The paper analyzes various types of international socio-economic relations of Polish voivodeships. They were assessed in terms of: a) the current impact on the territorial brand of Polish regions; b) unused potential in this respect. The study covered the following types of relations: a) migration (territorial brand as a derivative of outmigration from a given area); b) trade relationships (economic relations as the basis for brand promotion); c) tourist relations (territorial brand as a derivative of tourist visits in a given area); d) transport relations as an element defining the region (as poorly or easily accessible in terms of international transport). In summary, the tables presents the impact of individual types of connections on the territorial brand and recommendations resulting from these connections. An initial typology of Polish regions was made in terms of their international position measured by selected indicators and in terms of the objectives of the promotional policy.

There are numerous diff erences between EU Member States, e.g. related to geographic location, language, culture, etc. The main difference can be primarily found in the level of development of individual regions and voivodeships in Europe. Poor regions and voivodeships in the conditions of growing competition lose their distance to the wealthy ones. The European Union, having this in mind, has given a priority in its regional policy to reduce the disparities between regions by providing aid through the socio-economic cohesion policy to neglected provinces. This problem is of a particular importance in the Polish context due to the large diff erences between the voivodeships. Large disproportions are visible especially between voivodeships of Eastern Poland whose potential, especially innovative potential, is among the weakest in Poland and in the EU. The aim of the article is to review the concepts of innovation, to present the innovative potential of particular Polish voivodeships in 2020 and to defi ne innovative potential’s signifi cance in the development. For the calculation of the synthetic index, there was used a non-model method.

Dynamics of Changes in the Resources of Communal Flats of the Communes of Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship. The aim of this article is to show the dynamics of changes in the communal housing stock of the communes of Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship and the assessment of the changes. For the purposes of this objective, all the communes of Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship (N = 116) were analyzed, taking into account their division into urban, rural and urban-rural communities. Data taken for analysis come from the Local Data Bank of the Central Statistical Office and cover the years 2009, 2013 and 2015. In order to show changes in the communal housing stock of the Warmia and Mazury Region, seven indicators were described and the figures were presented on the maps. The obtained results allowed us to conclude that the changes taking place in the communal housing stock of the communes of Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship are small. These changes, despite their small scale, are negative. The density of municipal housing stock is decreasing, and hence their availability, and existing resources are not repaired. The worst situation occurs in rural communities, the best in urban-rural communities.

The concept of endogenous development assumes the use of specifi c resources of the region, difficult to copy, to its development, and even to gain a competitive advantage in a wider dimension. This concept has been used in the provisions of the Regional Innovation Strategy of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship for 2014-2020 for smart specialization (RIS3), especially in relation to leading smart specialization the quality of life, in the areas of: production and processing of ecological, regional and traditional food; renewable energy and distributed energy; agrotourism and ecotourism. It was targeted at the development of the entire region, not only the leading urban centers. The special role of the food economy lies in the need to guarantee food security and food sovereignty in the region. This issue is of strategic importance.

The Reduction of Economic Dualism of Mazowieckie Voivodeship in 2007-2015 Using Regional Operation Programme for the Mazowieckie Voivodeship 2007-2013.The existence of social and economic dualism is widely discussed in numerous regions of Poland and Europe. This results from the natural structure of a region, which usually consists of one or two growth centres and peripheral areas. It leads to the emergence of inequalities, which cause a political pressure to redistribute income in order to ensure sustainable development. This discussion is particularly important in the Mazovian Voivodeship. Thus, the purpose of this study is to develop the existing findings concerning the social and economic dualism of the region. The main aim specified in the Voivodeship Development Strategy is to eliminate spatial inequalities. This paper is an attempt to broaden the knowledge on reducing the dualism in the voivodeship resulting from the implementation of the Regional Operational Programme for the Mazovian Voivodeship 2007-2013, which was one of the most crucial development tools. The analysis was conducted in terms of territory, sectors and the labour market.

