The Problematic Issues of Sports Law in Latvia: Compliance of Labour and Tax Legislations from the Sustainable Development Perspective

Sport performs several functions in society: an educational, a social, a cultural as well as a recreational function. Nevertheless, sport is also a business: in economic terms, it is a rapidly growing area accounting for 3% of world trade and is one of the sectors most likely to generate new employment in the near future (Colucci & Hendrickx, 2014). For that reason, at the present stage of sustainable development of sports in Europe in general and in Republic of Latvia in particular, there is a growing need for a clear regulation of the employment relations of professional athletes and transparency of taxation in the sports industry. Taking these considerations into accounts, aim of the research paper is to assess the theoretical and practical issues related to employment relationships and taxation in Latvian sports from the sustainable development perspective. The methodological basis of the research consists of general scientific and special legal research methods.

Linking Sustainable Urban Development With Town Planning Through Proximity Trade

Losses from commercial activities reflect the decline and deterioration of the downtown, the urban fabric and the social structure of the cities. The dependence on motorized vehicles has grown significantly among consumers who must move to meet their daily needs. Such a process marginalizes vulnerable populations by promoting urban lifestyles less sustainable. Proximity trade is therefore becoming increasingly important for those groups because it encourages dynamism among distinct urban areas and reduces the use of vehicles. This urban model addresses a relevant issue as universal accessibility that allows residents to enjoy an available city and move freely without encountering obstacles. The major role played by trade in the creation of wealth and urban fabric demands the integration of commercial areas provisions into urban policy guidelines. In this context, the study aims at developing a set of indicators that link proximity trade with the promotion of sustainable urban development and the model of compact city to be included in Spanish urban planning guidelines. Sixteen indicators were thus formulated around five areas of action: urban morphology, urban complexity, sustainable mobility, urban metabolism and social cohesion.

Enhancement of Polyethylene Terephthalate Bottles Recycling in Mauritius Through the Creation of a Mobile Application

One million plastic bottles is currently consumed every minute in the world. This consumption trend is expected to further increase thereby worsening the problem of plastic pollution across the globe. Mauritius is also not left unaffected by plastic pollution and an increase in consumption of plastic bottles. Although plastic recycling is encouraged on the island, low recycling rate has been recorded (40%). In this context, this research attempts to enhance the solid waste management methods of Mauritius, more specifically in terms of PET beverage bottles, by creating a persuasive technological tool that promotes recycling behavior among the citizens of Mauritius. The persuasive technological tool developed is a mobile application which allows its users to locate their nearest recycling bins while also providing them with facts about the effects and significance of plastic pollution and recycling respectively. The tool also included a survey page for gathering data on demographic, the recycling attitude/ behavior of the users prior to and after the introduction of the tool and on the functionalities of the tool itself. The results showed that the tool helped 80% of the users in initiating their recycling activities while the rest reported that the tool helped them increase those activities.

Global Development of International Tourism and Impact on the Economy of Ukraine

The article highlights the geopolitical aspects of the international tourism development in Ukraine as a global phenomenon that carries out economic, social and international and political action. In today's world, tourism has become a powerful industry, a huge complex in which the economic and social spheres are connected. The importance of tourism in international economic activity is constantly growing, and the market itself is acquiring new trends and features, affecting trade, transport and communications, agriculture and construction. The processes of globalization in the tourism market are characterized by changes in technology, modernization of transport infrastructure, internationalization of business activity and the creation of a regulatory mechanism. The potential of world tourist flows as factors of geopolitical influence is revealed, the structure of which reflects and influences the tendencies of international interaction. The main geopolitical factors influencing the dynamics and spatial organization of international tourist flows are structured. The world market of tourist services has a clear segmentation character. The main criteria for segmentation are motivational, age and regional ones. The general tendencies of development of the international tourism, a role and a place of Ukraine in the international tourist market are characterized. It is predicted that China will become the most popular tourist country in the near future. It is determined that due to the growth of intercontinental ties, which is based on the rapid development of vehicles and, above all, jet aircraft, as well as the desire of a significant number of people to visit the most remote and exotic corners of the Earth, tourism exchange between regions will develop more intensively than within regions. However, there is a growing tendency to increase the exchange of tourists between neighboring countries under conditions of normal relations between them and between countries with related languages. The main world events that have affected tourist flows in recent years are listed: Brexit, COVID-19, military actions in Eastern Ukraine and others. The analysis of international tourist flows in Ukraine was done, in particular their dynamics and spatial structure during 2010-2019 in the context of military-political aggression by Russia and the aggravation of Ukrainian-Russian interstate relations. It is established that the current dynamics of the international tourist flow in Ukraine is characterized by a sharp decrease in international visitors, slowing down the development of tourism and reformatting the spatial structure of the incoming and outgoing tourist flow. It is also noted that among the main factors hindering the development of the Ukrainian tourism industry are the unsatisfactory state of development of infrastructure and logistics of tourism, high prices, environmental and criminal risks, low innovation activity of tourism enterprises. It is concluded that international tourism is not only a passive participant in international relations, but also an active political actor who is able to act as a channel for establishing international trust and cooperation, a factor in maintaining political stability.

The Recent Evolution of Global Tourism: Study Case - Switzerland

Among other negative economic and health outcomes, the global tourism industry is one of the most affected areas by the recent pandemic. A recent estimation shows that USD 1.3 trillion were lost in revenues, in 2020 only – which represents more than 11 times the loss suffered during the 2009 global economic crisis. It is by far the most the worst year in tourism history. As a direct consequence, many jobs are at risk, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises, in countries where tourism is the main economic component, the situation is quite dramatic. In this paper, we will analyse what happened in world large regions in the sector, what the perspectives to recovery are, and what are the rebound expectations and consumer confidence. We will also investigate the specificity of the tourism situation in Switzerland, where since the beginnings of the pandemic, the big cities and tourist locations have suffered greatly from the absence of foreign tourists. The cities close to the airports showed the strongest decreases in attendance. In contrast, those which are traditionally very touristy were only slightly affected by the decline in the number of foreign visitors.

