Justyna Chodkowska-Miszczuk - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Justyna Chodkowska-Miszczuk
Moravian Geographical Reports, Dec 1, 2022
Our research aims to reflect on rural communities' awareness and perceptions of various energy so... more Our research aims to reflect on rural communities' awareness and perceptions of various energy sources, particularly focusing on renewable energies. We argue that there is an urgent need to expand the knowledge base on the perspectives of rural communities directly and indirectly affected by renewable energy installations. From an empirical point of view, our study focuses on the Lipno county in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (Poland), where a relatively unique constellation of renewable energy and local community is emerging. Our findings indicate a wide awareness about renewable energies in the community, but a rather shallow, imbalanced, and outdated knowledge on potentials, advantages and disadvantages of individual locally available renewable energy sources was detected. To break deeply rooted carbon dependency and lock-in and to trigger mechanisms of change leading to more sustainable futures, practical, contextual, and place-based knowledge is essentially needed to shape responsive attitudes. We claim that personal experience of the effects of renewable energy installation (especially small-scale ones) can be a proxy for the change and scaling up. This is a key because it proves the leading role of an inclusive approach to developing renewable energy in rural areas. Locals undertake new energy investments, which is the basis of spatial (territorial) distribution justice-they not only bear the costs of operating new energy installations but also derive tangible benefits from renewables.
Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series
The progressing urbanisation process and its visible effects are prompting local authorities to s... more The progressing urbanisation process and its visible effects are prompting local authorities to seek new solutions to contemporary development challenges, especially those identified in post-socialist cities, including in Poland. Nowadays, the smart city concept is becoming widely popular. This idea is grounded in the principles of sustainable development in all spheres of socio-economic life. However, in a comprehensive approach, it moves away from its strictly technological definition towards the social context and local conditions. Nowadays, there are more and more instruments supporting social and civic activity of the inhabitants of Polish cities. One extremely popular mechanism is the participatory budget. In order to trace its importance in the implementation of the smart city concept, an empirical analysis was undertaken in Bydgoszcz (a medium-sized city in Poland). According to the research, the participatory budget is asymmetrical, with infrastructure investments dominatin...
Agriculture and Human Values
Notwithstanding the opportunities it provides, the implementation of some measures of the EU Comm... more Notwithstanding the opportunities it provides, the implementation of some measures of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (EU CAP), including agri-environment-climate measures (AECMs), also generates threats. The study identifies an extremely disturbing process that can be referred to as “internal neo-colonialism”, which has been driven by the technocratic agrarian policy of the EU and transformations in Poland at the turn of the twenty-first century. The associated disadvantageous practices mainly affect areas under threat of marginalisation and peripheralisation, including Poland with its post-Socialist heritage, which has shaped the attitudes and behaviour of society and has consolidated linkages between politics and business. In order to retrace such activities, the study analyses EU funds granted in support of farmers implementing AECMs, with a focus on analysing the place of residence of the “farmer” and the location of the farm. As the research shows, the attractiveness of CAP ...
W artykule przedstawiono główne kierunki rozwoju działalności pozarolniczej i natężenie procesów ... more W artykule przedstawiono główne kierunki rozwoju działalności pozarolniczej i natężenie procesów urbanizacji wsi zachodzących w powiecie bialskim. Podjęto próbę określenia zależności między procesami urbanizacji wsi a rozwojem alternatywnych źródeł dochodu indywidualnych gospodarstw rolnych.The aim of the study is to analyse two processes: urbanization and development of nonagriculture activites of rural areas in the Bialski Poviat of Lubelskie Voivodship
QUAGEO, 2010
Evaluating the Parsęta Basin Communes' Tourist Space Using the Selected Quantification Method... more Evaluating the Parsęta Basin Communes' Tourist Space Using the Selected Quantification Methods Identifying differences in the factors determining tourism development in an area is crucial to utilising its natural, economic and socio-cultural resources that enable sustainable development of the tourist function. This article sets out to present and estimate factors underlying tourism development in the context of various quantification methods and the comparisons of their results. The phenomenon selected for the research is evaluated using tools such as a synthetic measure Gołembski (2002) (based on weights assigned to particular features) and two synthetic measures Perkal (z-scores) (1953) and Zioło (1985).
