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A circular economy emerged as an alternative transition model, which is considered to be a solution to massive environmental degradation. The transition from a linear economy to a circular economy requires companies to be actively involved in more sustainable practices. For such a transition, companies must rethink, innovate on business models, and encourage sustainability-oriented innovation to deliver customer value, while simultaneously considering environmental and social aspects. On the other hand, the role of the circular economy in energy conservation and infrastructure has not been mapped out in the current literature. This systematic literature review seeks to map out the main interrelated topics of the circular economy and sustainability-oriented innovation, describing internal and external factors that need to be considered in the transition to a clean energy future. Key lines of research are identified, and suggestions for future research and for how to facilitate the movement towards a circular economy are provided. This study contributes to an enhancement of the literature by identifying priority areas regarding the circular economy and sustainability-oriented innovation to encourage future research that contributes to sustainability and environmental preservation.

The object of research is the social rating system in China. The paper considers the experience of introducing the public policy tool «Social Rating» in China. The paper analyzes the norms for regulating the life of members of society in order to effectively use the funds allocated by the state to the sphere of the country's social policy. The study used various research methods to understand the existing problems and identify areas of social policy risk management in the context of the implementation of social ratings in China. The study used a systematic approach to a comprehensive study of social ratings as an instrument of China's state policy. The political science analysis made it possible to generalize and interpret the results of the introduction of the social rating. The state program is considered in the part devoted to the fight against fraud and financial fraud in business. The experience of the People's Republic of China regarding the creation of «black lists» of organizations that violate contracts and do not pay taxes is studied. The point system «Social rating» depending on the region of the country is considered. The project of analysis of the socio-political behavior of individuals, companies and other organizations to determine their «social reputation», on the basis of which an encouraging or sanctions policy of regulation is carried out, has been studied. The demographic situation in the People's Republic of China (PRC) has been studied. Scenarios of China's demographic policy are considered. The current risks and problems of the social rating in China are also highlighted, the priority tasks of its reform are shown. adopted in 2021 at the legislative level of the PRC, the innovative program «Social Rating» to manage social risks, such as unemployment, population decline, low incomes, and which has become a tool for comprehensive control over people through the collection and processing of personal data. The introduction of a social rating program, with the help of which it is planned to build a fully regulated Chinese society, is analyzed.

The strategic documents of the state provide for inclusive and green growth aimed at the inclusion of society in the development of the state. It causes the need to highlight the main components of growth and guidelines for their calculation. The international community moved away from using the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of economic development, and started measuring growth by calculating the Inclusive Development Index. The study conducted in the article is concentrated on the main directions of the international community development, which focus on assessment of the mineral resource management as one of the levers of increasing the production efficiency and taxes distribution. This article suggests to improve the rent payments for the minerals extraction through a correction factor, since the Tax Code of Ukraine does not take into account the multifunctionality of the territory where these resources are mined. The coefficient is estimated to vary from 1.25 to 2.0, depending on the polyfunctional characteristics of the mining area. This approach will improve existing methodological recommendations and include such an important area as inclusive green growth in the calculations, as not only the economic indicators of economic activity, but also the environmental feasibility of using the territory where it is carried out will be taken into account.

The noise problem in hotel rooms is strictly connected to noise generated by heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) devices. Hospitality industry companies in many countries have specific requirements and monitor the noise level with technical equipment inside the hotel room. To ensure an adequately low level of noise from the HVAC system, proper calculations and tests are performed before the final application of the system in the hotel room. One of the best methods for assessing the noise level from HVAC devices in hotel rooms is to create a testing room (mock-up) in a certain available space, e.g., in a warehouse, and to perform appropriate standard measurements for the noise level. This method is a popular choice in the hotel industry because the noise level can not only be verified, but also, the installation and operation of the HVAC system inside the room can be checked. The main factors in choosing the space in which the mock-up will be made are availability and appropriate volume. It is not always possible to provide a hall space with a very low background level of noise. This article shows that the selection of a mock-up space is also determined by the noise level in the selected space. The background noise level—thus, the noise level in the mock-up room—must be low enough to be able to reliably measure the noise level from the HVAC equipment to avoid the phenomenon of acoustic masking by other noise sources (background noise) not related to the measurement. Background noise at too high a level will lead to invalidation of the measurement results or overestimation of the actual noise level in the room from the tested HVAC devices. In this study, background noise level measurements made in the testing rooms are described. The results are discussed, and a conclusion is drawn.

