During the 2010-2020 period, the European Union (EU) launched a growth strategy based on three fundamental pillars: smart growth, sustainable growth, and inclusive growth. Aiming to finance the projects related to these growth pillars, the EU used mainly the Rural Development Funds, the Structural Funds, those derived from the R&D Framework Program, the Trans-European Networks, and the European Investment Bank. This research aimed to determine whether the Spanish regions maintain homogeneous efficiency levels by using these resources to improve the levels of environmental quality related to renewable energies. A methodology that is frequently used by researchers in efficiency analyses was chosen, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The main findings revealed that the efficiency in the use of renewable energies is very uneven among the Spanish regions and these differences are maintained throughout the period analyzed. These results highlighted the need of changes regarding the proposed criteria for allocating European resources to finance the projects presented by each Spanish region.
During the 2010–2020 period, the European Union (EU) launched a growth strategy based on three fundamental pillars: Smart growth, sustainable growth, and inclusive growth. Aiming to finance the projects related to these growth pillars, the EU used mainly the Rural Development Funds, the Structural Funds, those derived from the R&D Framework Program, the Trans-European Networks, and the European Investment Bank. This research aimed to determine whether the Spanish regions maintain homogeneous efficiency levels by using these resources to improve the levels of environmental quality related to renewable energies. A methodology that is frequently used by researchers in efficiency analyses was chosen, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The main findings revealed that the efficiency in the use of renewable energies is very uneven among the Spanish regions and these differences are maintained throughout the period analyzed. These results highlighted the need of changes regarding the proposed criteria for allocating European resources to finance the projects presented by each Spanish region
The outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges to both developed and less developed local economies. The aim of the book is to uncover the best practises in responding to a pandemic from global perspectives, as well as from a trans-disciplinary point of view. Scholars from various spheres in arts, culture, education, health, environment, business and the public sector present their perspectives on the impacts, responses and consequences for local economies and communities. As a fundamental part of LED, the arts, culture, education, health, environment, business and the public sector domains were some of the hardest hit by the pandemic. The pandemic has certainly exposed the weaknesses of current development policies and calls for new, innovative measures in developing resilient local regions. This book will form an essential part of the development series of CENLED as it offers insight into how a global pandemic (COVID-19) impacted LED in the global North and Global South and the different responses from different spheres.