and evidence-based insights into the most instrumental factors shaping climate change competitiveness of the EU regions. The findings revealed that the most affected factors were the number of cooling and heating days, CO emissions, e-banking, digital skills, urbanisation levels and access to technology. On the contrary, the levels of migration and of international scientific publications turned out to be minor. The authors believe that this article highlights several interesting findings and new incentives for further research and discussion regarding regional competitiveness in the face of climate change.