Mitteilungen der Österreichischen Geographischen Gesellschaft, 2019
erwählt-ein vorstädtischer Raum, in welchem neben einem der ältesten Windkraftwerke Polens auch m... more erwählt-ein vorstädtischer Raum, in welchem neben einem der ältesten Windkraftwerke Polens auch moderne Windkraftanlagen situiert wurden. Die Studie wurde mithilfe von Fragebogen und der Wejchertschen Methode durchgeführt. Die gegenwärtigen Umgestaltungen des Landschaftsbildes sind eng mit der sozio-ökonomischen Entwicklung dieses Raumes verbunden. Sie betreffen zwar jeden Einwohner, besonders aber die Generation Y. Wenn es um die Bewertung landschaftlicher Prozesse wie Windparks geht, unterscheiden sich die Ansichten Jüngerer und Älterer. Die Vertreter der Generation Y sind mit dem Standort der Windkraftanlagen nicht zufrieden, bezeichnen sie als disharmonische Objekte in der Landschaft, obwohl sie nicht als Dominanten der Landschaft gesehen werden.
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2011
The article presents some of the socio-demographic factors conditioning the production of biomass... more The article presents some of the socio-demographic factors conditioning the production of biomass in Poland. It considers urban-rural and rural gminas that grew energy crops for biomass production in the years 2007-2009 (836 gminas in 2007, 756 in 2008 and 618 in 2009). The article tries to answer the question whether there is a relation between the age of the inhabitants, their opinion on Poland's accession to the European Union and the education level of the local authorities and the area of energy crops in a given gmina. The research uses the correlation coefficient and the analysis of segmented regression.
Quaestiones Geographicae, 2014
This article aims to identify the scale of energy efficiency improvements in public buildings in ... more This article aims to identify the scale of energy efficiency improvements in public buildings in Polish towns as representative of sustainable building. The study area is investigated from the perspective of challenges arising from the current policy in the EU. The article indicates that, given the age of public buildings in Poland, the best way to implement the concept of sustainable building is to improve their present stock. The modernisation of public buildings is discussed in terms of project location, project value, sources of funding (including EU funds), and the use of buildings undergoing modernisation. According to the research findings, the implementation of the sustainable building concept is determined by both, exogenous factors (EU directives and domestic laws, etc.) and endogenous ones (e.g. human resources and their quality)
Acta Universitatis Nicolai Copernici Ekonomia, 2013
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2013
The aim of the analysis is to present the implementation and development of agricultural biogas p... more The aim of the analysis is to present the implementation and development of agricultural biogas plants as a chance for diversification of agriculture in Poland. The main exogenous and endogenous determinants of the development of agriculture biogas plants in Poland were indicated. It is an attempt to present agricultural biogas plants in terms of their spatial distribution as well as the installed capacity and efficiency of agricultural biogas installations. Moreover, the feedstock structure for agricultural biogas production is also analysed.
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2011
The article presents rural areas in Poland in the context of endogenous resources utilization and... more The article presents rural areas in Poland in the context of endogenous resources utilization and functional diversification in 2007 and 2008. One of the directions of multifunctional rural development is renewable energy production based on local resources. Effective utilization of both environmental and technological resources for agricultural production was discussed by the reference to the energy crops production. Energy crops pose an alternative source of energy (biomass) and are based on local energy resources. Moreover, the energy crops production is also an example of diffusion of both technological and technical innovation. An important rural endogenous resource is a human factor. On the basis of the obtained results it has been concluded that young people are more creative; they are leaders in innovation implementation.
Environment, Development and Sustainability
The leverage of the public narrative created and maintained by the media as a highly influential ... more The leverage of the public narrative created and maintained by the media as a highly influential social actor is decisive, but also sensitive, in bringing about the energy transition and advancing towards a low-carbon economy. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has potential to slow down and deform the public acceptance of the above-mentioned processes as it is likely that the priorities of individual governments will be revisited and tailored to tackle the ongoing health crisis. We are replying to such a threat with this study that aims to reflect on the immense role of media in shaping a low-carbon economy in transitional economies. We are using Poland as an illustrative example to demonstrate how wide, colourful, and sometimes even confusing the low-carbon narrative might be. By means of employing the horizon scanning of the diverse types of media, we detected that media overwhelmingly affect and deform the ongoing discussions about the nuances of energy transition and benefits a low-carbon economy. We argue that political preferences of individual journalists (and publishing houses) in Poland tend to influence the style, depth, extent, and quality how the topic is covered and narrated.
