This research study examines the attitudes of Portuguese higher education students regarding compulsory digital and distance learning university courses during the second semester of the academic year 2019–2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The methodology was quantitative, being the undergraduate and postgraduate students surveyed to find their perceptions about distance and online education in Portugal. The findings of the study highlighted the relationship between distance and online learning. The key concern of the respondents is related to the formal and contextual dimensions of the online class regime. The values examined, taken as a whole, allow us to conclude that with this teaching regime, in terms of awareness, there is acceptance and benefit. The sense of ambiguity in which this transformation took place, as well as the climate surrounding this phase, are worth noting. The teaching and evaluation methodologies used have been embraced and show a very wide range of choices on the part of the teaching teams and the students’ various interests, just as in the teaching regime of the classroom. The fact that students feel the need for face-to-face classes, however, is of great importance for practical and laboratory classes. This reality, which is a challenge to face in the future, is hard to overcome.

Historically, the development of new technologies has led to higher increase in productivity in Europe and the US compared to the rest of the world. This resulted in economic asymmetry in the global economy, which ultimately led to the geopolitical domination of Europe and the USA over Africa and Asia (Findlay, O'Rourke, 2007, p. 364). With the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Union has taken a step towards playing a significant role in trade, environment and social issues (Van Langenhove & Marchesi, 2009; Rudloff & Laurer, 2017). The aim of this work is to present the main challenges and changes taking place in transatlantic relations between the EU and the USA in the second and third decades of the 21st century. To achieve this goal, the descriptive method was applied. The reforms carried out by the EU allowed it to act in the spectrum of international affairs. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine (in 2014 and 2022) showed that the EU is increasingly resorting to sanctions and conditionality instruments to promote its interests. In addition, the EU aims to create a common army. Despite the fact that these changes contribute to the increase of the EU's competitiveness in the world, US relations between the EU are extremely durable, and the transatlantic community is repairing mutual relations relatively quickly. Meanwhile, the EU's relations with China, the largest trading partner in 2021 (Eurostat, 2022), are confrontational. Despite improvement in transatlantic relations, the earlier lack of communication led to a lack of confidence in the US on the part of Europeans. Relations between the US and the EU in the third decade of the 21st century remain tense – it is worth mentioning the AUKUS defense pact (agreement between Australia, Great Britain and the United States) on the exchange of defense technologies in this respect (Borges de Castro and Ricardo, 2021; Morcos 2021 ). It resulted in deterioration of relations between Paris and the US to such an extent that they were close to breaking. At the same time, at the beginning of the third decade of the 21st century, transatlantic relations sought stabilization. President Biden's administration has reaffirmed its commitment to alliances with European countries. In addition, the US returned to the Paris Agreement (United States Department of State, 2021) and rejoined the World Health Organization (WHO) (Keaten, 2021).

The ongoing digitalization of higher education generates the need for an in-depth analysis of how the adoption of digital technologies affects the functioning of sustainable academic staff. Despite the growing interest in work-life balance within sustainable development research, the relationship between the level of digital competences and employee well-being remains an area that requires further empirical investigation. The aim of this study is to recognition the level of digital technology adoption among research and teaching staff at selected European higher education institutions, as well as to assess the impact of these technologies on the respondents’ work-life balance. Quantitative research was used to achieve this objective. The research sample included eight universities. The participants were academic staff representing the fields of management and quality sciences, as well as economics and finance. The data collection instrument was a custom-designed diagnostic questionnaire, developed based on a review of contemporary frameworks concerning digital technology adoption and work-life balance. The data were analyzed using exploratory methods and machine learning algorithms within the JASP environment. The survey was voluntary and approved by the Rector’s Committee for Ethics in Research Involving Human Subjects at the Hugon Kołłątaj University of Agriculture in Krakow. The results of the study revealed that the level of professional digitalisation is multidimensional and does not result solely from technological skills, but also from one’s attitude towards private life and the way in which work-life balance is organised. Those who cope best with digitalisation effectively maintain close relationships, fulfil their private commitments and clearly set boundaries for their availability, being often supported in this by a strong motivation to be productive and/or a profound focus on relationships. The project provided a foundation for developing a support model for academic staff and for formulating recommendations for university management policies in the context of the sustainable professional development of research and teaching personnel.

Sustainable bioeconomy is one of the concepts that makes it possible to achieve the European Green Deal. A similar understanding of the term bioeconomy gives the opportunity to simultaneously take proportionate actions leading to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in EU countries. Parallel understanding of the concept of bioeconomy is crucial for achieving a common consensus on actions aimed at introducing optimal plans for the development of green technologies. Therefore, the goal of the paper was to compare knowledge and perception about the bioeconomy in different countries. Realization of the work's objective was possible thanks to the use of the C&RT classification tree method. It was shown that the level of knowledge of respondents working or studying at selected universities was similar, while their perception of the bioeconomy differed significantly.