Using PLS-SEM, this article proposes and verifies a model among Gen Z that captures the relationship between attitudes towards the environmental ecosystem and green tourism, personal and social norms regarding pro-environmental behaviour, perceived behavioural control, perceived green image of destinations (PGID), behavioural intentions regarding green holiday destinations (GHD), and willingness to pay (WTP) more for visiting them. The paper also verifies whether intercultural differences exist in the relationships between these variables. The most important results indicate that (1) for Gen Z, the perceived green image of destinations has the strongest impact on intention to travel to green holiday destinations; (2) the proposed variables explain the willingness to visit green holiday destinations to a much greater extent than the WTP a higher price for such trips. This study contributes to the literature concerning generational changes in tourism, pro-environmental (transition) planning, and the growing green economy and marketing.

Purpose: India is a fast-growing economy, that has a majority share in the global information technology industry (IT). Rapid urbanisation and modernisation in India have strained its energy sector, which is being reformed to cope. Despite being the global IT heart and having above average research output in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), India has not yet managed to leverage its benefits to the full. This study aims to address the role of AI and information management (IM) in India’s energy transition to highlight the challenges and barriers to its development and use in the energy sector.Design/methodology/approach: The study, through analysis of proposed strategies, current policies, available literature and reports, discusses the role of AI and IM in the energy transition in India, highlighting the current situation and challenges.Findings: The results show dispersed research and development incentives for IT in the Indian energy sector; however, the needed holistic top-down approach is lacking, calling for due attention in this matter. Adaptive and swift actions from policymakers towards AI and IM are warranted in India.Practical implications: The ongoing transition of the Indian energy sector with the integration of smart technologies would result in increased access to big data. Extracting the maximum benefits from this would require a comprehensive AI and IM policy.Social implications: The revolution in AI and robotics must be carried out in line with sustainable development goals, to support climate action and to consider privacy issues – both areas in India must be strengthened.Originality/value: The paper offers an original discussion on certain applicable solutions regarding the energy transition of AI coming from the Global South; they are based on lessons learned from the Indian case studies presented in this study.

Both people and things are becoming smarter by the day. Industrial evolution at the peak of the 4.0 phase and indications of 5.0 phase are fascinating. In these circumstances, fulfilling the demand for energy is a challenge faced by countries all over the world. Upgrading the current energy distribution systems with smart grids and smart meters are steps towards facing this challenge, especially for Poland, which is primarily relying on conventional sources of energy. For any innovation or new technology, creating public awareness and consumer acceptance enhances the chance for a fruitful deployment. To achieve this, various communication channels are adopted and social media is found to be one of the most effective tools for it. This study discusses the awareness level and consumer acceptance of social media users in Poland. The source through which they receive information regarding electricity in general and smart meters (SM) in particular and their preferences and willingness about the installation of SM under various conditions are discussed in detail. Findings show that there is low level of public awareness among the respondents which causes them to develop myths, fears and doubts about SM installation in their households. More effort is required from the government as well as from the energy companies in order to increase the public awareness which will result in an increase in consumer acceptance. Based on the results, the article also contains recommendations that can be used by governments as well as energy companies to create a positive feeling about SM to affect consumer behavior.

Although eco-friendly (pro-environmental) behaviour in tourism has attracted interest among practitioners and scholars, little is known about the influence of these attitudes on the choice of eco-friendly destinations, especially in the context of emerging tourist markets such as India. Thus, this article aims to verify a model of the relationships between attitudes towards the environment and eco-friendly tourism, social and personal norms regarding environmentally responsible behaviour, perceived behavioural control, behavioural intentions regarding eco-friendly destinations and the willingness to pay for such trips using the theory of planned behaviour. The study used an online survey conducted with 598 Indians. The relationships between the variables were analysed using PLS-PM. The most important results indicated that (1) there are significant relationships between the attitude towards the environment, the attitude towards an eco-friendly destination, social and personal norms and behavioural control and intentions regarding travelling to eco-destinations and (2) well-educated young Indian consumers expressed a positive attitude towards eco-friendly destinations; however, there was only a very weak relationship between this attitude and willingness to pay more for trips to them. These findings are valuable for pro-environmental planning and the growing green market/economy, as well as for the discussion on the future of pro-environmental tourism development.

The problem of diminishing resources on our plant is now getting due attention from the governments as well as scientists around the world. The transition from a linear economy to a circular economy (CE) is now among the top priorities. This article discusses the implementation of the circular economy paradigm in Poland through the analysis of the existing and planned mechanisms, and actions taken by the Polish government which can be replicated by other young European countries. Further, the article discusses the direction of change and projected measures planned by the Polish government to improve the quality of municipal solid waste management. In this context, profitability analysis is carried out for two methods of waste processing (incineration and torrefaction) intended for small municipalities and settlements in which district heating and trading of generated electricity are not feasible. The results of the analysis shows that torrefaction is clearly a more desirable waste processing option as a step towards the implementation of CE for civic society in the urban context, as well as profitability, in comparison to incineration. The analysis accounts for several scenarios before the lockdown caused due to the COVID-19 pandemic and after it was lifted.