DETUROPE - The Central European Journal of Tourism and Regional Development, 2019
Biogas production has recently expanded across the post-communist Central European countries. Thi... more Biogas production has recently expanded across the post-communist Central European countries. This paper addresses the role of biogas plants based on agricultural resources (agri-food waste and agricultural crops) as a new factor of rural development in Poland and Slovakia, and so it contributes to the comprehensive research on effects of agricultural biogas energy production. The analysis is based on a set of quantitative and qualitative methods, and the results are thoroughly illustrated by two case studies of agricultural biogas plants representing specific features and circumstances of biogas plants in both countries. The results reveal mutual conditionality between operating plants and agricultural structures. The study also provides insight into the impact of agricultural biogas plants operation to the rural development including stabilization of agricultural production thanks to improvement of its multifunctionality and points to the differences between two kinds of biogas pl...
Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences
This article aims to find whether the urbanized area experiences integration or disintegration of... more This article aims to find whether the urbanized area experiences integration or disintegration of the ecological and urban functions of the river. The river has always played an important role in urban areas, although over the centuries, it has come through radical changes. At first, it decided on the location of the city, served as a defense and means of transport, and during the period of industrialization it became the technical base for the city. Currently, the river has again come to be an important element of the urban landscape and it has a number of important functions addressed primarily to city residents and tourists. The study considers the Polish perspective and was carried out on the basis of a case study of the city of Toruń (an example of the post-communist city of medium size) and a part of the River Vistula within it.
XX. mezinárodní kolokvium o regionálních vědách. Sborník příspěvků.
It is widely accepted that cultural sector and creative sector contribute to the socioeconomic re... more It is widely accepted that cultural sector and creative sector contribute to the socioeconomic revival of cities, change their images, form a specific creative milieu, generate new jobs, and organize urban space. However, previous studies concerning the significance of the cultural and creative sectors in the urban development have focused on the largest cities, small cities have not been the subject of a wider research so far. The paper aims at drawing attention to the potential of small cities in the context of using the cultural industry or creatvie industry for the develoment of small cities on the example of Poland. The paper was prepared on the basis of the most relevant literature in the field. The study shows that small cities have a potential that may be used to build development strategies on the basis of the cultural and creative sectors. Research should elaborate the new strategies of development, implement new factors which can initiate required effects in this field.
The paper aims at analyzing agricultural production for energy generation purposes, including the... more The paper aims at analyzing agricultural production for energy generation purposes, including the production of agricultural biogas, as an opportunity for functional diversification of agriculture and for multifunctional rural development in Poland. There have been many changes observed in Polish agriculture. New directions of crop production and of the use of agricultural products have emerged. One of the changes is the increasing significance of the production of agricultural biogas and energy from biogas. There have been built both small-scale and largescale biogas plants. Most of the agricultural biogas plants are located in northern, western and south-western Poland, i.e. in the areas where there are relatively large farms which can provide a supply of substrates necessary for the production of agricultural biogas. The formation of biogas plants and the use of agricultural production for generating energy, are an eagerly anticipated trend contributing to the dissemination of re...
Transylvanian review of administrative sciences, 2017
This article aims to find whether the urbanized area experiences integration or disintegration of... more This article aims to find whether the urbanized area experiences integration or disintegration of the ecological and urban functions of the river. The river has always played an important role in urban areas, although over the centuries, it has come through radical changes. At first, it decided on the location of the city, served as a defense and means of transport, and during the period of industrialization it became the technical base for the city. Currently, the river has again come to be an important element of the urban landscape and it has a number of important functions addressed primarily to city residents and tourists. The study considers the Polish perspective and was carried out on the basis of a case study of the city of Torun (an example of the post-communist city of medium size) and a part of the River Vistula within it.
The article presents the issues related to human factor and its quality as endogenous resources c... more The article presents the issues related to human factor and its quality as endogenous resources conditions the rural areas developments in the context of the renewable energy production. In the light of the obtained results is concluded that young people are more creative; they are leaders in innovation implementation. The study included communes, in which energy crops has been grown (as a source for biomass production) and those where power plants based on renewable energy sources are situated. In particular human factor, as a one of the endogenous resources, was analysed. The importance of the European Union funds as a source of finance investments connected with renewable energy sector was stressed. Moreover EU funds might be source of an additional income for rural people. For instance, increased biomass production from agricultural sources (energy crops) in Poland was motivated by the economic factors, namely a desire to increase income by receive energy crops funding (in the b...
