Journal of Security and Sustainability Issues

The paper deals with consumer preferences of young people (members of Y generation) in relation to general principles of sustainability in environmental and social aspects of consumer goods purchase. The aim of the article is to evaluate the relationship between the general attitudes to the above-mentioned issues and the awareness of the “fair trade” business concept in the context of sustainable development of the young generation aged 15–34 in the Czech Republic. The presented results were obtained through primary research involving 840 respondents from the Czech Republic. Within the research, the quota selection features were taken into account, which were gender, age, educational attainment and respondent’s residence area. The results show that young people are interested in the origin of consumer goods they buy. They are willing to invest more in the purchase of goods if their price reflects the quality, the environmentally friendly way and the working conditions of the producers. From the point of view of the specific knowledge of the concept of Fair Trade, it was found that almost half knows it. It has been proven that young people who are interested in the origin of goods also know Fair Trade.

The development of human resources is an important condition for ensuring the sustainability of the society and the development of the national economy. Knowledge is becoming more and more one of the basic factors for society sustainability and development. In the 21st century economy, which is based on knowledge, the innovation becomes one of the major factors to increase the competitiveness. It is confirmed by the experience of leading economic systems when investing considerable resources in the society educating. It is especially important for the Baltic States in the context of the creation of the knowledge based society declared in the EU space. Thus one of the basic aims of the Latvian economy policy is to create efficient, competitive and sustainable economy. One of the basic priorities of an up-to-date state development strategy is a modern education and science system as the education level and the development of human capital are the most important indicators that are creating the competitiveness and sustainability of the country. In the article there are considered the global tendencies of the higher education; also the connection of education with innovation and sustainability are analysed. The aim of this study is to focus on sustainable competitiveness concept and provide in-depth understanding of higher education impact on ensuring sustainable competitiveness on national level. In the research there are used primarily quantitative comparative research methods. Quantitative indicators are used to characterize specific features of the higher education impact on economics in the Baltics and Nordics. For the calculations, methodology and definitions the OECD methodology and World Economic Forum, global competitiveness concept is used.

Mining and metals production sector (MMPS) of Ukraine is one of the basic for the state’s economy. The sector’s output, as well as the gradual increase in production, gives reason for taking a favorable view of its development prospects. Until the mid-90s MMPS of Ukraine key representatives were separate companies that operated as independent legal entities. However, during 1999-2004 the MMPS enterprises integration into the structure of major private transnational financial industrial groups took place. Large-scale consolidation of major enterprises that occurred in order to adapt to market conditions contributed to the emergence of business combination referred to as holding company. In the future, Ukrainian iron and steel companies’ competitiveness in the world market will be largely determined by the scope of their participation in the global consolidation processes. Their future directly depends on the rate of large corporations’ formation and restructuring, including changes in the mechanisms of corporate governance. This is one of the most important ways to improve the efficiency of the national iron and steel industry.

Presented paper aims to indicate what types of interrelationships between energy usage patterns prevailing in particular country, economic growth and finally, sustainable development could be distinguished. The topic of paper, or, rather research area, is neither new nor original. Nevertheless, an array of approaches towards character of considered interrelationships can be encountered. Complicity of chosen issue, we reckon, lies in differences of perception of the following questions. Our findings consequently would depend on, at first, how we measure economic growth in short and long terms, the second, how we measure energy security, and, the third, how we benchmark progress towards sustainable development. Methods, which we consider as being applicable for measuring of selected interrelationships, comprise a separate part of scientific elaboration. Therefore we formulate a task to overview the most contemporary measurable perceptions of economic growth, perceptions of energy security facets affecting economic growth and consequent reaction of sustainable development to various scenarios of energy consumption and economic growth. Resulting conclusions about measurement of indicated phenomena and argumentations of their plausible interrelation would lead us to choice of methodological approaches of described interrelations’ analysis.

The global economy is facing a complex and outstanding challenge: the economic and financial crisis. The digital revolution represents the pillar for a competitive and sustainable global economy and Information and Communication Technologies can become a crucial factor for the economic recovery. The paper aims to highlight the significant contribution of Information and Communication Technologies to the development of sustainable knowledge economy. The paper achieves an analysis of ICT sector in the EU Member States. The comparative study is analyzing the correlation between the networked readiness, global competitiveness and ICT sector share in national economies in the EU27. The current paper also addresses main issues regarding digital marketing.