Journal of Security and Sustainability Issues

The article describes the research of the development of the shadow economy, defines its essence, discloses main reasons for its occurrence; describes its structure, Identifies factors that promote its development; evaluates the system of combating measures and reveals the results of controlling it. Policy implications are being suggested.

Aim of the paper is to outline a research methodology, which would ultimately allow predicting and enhancing competitiveness of less developed economies, which encounter energy security issues. The following theoretical questions are to be discussed. The first, what we mean by sustainable development in countries, which are in different economic development phases, i.e. if emphasis on different facets of sustainability (particularly economic environmental, related to energy consumption patterns) changes as country develops. The second research question raised in the paper deals with energy security issues. Authors tackle the following questions of methodological character: if/what natural consistent patterns of economies development exist; and how to indicate efficient ways of economic restructuring. Answer to the indicated questions would allow formulating policy implications directed towards energetically secure and sustainable development.

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.

International migration has become a key challenge and concern in the European Union (EU) and most part of the word. On the one hand, the freedom to move to another Member State is the right guaranteed for all the EU citizens. On the other hand, emigration or immigration is a longstanding concern for policy makers in many countries. Generally, human capital is one of the future sustainable competitiveness resources. Moreover, now, as the Lisbon Strategy is being replaced by the new EU strategy Europe 2020 for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (2010), there is evidence that mobility in the EU will increase. In order to achieve the goals of the strategy Europe 2020 (2010), especially employment target, the flagship initiative “Youth on the Move” places a lot of emphasis on mobility as in moving to another country to study, train or work. The perceptions of this research show that growing mobility can be followed with new migration trends in the future. Moreover, no single answer to the question what level of migration (emigration or immigration) should be tolerated in the context of sustainable developing economy could be provided. This research not only confirms this observation and theoretical problem of “sustainable migration” but goes much further by discussing the reasons why one of the highest emigration rates in the EU happened to be found in Lithuania.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how learning in collaboration can support the development of sustainability competence in the military. The concept of sustainability in the military is controversial; nevertheless, requirements for more conscious decisions regarding economics, environment and society issues enter military practice and require rethinking the processes of military education and development. The application of computer-supported collaborative learning brings new opportunities in overcoming controversy of sustainability in the military and at the same time puts forward the solutions and skills for implementations of sustainability in the military.