Dorota Perło

Environmental Quality as a Decisive Variable in Shaping Regional Development Policy

Abstract The article examines the impact of environmental quality on shaping the development policy of Polish voivodeships. The main analytical tool used was the synthetic index of environmental quality, compiled by means of the Perkal method. It was constructed in order to organize Polish voivodeships in terms of environmental quality, which was determined in a comprehensive way on the basis of three thematic areas: advantages of the natural environment, the level of pollution (degradation) of the environment as well as active protective activities. The obtained values of synthetic measures were then compared to the level of economic growth of Polish regions. It was necessary in determining which voivodeships perceive the quality of the environment as the main factor enhancing their economic growth, and which treat it as a barrier to economic development.

What Kinds of Skills are Expected by Portuguese and Polish Employers

Abstract The main objective of the research was to establish which skills and competencies are mostly demanded by organizations/employers in Portugal and Poland. Secondly, we wanted to determine if there are any differences in this type of skills and competencies in these two countries. In order to analyze the skills necessary in organizations, we applied the typology of soft and hard skills. In the analysis, we had to distinguish moral competencies from soft skills, due to the specificity of the formers. In the research, we use the mixed qualitative-quantitative methodology. In the survey, carried out on convenience samples composed of Portuguese and Polish working students, the respondents were eager to answer one open-ended question and describe/list the skills/competencies demanded by organizations. In order to categorize the answers, we employed a two-stage process of phenomenological reduction. For the purpose of conducting a comparative analysis of the data and due to a wide dispersion of results in the case of soft skills in the two samples, we grouped the soft skills according to the ESCO and interpreted the differences by referring to the cultural dimensions introduced by Hofstede et al. [2011].

Analiza statystyczna funkcji metropolitalnych miast wojewódzkich Polski Wschodniej

The aim of the study is to investigate to what extent provincial cities of Eastern Poland fulfil metropolitan functions and also to determine how failure to grant the metropolitan status to these cities will affect the development of Eastern Poland. The indices adopted as criteria for designating metropolitan areas will be statistically analyzed, both in a spatial and dynamic systems. The results obtained will show to what extent provincial cities of Eastern Poland differ from the centres identified as metropolitan by the National Spatial Development Concept and also what are the developmental tendencies in Eastern Poland’s regions.