The article is devoted to the issues of political and legal regulation of climate adaptation in the regions of the Russian Federation. Against the background of the adopted federal national adaptation plan, regions are tasked with identifying key areas of activity taking into account natural-climatic, demographic, environmental and technological specifics. The authors focus on the similarities and differences of the presented adaptation plans, emphasizing that work to improve this system continues within the framework of Russia’s international obligations. The Arctic regions deserve special attention, as they also differ from each other both in the selected climate adaptation activities (from ecology to energy saving) and in their number. This review provides a clear picture of how the federal ecological system can develop.

Young people are a traditional risk group for radicalization and involvement in protest and extremist activities. The relevance of this topic is due to the growing threat of youth radicalization, the expansion of the activities of extremist organizations, and the need to organize high-quality preventive work in educational organizations at various levels. The article provides an overview of research on the topic under consideration and also presents the results of a series of surveys in general educational institutions and organizations of secondary vocational education (n = 11,052), universities (n = 3966) located in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. The results of the study on aspects of students’ ideas about extremism are presented in terms of assessing their own knowledge about extremism, the presence/absence of radically minded people around them, determining the degree of threat from the activities of extremist groups for themselves and their social environment, and identifying approaches to preventing the growth of extremism in society. Conclusions are drawn about the need to improve preventive work models in educational organizations towards a targeted (group) approach.

Regional differentiation in the Russian Federation is considered to be high in terms of gross regional product (GRP) per capita level, growth rate, and other indicators. Inefficient use of region-specific spaces entails redistribution processes in order to maximize positive agglomeration effects throughout the country. These encompass economic restructuring based on production value-added chain extension and expanding inter-regional collaborative linkages. Besides, it is vital to assess the opportunities of individual Russian territories for participation therein. The research goal is to develop a scientifically based methodology to determine promising sectoral composition of the regional economies and that of spatial interactions. Such methodology would consider the feasibility of combining “smart” industrial specializations, regional resource potential, prevailing contradictions in the economic, innovative, and technological development of the country’s internal space. The proposed methodological approach opens the way to exploit the existing regional economic potential to the full, firstly, via establishing sectoral priorities of the region regarding the regulatory factors for the territorial capital to have a major effect on the increased potential GRP level; secondly, through benchmarking performance of the available development reserves within leading regions from homogeneous groups having similar characteristics and factor potentials; thirdly, via developing inter-regional integration prospects in terms of regional potential redistribution to ensure growth in potential gross domestic product. An extensive analytical and applied investigation of the proposed methodological approach was carried out from 2014 to 2020. Diversified estimates were obtained for a wide range of indicators due to evidences from 85 Russian regions and 13 types of economic activity. Such an integrated approach allows revealing actual imbalances and barriers that impede regional development, ensures the efficient use of production factors, and enables to trace ways to implement transformation policies and design effective regulatory mechanisms. The results provide arguments in favor of strengthening inter-regional connectivity and supporting inter-regional cooperation. This insight not only contributes to the academic discourse on complex development of a territory but also holds practical implications for policymakers and regional planners aimed at ensuring comprehensiveness and robustness of the evaluation supporting the decision-making process.

Urban infrastructures and services—such as public transportation, innovation bodies and environmental services—are important drivers for the sustainable development of our society. How effectively citizens, institutions and enterprises interact, how quickly technological innovations are implemented and how carefully new policies are pursued, synergically determine development. In this work, data related to urban infrastructure features such as patents and recycled waste referred to 106 province areas in Italy are investigated over a period of twenty years (2001–2020). Scaling laws with exponents characterizing the above mentioned features are observed and adopted to scrutinize whether and how multiple interactions within a population have amplification effects on the recycling and innovation performance. The study shows that there is a multiplication effect of the population size on the innovation performance of territories, meaning that the dynamic interactions among the elements of the innovation eco-systems in a territory increase its innovation performance. We discuss how to use such approach and the related indexes for understanding metropolitan development policy.

This paper highlights the opportunities as well as challenges posed for Bangladesh by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of China. BRI is being considered as the most expensive project ever initiated connecting more than half of the world population from Asia, Europe and Africa. For writing this paper, the authors utilized published sources such as journal articles, newspaper articles and web-based information published from 2013 to 2024. The article proposes that although the involvement of Bangladesh in the BRI is not absolutely free of challenges, it can serve the ultimate national interest through greater connectivity with other countries, increased volume of trade and economic activities and socio-cultural exchange. Although, as the originator and major contributor of the BRI, China will be the principal benefiter, other partner countries can also attain considerable benefits out of this historical mega scheme through the application of appropriate vision and strategic implementation. This paper has highlighted those benefits/opportunities and challenges for Bangladesh that can be beneficial for upcoming research projects particularity aimed at development studies, political economy and international relations. On the other hand, based on the arguments made on this paper, policymakers and businessmen can formulate their best policies as well as trading strategies with mutual benefits for all the stakeholders involved.