Moravian Geographical Reports, Dec 1, 2022
Our research aims to reflect on rural communities' awareness and perceptions of various energy so... more Our research aims to reflect on rural communities' awareness and perceptions of various energy sources, particularly focusing on renewable energies. We argue that there is an urgent need to expand the knowledge base on the perspectives of rural communities directly and indirectly affected by renewable energy installations. From an empirical point of view, our study focuses on the Lipno county in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (Poland), where a relatively unique constellation of renewable energy and local community is emerging. Our findings indicate a wide awareness about renewable energies in the community, but a rather shallow, imbalanced, and outdated knowledge on potentials, advantages and disadvantages of individual locally available renewable energy sources was detected. To break deeply rooted carbon dependency and lock-in and to trigger mechanisms of change leading to more sustainable futures, practical, contextual, and place-based knowledge is essentially needed to shape responsive attitudes. We claim that personal experience of the effects of renewable energy installation (especially small-scale ones) can be a proxy for the change and scaling up. This is a key because it proves the leading role of an inclusive approach to developing renewable energy in rural areas. Locals undertake new energy investments, which is the basis of spatial (territorial) distribution justice-they not only bear the costs of operating new energy installations but also derive tangible benefits from renewables.
Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series
The progressing urbanisation process and its visible effects are prompting local authorities to s... more The progressing urbanisation process and its visible effects are prompting local authorities to seek new solutions to contemporary development challenges, especially those identified in post-socialist cities, including in Poland. Nowadays, the smart city concept is becoming widely popular. This idea is grounded in the principles of sustainable development in all spheres of socio-economic life. However, in a comprehensive approach, it moves away from its strictly technological definition towards the social context and local conditions. Nowadays, there are more and more instruments supporting social and civic activity of the inhabitants of Polish cities. One extremely popular mechanism is the participatory budget. In order to trace its importance in the implementation of the smart city concept, an empirical analysis was undertaken in Bydgoszcz (a medium-sized city in Poland). According to the research, the participatory budget is asymmetrical, with infrastructure investments dominatin...
Agriculture and Human Values
Notwithstanding the opportunities it provides, the implementation of some measures of the EU Comm... more Notwithstanding the opportunities it provides, the implementation of some measures of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (EU CAP), including agri-environment-climate measures (AECMs), also generates threats. The study identifies an extremely disturbing process that can be referred to as “internal neo-colonialism”, which has been driven by the technocratic agrarian policy of the EU and transformations in Poland at the turn of the twenty-first century. The associated disadvantageous practices mainly affect areas under threat of marginalisation and peripheralisation, including Poland with its post-Socialist heritage, which has shaped the attitudes and behaviour of society and has consolidated linkages between politics and business. In order to retrace such activities, the study analyses EU funds granted in support of farmers implementing AECMs, with a focus on analysing the place of residence of the “farmer” and the location of the farm. As the research shows, the attractiveness of CAP ...
W artykule przedstawiono główne kierunki rozwoju działalności pozarolniczej i natężenie procesów ... more W artykule przedstawiono główne kierunki rozwoju działalności pozarolniczej i natężenie procesów urbanizacji wsi zachodzących w powiecie bialskim. Podjęto próbę określenia zależności między procesami urbanizacji wsi a rozwojem alternatywnych źródeł dochodu indywidualnych gospodarstw rolnych.The aim of the study is to analyse two processes: urbanization and development of nonagriculture activites of rural areas in the Bialski Poviat of Lubelskie Voivodship
QUAGEO, 2010
Evaluating the Parsęta Basin Communes' Tourist Space Using the Selected Quantification Method... more Evaluating the Parsęta Basin Communes' Tourist Space Using the Selected Quantification Methods Identifying differences in the factors determining tourism development in an area is crucial to utilising its natural, economic and socio-cultural resources that enable sustainable development of the tourist function. This article sets out to present and estimate factors underlying tourism development in the context of various quantification methods and the comparisons of their results. The phenomenon selected for the research is evaluated using tools such as a synthetic measure Gołembski (2002) (based on weights assigned to particular features) and two synthetic measures Perkal (z-scores) (1953) and Zioło (1985).
