Higher education institutions have in the digital transformation an opportunity to facilitate access to education for individuals of different social backgrounds. At the same time, it will provide them with the necessary tools and skills to face current global problems (poverty, health quality, income disparities, environmental crises, among others) from a transdisciplinary perspective. Progress in the digitalization of higher education has been significantly accelerated by the onset of a pandemics in early 2020 (in European conditions). Such a rapid and massive transition to distance (online) education with comprehensive support for digital technologies is unparalleled. The survey conducted reflects the consequences of this change. Results shows that digital transformation improves some of the most demanded skills in the new knowledge society (searching and processing information, digital communication and socialization or working with text). Likewise, it has an important role in reducing costs related to education, but also in degradation of abilities in personal communication.

Analysis of Wood Flows in Slovakia

Mainstream economics sees the solution to the problem of exploitative use of limited natural resources in a properly functioning price system. The price mechanism thus works on the principle of scarcity: if a natural resource becomes scarce, it is used less (higher demand causes an increase in the price of the resource). This argumentation is subject to the fulfilment of one condition: the price mechanism must work properly. The criticism of mainstream economics lies in the fact that the global market still offers producers locations with attractive input prices. This is how we achieve global economic growth but also an enormous increase in environmental problems. The clothing industry makes a significant global contribution to increasing the environmental burden. Enormous production is seconded here by customer demand. Specifically, fast fashion represents a constant cycle of buying and disposing of clothes, leading to a significant amount of textile waste. Consumers, with their decision-making power and choices,can be a part of a solution, but it is necessary to know their behaviour. The aim of the paper was to examine whether there exist differences among four female generational cohorts in Slovakia regarding their attitudes towards sustainable clothes and their real purchase behaviour. The questionnaire survey on the sample of n = 428 respondents was used as a method of data collection. One-way ANOVA was used to determine differences between all age groups. A Tukey post hoc test revealed that (1) Gen Y and Gen Z had significantly higher attitudes towards sustainable clothing in comparison with Baby Boomers and (2) Gen X and Gen Y expressed higher levels of purchases of sustainable clothes in comparison with both Baby Boomers and Gen Z. There were no significant differences in actual purchases of sustainable clothing between Gen X and Gen Y orbetween Baby Boomers and Gen Z. The oldest and youngest generations (Baby Boomers and Gen Z) do not differ among themselves but buy significantly less sustainable clothes in comparison with Gen X and Gen Y. Overall, all generations showed positive attitudes towards sustainable clothes, especially younger generations, but this was not fully reflected in their real purchase behaviour. Gen Z and Baby Boomers tend not to buy sustainable clothes, and Gen X and Gen Y are indifferent in this issue. This knowledge helps companies within the fashion industry concentrate on specific segments, tailor their communication strategies accordingly, target educational statements and adopt appropriate practices that are in line with consumer behaviour. To effectively tackle this matter, understanding diverse consumer groups can be highly advantageous, offering valuable insights into their behavioural patterns. It helps to distinguish practices that motivate female consumers to purchase sustainable clothes.

The desire to live in a healthy “green” environment is becoming increasingly important to global populations. The term “green” is overused, confusing, and inconsistently used among and between consumers, corporate enterprises, environmental groups, government entities, and other segments globally. Research studies suggest that defining and applying the term “green” to behaviors and decision-making is constantly changing, further complicating the study of corporate and consumer environmental responsibility. In this study, we focus on the consumer. Not all consumers behave the same or have the same beliefs and perceptions regarding what is environmentally “green.” As such, we segmented consumers in Slovakia into unique “green” groups based on behaviors and perceptions. Further, we propose “green” marketing strategies for each unique consumer group. Cluster analysis for 1,061 respondents resulted in four unique clusters or groups of green consumers: “Indifferent Greens,”“Economical Greens,”“Engaged Greens,” and “Image Conscious Greens.” In addition, exploratory factor analysis was used to identify optimal components of the marketing mix that can be used to educate and target each identified green cluster. Results may provide Slovakian companies, or enterprises elsewhere, with a specific set marketing mix tools to enhance reach and profit maximization for their relevant “green” customers. JEL Classification: M210, M310, M370, Q210, Q560.

The paper is focused on the issue of business logistics performance and sustainability of countries in the EU due to their constantly growing importance in the social, economic and environmental field. We assume a significant dependence between the mentioned quantities. To research the relationship between business logistics performance and sustainability, we used the data of the business logistics performance index and the sustainability index across each EU countries. The importance of the selected indices lies in the ability to identify possible opportunities and challenges of business logistics as a benchmarking tool to increase its performance. To assess the relationship of these researched parameters, we applied the correlation coefficient, cluster and geographic analysis to identify relatively homogeneous groups - EU countries - clusters with the greatest possible difference within the clusters. The results proved a statistically significant dependence between the performance of business logistics and sustainability in EU member states. From a geographic analysis perspective, we have identified a tendency to create geographically close groupings of EU countries within the examined parameters.