Nowadays, deep cooperation between universities, research centres, and industry is seen as a stimulus for economic growth. Yet, it is still unclear how the knowledge commercialization process works in the countries with an experience of the highly centralized economy and education. Tbilisi State University is seen as the optimistic catalyst for further commercialization, mainly due to its international ties, though the issue of social science knowledge commercialization is still mostly neglected. In our research, the case of the oldest, the largest, and the most internationalized university in Georgia is analyzed. The comprehensive study aims to determine the macro and micro factors that make knowledge commercialization in social sciences successful or a failure. Results show that some university society representatives believe commercialization is mainly based on natural and exact sciences. In contrast, others claim that human development contribution is the most significant knowledge transfer that can be done.

The present article describes the results of a case study on the factors that influenced COVID-19 first wave decision making on the local government level in the Republic of Estonia. The municipalities that were studied were the biggest municipality in Estonia, the City of Tallinn, and the worst hit local government in the first wave, the Municipality of Saaremaa. In the mapping of crisis units, 3 units were identified in Tallinn, 2 in Saaremaa – some formalized prior the crisis, others formalized ad hoc, and yet others not formalized at all. The subjects of the study were the members of the COVID-19 crisis units.

The study which comprised of a questionnaire and in-depth interviews focused on the influence of 8 decision-making factors which were divided into internal (stress, helplessness, group pressure, and well-being) and external (time pressure, pressure from the media and the public, availability of information, pressure from the central government or other institutions). The results indicate that external factors were the predominantly influencing (highest pressure was felt due to time pressure, stress and the pressure from media and the public). Decision makers also highlighted previous experience, risk perception and emotions, which influenced decision making.

Soft economic power is related to subjective perceptions of attractiveness, justice, and success of an economic system and economic policy. The current state of the European Union soft power relatively to other global economic powers is analyzed with several approaches: opinion polls, objective indicators, value estimates, and infometric method. They prove either the supremacy of the EU or second best result after the US. Positive contribution to the EU soft power is provided by its development level, quality of life, national and corporate brands, business regulation, environmental protection priorities, economic freedoms, integration initiatives, development assistance, tourism, creative industries, education, science, culture, and healthcare. The main challenges for the EU image is slower economic growth and a domination of American and Chinese corporate brands in media, technological, and banking sectors.

The Round Table Talks in Hungary and Poland were widely criticized by opposition forces not participating in the negotiations. One of them was the Hungarian October Party, which considered this form of transformation to have been flawed and against the interests of society. The formation, which also had Polish connections and was led by György Krassó, became known primarily through its street happenings. Its criticisms of the participants in the Round Table Talks bear a strong resemblance to the opinion of the so-called non-constructive Polish opposition forces.

This article examines the involvement of artists in the pro-independence movement in Catalonia. First, to provide context, the author discusses the history of Catalonia, focusing on the conflicts with the Spanish
state and on the five instances throughout history when the region proclaimed independence. The article shows how stories from the Catalonia past are present in people’s everyday lives and influence their sentiments. The author also tries to find an answer to the question of how artists became involved in the pro-independence movement by taking a closer look at both the art and political engagement of the artists representing different generations and genres during the period in question.

The attack of the Russian Federation’s troops on Ukraine, which took place on February 24, 2022, led to the outbreak of a war, which caused civilians to flee their homes and leave their country in search of safety, protection and humanitarian aid. In the first week of the war, over a million refugees from Ukraine, mainly women with children and the elderly, crossed Ukraine’s border with its neighbor countries; a large group of the refugees arrived in Poland. Piotr Zalewski’s aim in this article is to review the main legislative and organizational activities undertaken by the Polish government and the local government administration in terms of providing institutional assistance and protection for the refugees. Zalewski also discusses the activities of the uniformed services, which has consisted in identifying risks and threats and ensuring the personal safety of Ukrainian refugees.