Mitteilungen der Österreichischen Geographischen Gesellschaft, 2019
erwählt-ein vorstädtischer Raum, in welchem neben einem der ältesten Windkraftwerke Polens auch m... more erwählt-ein vorstädtischer Raum, in welchem neben einem der ältesten Windkraftwerke Polens auch moderne Windkraftanlagen situiert wurden. Die Studie wurde mithilfe von Fragebogen und der Wejchertschen Methode durchgeführt. Die gegenwärtigen Umgestaltungen des Landschaftsbildes sind eng mit der sozio-ökonomischen Entwicklung dieses Raumes verbunden. Sie betreffen zwar jeden Einwohner, besonders aber die Generation Y. Wenn es um die Bewertung landschaftlicher Prozesse wie Windparks geht, unterscheiden sich die Ansichten Jüngerer und Älterer. Die Vertreter der Generation Y sind mit dem Standort der Windkraftanlagen nicht zufrieden, bezeichnen sie als disharmonische Objekte in der Landschaft, obwohl sie nicht als Dominanten der Landschaft gesehen werden.
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2011
The article presents some of the socio-demographic factors conditioning the production of biomass... more The article presents some of the socio-demographic factors conditioning the production of biomass in Poland. It considers urban-rural and rural gminas that grew energy crops for biomass production in the years 2007-2009 (836 gminas in 2007, 756 in 2008 and 618 in 2009). The article tries to answer the question whether there is a relation between the age of the inhabitants, their opinion on Poland's accession to the European Union and the education level of the local authorities and the area of energy crops in a given gmina. The research uses the correlation coefficient and the analysis of segmented regression.
Quaestiones Geographicae, 2014
This article aims to identify the scale of energy efficiency improvements in public buildings in ... more This article aims to identify the scale of energy efficiency improvements in public buildings in Polish towns as representative of sustainable building. The study area is investigated from the perspective of challenges arising from the current policy in the EU. The article indicates that, given the age of public buildings in Poland, the best way to implement the concept of sustainable building is to improve their present stock. The modernisation of public buildings is discussed in terms of project location, project value, sources of funding (including EU funds), and the use of buildings undergoing modernisation. According to the research findings, the implementation of the sustainable building concept is determined by both, exogenous factors (EU directives and domestic laws, etc.) and endogenous ones (e.g. human resources and their quality)
Acta Universitatis Nicolai Copernici Ekonomia, 2013
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2013
The aim of the analysis is to present the implementation and development of agricultural biogas p... more The aim of the analysis is to present the implementation and development of agricultural biogas plants as a chance for diversification of agriculture in Poland. The main exogenous and endogenous determinants of the development of agriculture biogas plants in Poland were indicated. It is an attempt to present agricultural biogas plants in terms of their spatial distribution as well as the installed capacity and efficiency of agricultural biogas installations. Moreover, the feedstock structure for agricultural biogas production is also analysed.
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2011
The article presents rural areas in Poland in the context of endogenous resources utilization and... more The article presents rural areas in Poland in the context of endogenous resources utilization and functional diversification in 2007 and 2008. One of the directions of multifunctional rural development is renewable energy production based on local resources. Effective utilization of both environmental and technological resources for agricultural production was discussed by the reference to the energy crops production. Energy crops pose an alternative source of energy (biomass) and are based on local energy resources. Moreover, the energy crops production is also an example of diffusion of both technological and technical innovation. An important rural endogenous resource is a human factor. On the basis of the obtained results it has been concluded that young people are more creative; they are leaders in innovation implementation.
Environment, Development and Sustainability
The leverage of the public narrative created and maintained by the media as a highly influential ... more The leverage of the public narrative created and maintained by the media as a highly influential social actor is decisive, but also sensitive, in bringing about the energy transition and advancing towards a low-carbon economy. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has potential to slow down and deform the public acceptance of the above-mentioned processes as it is likely that the priorities of individual governments will be revisited and tailored to tackle the ongoing health crisis. We are replying to such a threat with this study that aims to reflect on the immense role of media in shaping a low-carbon economy in transitional economies. We are using Poland as an illustrative example to demonstrate how wide, colourful, and sometimes even confusing the low-carbon narrative might be. By means of employing the horizon scanning of the diverse types of media, we detected that media overwhelmingly affect and deform the ongoing discussions about the nuances of energy transition and benefits a low-carbon economy. We argue that political preferences of individual journalists (and publishing houses) in Poland tend to influence the style, depth, extent, and quality how the topic is covered and narrated.