This article concludes a series of three articles. The first two, published in 2022, were divided into time periods; 1) until 1989, and 2) since the 1990s. The present one discusses the issue of the fate of police officers after September 1, 1939, and includes a summary and research postulates. The timelines used in the series are not accidental, of course, as they had a significant impact on the way historiography devoted to public security organs was conducted in the interwar period. The literature that deals with pre‑war police is relatively rich in terms of quantity. However, it is worth examining it more carefully as several works raise a number of questions and doubts. Next to very good ones there are some that should not have been published. If we take a closer look at the style of narration in particular publications, we will notice that the authors in the vast majority limit themselves to describing and reporting facts, avoiding factual analysis. Many of the publications deviate from scientific standards, focusing their attention exclusively on creat-ing the preferred image of the public security organisation in a given period of time. Unfortu-nately, this is noticeable not only before 1989, but also later, when the negative image of the pre‑war police was replaced by its excessive glorification or even mythologisation. Despite the fact that more and more issues are raised and some of them are further developed, we still cannot consider the state of research that I am interested in as being satisfactory. The following issues still need to be highlighted and thoroughly investigated: 1) police biography; 2) issues of formation, socialisation and mentality; 3) the state of morale of the police corps; 4) participation in the Polish‑Soviet war; 5) participation in ensuring the internal security of the state; 6) police‑society relations, including the creation of the image of the police in culture texts; 7) police participation in the protection of state dignitaries; 8) international police co-operation; 9) the history of the police in the individual provinces; 10) women’s police service; 11) the functioning of police associations and cultural and educational activities; 12) war pre-parations; 13) the fate of police officers after September 1, 1939.

This article is part one of a discussion that attempts to examine the state of research on the history of the police in the Second Republic of Poland as presented in to‑date historiography. My interest includes literature concerning both the State Police and the Police of the Silesian Voivodeship, two organisations independent from each other. The 1989/1990 timeline is obviously not accidental, as it was of great significance for the way research on public security organs in the interwar period was conducted.
The recent 100‑year anniversary of the National Police created an excellent opportunity to assess the achievements pertaining to its history and the organisation modelled on it, i.e., the Police of the Silesian Voivodeship (PWŚl). Although their history has been the subject of several studies, it is worth taking a closer look at them trying to assess both the problems addressed and the quality of these studies. The author has made an attempt to carry out a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the existing literature, which is to lead to the identification of significant accomplishments, as well as to highlighting unexplored possibilities.
The author has chosen scientific publications as a basis for his analyses. Publications of an occupational nature, that is, manuals, specialist materials, handbooks, course books, etc., remain outside the area of the author’s interest.
The resulting analysis leads to the conclusion that it was not until the late 1980s that the one‑sided image of the pre‑war police, constructed through the discourse of repression against the “progressive” communist and workers’ movements, began to be abandoned. However, still dominating was the factual history, unfortunately not preceded by theoretical reflections.

The present article is part two of the discussion attempting to assess the state of research on the history of the police in the Second Republic of Poland in historiography. This time I focus on the publications since 1990. I am interested in the literature concerning both the State Police and the Police of the Silesian Voivodeship, two independent organisations. The subsequent part deals with works published since 1990, and the last part is focused on the fate of police officers after September 1, 1939. This section also contains more complete summaries and research postulates. Obviously, the 1989/1990 timeline is not accidental, as it had a significant impact on the way historiography dealing with public security organs in the interwar period was conducted. The turn of the 1980s and 1990s was extremely fruitful for Polish historiography, including research on the history of the pre‑war police. On the one hand, access to archival materials became free and easy, thus opening new perspectives for researchers. This unrestricted possibility of using documents from the family archives of police officers and their family members was of great importance for gaining information about the everyday service of police officers. On the other hand, in some publications we notice a prevailing tendency to over‑heroise and sometimes even mythologise the pre‑war police, and this unfortunately is still happening today. All this coincided with the fact that there were an increasing number of authors dealing with the history of the police in the Second Republic, and consequently, the scope of research I was interested in had to expand.

The paper presents the history of the development path of the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship. The aim of the study was to identify factors conducive to and restrict regional transformation in Warmia and Mazury and to verify the development path of the voivodeship. According to the study, the factors that positively infl uenced the development of the region in the recent period were, among others: EU funds and natural resources that form the basis of a regional economy. The factors that inhibit the development of the region include, among other:. lack of trust, intensifi cation of competition and low transport accessibility of the voivodeship.