The Securing a Claim in the Context of Sustainable Development: An Evaluation of the Latvian Experience

Article 6 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms provides for the right of everyone to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law. An important guarantee, such as the enforcement of a court judgment, is also enshrined in human rights theory and practice, as unenforced judgments pose a threat to legal stability, which is one of the fundamental basis for the sustainable development of society. The institute of law of the securing a claim serves in cases where execution of the future judgment may be impossible or made substantially more difficult. The aim of the research is to study the legal framework, which determines the regulations of the securing a claim in Latvia in order to make proposals for enhancement of the legal framework. The research deployed descriptive, analytical and deductive-inductive methods as well as the methods of interpretation of legal norms. Using these methods, legal acts, views of legal scientists and case law were reviewed and analyzed, and subsequently conclusions and recommendations were made. Analyzing the development of the securing a claim it can be admitted that this institute of law in Latvia has problems as the application of the securing a claim in court practice within the framework of limited adversarial and dispositivity principles, as well as shortcomings in the theoretical foundations of the securing a claim which are based on the findings of legal scientists of the last century. As a result of the research, the author drew the conclusions, that Latvia does not make sufficient use of the long-standing successful procedural solutions for securing a claim in others states, such as court mortgages, bank guarantee or mortgage of the plaintiff to secure the defendant's losses, defendant's protection letter to protect against unjustified securing a claim, a possibility to secure a claims which are not financial in nature and many more that can make legal regulation of the securing a claim more modern and effective.

Aspects of The Evolution of Enterprises in Member States of The European Union

A solid industrial base positively influences society as a whole. Business development is favored by the degree to which companies are active in the market. The article presents an analysis of employment in companies active in the Member States of the European Union. The evolution of the establishment of active enterprises according to their branches of activity is also addressed. Openness to local markets can lead to successful business activities. Cooperation between different companies can also be facilitated by new technologies. From the point of view of mobility, employment in foreign affiliates of domestic enterprises is another subdomain analyzed in the article. The way in which companies approach the field of expenditure can influence their activity. Thus, by increasing technological capacities and promoting innovation, technological development measures lead to the development of enterprises. The article presents an analysis of the way in which expenditure is shared at the level of enterprises in the Member States of the European Union.

Labour Market and Educational Services Trends in Post-Conflict Territories of Ukraine

Promotion of youth employment, especially in the post-conflict territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, is one of the key global problems of a country that is a challenge to its sustainable development. Higher education institutions play an important role in this process. They form the labour potential for the development of a region. However, their activities do not always correspond to their (regional) needs. Studies on employment experience and labour mobility of graduates of higher education establishments in Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine evidence of the extremely high rate of re-profiling of young graduates and / or their migration to other regions of the country or abroad. This article proposes a number of measures, including within the framework of educational reform, to be implemented to reduce youth unemployment both in the region and in Ukraine as a whole. It is noted that it is advisable to intensify the processes of supporting the initiatives of young people in post-graduate vocational training and employment, encouraging them to actively seek employment and to acquire a profession or occupation in demand in the labour market. Attention is drawn to the need for awareness-raising and education in this regard. It is argued that measures aimed at preventing the migration of scientists should be included in national policy documents. It is suggested that special attention be given to the programme approach, which should form the basis of a legal mechanism to promote the preservation of the region’s intellectual potential.

COVID-19 Pandemic as a Threat to Ukraine’s Socio-Economic System: Materialization Features, Indicators and Consequences

The purpose of the paper is operationalization of development processes’ concepts in terms of threats to a government’s socio-economic system on an example of a specific threat that is currently actively materializing itself – COVID -19. The research aims at structuring the process of threat’s development to a government’s socio-economic system. It shows negative changes in Ukraine’s socio-economic system, their indicators and consequences inherent to the last stage of the threat’s development process – the materialization stage. At all stages of any threat’s development process, close attention has to be paid to catalysts and inhibitors – factors whose influence accelerates or inhibits the development of the threat. Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic threat’s materialization, inhibitors can only be the decisions and actions of Ukraine’s government and institutions combined with the dual-use economic model (improving the pandemic situation, mitigating its consequences, on the one hand, preventing the deepening of the economic crisis and bankruptcy of domestic business, on the other). The results of studying the process of a threat’s development lay the methodological principles for development of the Strategy Ensuring Ukraine’s Economic Security. The development of a threat to a government’s socio-economic system from perspective of the process approach has not been systemically explored. The scientific researches of the article’s authors lay the fundamental ground in this direction of economic securitology.

Loss Assessment of Qualitative and Quantitative Composition of The Middle Class in Terms of Sustainable and Digital Development

The article studies the trends of quantitative changes in social class in Ukraine as an important factor of sustainable socio-economic development. The use of a complex criterion for determining the core of the middle class in the population structure is substantiated. It takes into account the level of income, self-identification, and qualitative characteristics. The article proves the hypothesis of conformity of the distribution of households by average per capita equivalent income to the theoretical log-normal distribution. The paper provides the quantitative characteristics of the impact of digitalization on the size of the middle class, determines the consequences of distribution of information technology for its existence. The main directions and tools for influence are proposed to ensure the conditions for the formation, development, and growth of the middle class in modern society, and to achieve a high level of economic development and welfare of the population.