DETUROPE - The Central European Journal of Tourism and Regional Development, 2019
Biogas production has recently expanded across the post-communist Central European countries. Thi... more Biogas production has recently expanded across the post-communist Central European countries. This paper addresses the role of biogas plants based on agricultural resources (agri-food waste and agricultural crops) as a new factor of rural development in Poland and Slovakia, and so it contributes to the comprehensive research on effects of agricultural biogas energy production. The analysis is based on a set of quantitative and qualitative methods, and the results are thoroughly illustrated by two case studies of agricultural biogas plants representing specific features and circumstances of biogas plants in both countries. The results reveal mutual conditionality between operating plants and agricultural structures. The study also provides insight into the impact of agricultural biogas plants operation to the rural development including stabilization of agricultural production thanks to improvement of its multifunctionality and points to the differences between two kinds of biogas pl...
Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences
This article aims to find whether the urbanized area experiences integration or disintegration of... more This article aims to find whether the urbanized area experiences integration or disintegration of the ecological and urban functions of the river. The river has always played an important role in urban areas, although over the centuries, it has come through radical changes. At first, it decided on the location of the city, served as a defense and means of transport, and during the period of industrialization it became the technical base for the city. Currently, the river has again come to be an important element of the urban landscape and it has a number of important functions addressed primarily to city residents and tourists. The study considers the Polish perspective and was carried out on the basis of a case study of the city of Toruń (an example of the post-communist city of medium size) and a part of the River Vistula within it.
XX. mezinárodní kolokvium o regionálních vědách. Sborník příspěvků.
It is widely accepted that cultural sector and creative sector contribute to the socioeconomic re... more It is widely accepted that cultural sector and creative sector contribute to the socioeconomic revival of cities, change their images, form a specific creative milieu, generate new jobs, and organize urban space. However, previous studies concerning the significance of the cultural and creative sectors in the urban development have focused on the largest cities, small cities have not been the subject of a wider research so far. The paper aims at drawing attention to the potential of small cities in the context of using the cultural industry or creatvie industry for the develoment of small cities on the example of Poland. The paper was prepared on the basis of the most relevant literature in the field. The study shows that small cities have a potential that may be used to build development strategies on the basis of the cultural and creative sectors. Research should elaborate the new strategies of development, implement new factors which can initiate required effects in this field.
The paper aims at analyzing agricultural production for energy generation purposes, including the... more The paper aims at analyzing agricultural production for energy generation purposes, including the production of agricultural biogas, as an opportunity for functional diversification of agriculture and for multifunctional rural development in Poland. There have been many changes observed in Polish agriculture. New directions of crop production and of the use of agricultural products have emerged. One of the changes is the increasing significance of the production of agricultural biogas and energy from biogas. There have been built both small-scale and largescale biogas plants. Most of the agricultural biogas plants are located in northern, western and south-western Poland, i.e. in the areas where there are relatively large farms which can provide a supply of substrates necessary for the production of agricultural biogas. The formation of biogas plants and the use of agricultural production for generating energy, are an eagerly anticipated trend contributing to the dissemination of re...
Transylvanian review of administrative sciences, 2017
This article aims to find whether the urbanized area experiences integration or disintegration of... more This article aims to find whether the urbanized area experiences integration or disintegration of the ecological and urban functions of the river. The river has always played an important role in urban areas, although over the centuries, it has come through radical changes. At first, it decided on the location of the city, served as a defense and means of transport, and during the period of industrialization it became the technical base for the city. Currently, the river has again come to be an important element of the urban landscape and it has a number of important functions addressed primarily to city residents and tourists. The study considers the Polish perspective and was carried out on the basis of a case study of the city of Torun (an example of the post-communist city of medium size) and a part of the River Vistula within it.
The article presents the issues related to human factor and its quality as endogenous resources c... more The article presents the issues related to human factor and its quality as endogenous resources conditions the rural areas developments in the context of the renewable energy production. In the light of the obtained results is concluded that young people are more creative; they are leaders in innovation implementation. The study included communes, in which energy crops has been grown (as a source for biomass production) and those where power plants based on renewable energy sources are situated. In particular human factor, as a one of the endogenous resources, was analysed. The importance of the European Union funds as a source of finance investments connected with renewable energy sector was stressed. Moreover EU funds might be source of an additional income for rural people. For instance, increased biomass production from agricultural sources (energy crops) in Poland was motivated by the economic factors, namely a desire to increase income by receive energy crops funding (in the b...