The paper reveals the relevance of solar energy development in the modern world. Attention is focused on the fact that solar energy increases its potential yearly. It was determined that China, India, Japan, the USA, Germany, Spain, and Australia play the primary role in increasing the volume of electricity generation from SPPs worldwide. The prominent leaders in the development of solar energy in the world are two countries: China and the USA. The hypothesis about the potential impact of such factors as the demand for electricity and the level of economic development of a particular region, expressed by the gross domestic product per capita, has been confirmed. Correlation analysis showed a positive linear relationship between the volume of electricity generation from SPPs and indicators such as GDP per capita and electricity demand. A panel regression calculated in the Rstudio environment of the dependence of the development of solar energy on the demand for electricity and the level of economic development among the TOP 7 countries - the leaders of the development of solar energy in the world showed that an increase in GDP per capita by 1 USD. USA leads to an increase in electricity generation from SPPs by 0.00155 TWh*h; an increase in demand for electricity by 1 TWh leads to an increase in electricity generation from SPPs by 0.04188 TWh. The obtained result suggests that each additional unit of electricity demand is satisfied on average by only 4.19% due to solar energy. A comparison of the marginal coefficients of the two explanatory factors shows that electricity demand is a much more influential determinant of solar energy development than the country's economic development level. It is highlighted that solar energy development will be determined in the future by increasing solar panels' efficiency and service life, making solar energy more attractive for the civilian population and low-power military autonomous systems. Keywords: alternative energy supply, renewable energy, solar energy, solar energy development factors, economic efficiency of alternative energy.

Introduction. Reforming the territorial organization of power on the principles of decentralization is one of the key areas of systemic social transformation in Ukraine. The development of a country is impossible without the development of its regions and depends on how effective and efficient is the management of human resources at the regional and local levels, which act as an economic resource and ensure its social integrity and capacity to implement reforms at the regional level. Aim and tasks. The purpose of this article is to study the impact of decentralization reforms in Ukraine, in particular its impact on management efficiency and ensuring the stability of human resources development for the balanced development of territorial socio-economic systems. Results. The paper considers theoretical and practical issues of decentralization as a process that is currently taking place in Ukraine. Emphasis is placed on the fact that decentralization should become a development factor for social, cultural, economic, financial, environmental and other systems, and through these systems a development factor for citizens. At the regional level, it is within the territorial socio-economic systems that human potential is concentrated and human resources are reproduced, which are a source of competitive advantage. Conclusions. The lack of rational zoning of territories and a balanced administrative-territorial structure is due to the lack of effective regional management, which should be based on the use of improved organizational and economic mechanisms for the development of administrative-territorial units. In conditions when human resources were considered not as a factor of production, but as an important resource for achieving the goals of the organization, uniting the interests of representatives of united territorial communities becomes the main principle of reproduction of human resources and balanced development of territories. To achieve the self-sufficiency of local self-government, a number of objective and subjective dangers of the development of undesirable political consequences are currently hindered. The decisive factor in overcoming the negative processes in the economy and social life of the country is the formation of personnel policy in a decentralized government, as the ability of government to manage effectively depends on the professional level of its managers.

Abstract Critical Infrastructure Protection is a relatively new scientific domain stemming from an American Presidential directive PDD-63 of May 1998. Critical Infrastructure (CI) performance and protection are national priorities for all European Union (EU) countries following the introduction of the EU Directive 2008/114/EC, which takes an all hazards approach. This paper has an international focus. At the global and European level, the interest in identifying the impacts of climate change on CIs and extreme weather events (EWE) has increased in the last decades, following several high-profile so-called natural disasters. Concern is evidenced by the UN Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the EU Commission’s Staff Working Document on Risk Assessment and Mapping; Guidelines for Disaster Management, SEC (2010) 1626. This paper presents and discusses scientific work which has been published in this area, with a focus on energy CI. The impacts of climate change and extreme weather events on energy CI are initially identified. Important aspects in CI protection such as risk assessment, interdependencies with other sectors, and adaptation/resilience options are subsequently presented and discussed.

Abstract The study aims to substantiate theoretical and methodological aspects of the use of strategic environmental assessment as an instrument for public regulation of the ecological status of territories. The research methodology is based on using a systematic approach for conducting a strategic environmental assessment of the possibility of environmental problems and threats posed by the implementation of long-term projects and current activities. The development of ecological balance, comparison of the results of normative and exploratory forecasts of the state of the environment become the basis for the formation of goals of strategic environmental management, the appearance of a set of measures for the conservation and restoration of natural resources. Identification of factors influencing the state of the environment is a necessary condition for the prevention of pollution of territories, inefficient use of natural resources, justification of the essential measures of state regulation to ensure the achievement of goals. The practical experience of assessing the achievements in the management of the conditions of the environment is illustrated by the example of regions of Ukraine. The proposed approach to the development of the ecological balance and the methodology of complex assessment of the ecological status of the territory have scientific novelty and contribute to the assessment of the effectiveness of public administration balanced development of the territories.

In the framework of the article road paving panels for “Smart Roads” system have been developed and calculated with an analyzed amount of generated and consumed electric energy. Modern road is currently to be taken as a separate part of construction as well as a bright and integral part of entire architectural ensemble of the surrounding area. One of the main requirements for modern roads is that they have to be fully self-maintained and operate as alternative and decentralized energy sources as well. The paper presents a design of the road paving panel for “Smart Roads” system and reveals the principle of its function. The amount of electricity generated per unit of road surface has been calculated. It is shown that for their own needs road paving panel will consume up to 71.25% of the total energy generated.