The study presents a change in the innovation model and a change of development path towards new industries and modernization of traditional industries in the Pomeranian Voivodship. The characteristics of the region and the characteristics of the regional innovation system based on statistical data, existing research, analysis and interviews with representatives of regional and local authorities, scientists and entrepreneurs of the voivodship were presented. The factors that preceded the change of the innovation model and direct causes of change were identifi ed aa well as the impact of institutional factors and the barriers to the development of the voivodship.

The Opole region struggles from the most unfavourable demographic situation among all Polish administrative regions. The region is not only losing its population but also reports a growing number of inhabitants aged 50 and more. For this reason, demographic challenges are high on the region’s development agenda. The establishment of the Special Demographic Zone for Opolskie Voivodeship (SDZ) has provided an incentive to take measures, both on the local and regional scale, to reverse the undesirable situation.

This article discusses one of the SDZ packages, namely Package 4 Golden Autumn intended for persons aged 50 and move. Based on surveys held in the municipalities of the Opole region, the author seeks to answer questions related to the perception of the existing demographic processes as developmental barriers and looks at different initiatives and action taken by local self-governments for 50+ residents.

The aim of the paper is to evaluate the development of the Geoeducation Center in Kielce and to define ways and stage of creating its tourist brand. It is a new tourist attraction in the Świętokrzyskie region, which also plays role of informal education. Every year, this object is visited by approximately 40,000. tourists. Research has shown that the Geoeducation Center from the beginning of its operation consistently creates all the elements that make up the brand equity: awareness, perceived quality, associations and loyalty.

The aim of the article is to present the role of tourism as a smart specialization, and in particular health tourism in strengthening regional development processes on the example of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. The first part of the article presents the ideas of smart specialization as a concept of stimulating innovative development with a particular focus on tourism in regional innovation strategies. The second part of the article focuses on the uniqueness of natural resources in the context of the spa tourism development potential in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. The third part presents quantitative data characterizing tourism in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. While the fourth part presents the effects of cooperation between entrepreneurs and expert and university employees who, while creating innovations, solve the problems of entrepreneurs, thus contributing to the development of tourism and the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. Finally, final conclusions and summary are presented.

Local and Regional Policy in the Light of Depopulation – Example of Silesian Voivodeship. Decreasing number of population along with demographic ageing create significant developing challenges in the labour market, in housing, social infrastructure, education and in many other areas. This applies in particular to the areas in which significant intensification of depopulation is already observed or expected to occur. Therefore, it should be considered when local and regional policies are being created, and it should be reflected in development strategies formulated for each area. The goal of the article is to determine whether the formulated development strategies reflect the real needs arising from the observed social processes and how precisely they reflect local and regional policies. This problem is illustrated by the example of the Silesia Voivodeship.

The aim of the article is to determine the main factors responsible for development of Podlaskie Voivodeship in the last 15 years and to answer the question whether they were suffi ciently strong impulse to divert the region from its development path. The research is based on the results of in-depth interviews with the main actors of the regional scene (representing administration, business and science). Statistical data and strategic documents (regional development strategies and regional innovation strategies) was employed in a supporting role. The development of the region has long been based on natural resources, especially agri-food industry (in particular milk production) and tourism. Implementing the concept of smart specialization in the region is seen as a big chance for agri-food industry and sectors linked in the value chain. However the chance to changing the development path of the whole region and moving to higher levels of innovation is very doubtful.

The aim of the article is to determine the main factors responsible for development of Podkarpackie Voivodeship in the last 15 years and to answer the question whether they were suffi ciently strong impulse to divert the region from its development model. The main method used for identifying the factors that determine the development of the region was individual, in-depth interviews with the main actors on the regional scene, supported by desk research analysis (of the voivodeship’s strategic and operational documents) and statistical data analysis (Central Statistical Office and Eurostat). The research highlights the importance of the immobile and intangible development factors – a high quality of strategic thinking of local and especially regional authorities and consistent implementation of development policies, a high level of social capital, extensive networks and the ability to co-operate – which have helped to eliminate the limitations resulting from the weakness of other factors.