Food waste poses a substantial global challenge, with intricate environmental, economic, and ethical ramifications. This study examines household food waste behaviors, emphasizing the interplay of personal responsibility, awareness of consequences, personal norms, and systemic barriers. Employing a thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with 60 households across Hungary’s Central and Western Transdanubian regions, this research explores factors influencing waste-reduction strategies across the pre-, mid-, and post-consumption phases. The thematic analysis of the interview data yielded key themes, including ascription of responsibility (AR), awareness of consequences (AC), personal norms (PN), demographic characteristics (DC), behavioral intentions (FWBI), and barriers (B). Participants identified barriers to waste reduction, such as impulse buying, poor storage practices, and limited knowledge of food rescue initiatives. Incorporating these barriers as a core variable deepens the understanding of systemic challenges, while stage-specific analysis illuminates the evolution of waste-reduction behaviors. These insights will inform targeted interventions, such as community programs, educational campaigns, and technology-driven solutions, including food rescue apps, to foster sustainable consumption. This study’s integration of behavioral theories with actionable strategies provides valuable guidance for policymakers and stakeholders seeking to reduce household food waste on a global scale.

This study investigates the potential of the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) in the rural Szigetköz region in North-Western Hungary, a cross-border area between the Danube and the Moson Danube with significant natural resources. The research examines the situation of the CCIs to answer the following question: What are the latent potentials of the CCI area in the region? The study aims first to present the meaning and importance of the concept of CCI in rural and regional development, then assess the importance of CCI through focus group discussions with the stakeholders of the CCI, and finally, a case study of the region, which is a civil association. As a result of the research, the region needs to rely on several pillars, e.g., for the city of Győr to rely on, besides the automotive industry, the creative economy. The paper concludes with suggestions and further research directions for the regional development of CCIs in rural areas.

This paper explores the dynamic landscape of higher education, specifically in the domain of Commerce and Marketing, over the past decade. As higher education faces evolving challenges and changing stakeholder expectations, the study delves into the ongoing debate regarding the alignment of higher education, including business education on a Commerce and Marketing BA course in West-Hungary. The research employs a comprehensive case study methodology spanning ten academic years to showcase the course's development and innovations. The study scrutinizes changes in teaching methodologies, course materials, seminar and project assignments, applied technologies, and assessment methods. Findings from in-depth interviews with business professionals, and student observations reveal the course's adaptation to market needs and challenges encountered during the online transition. The results suggest that, despite disruptions in the academic year 20/21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the development of this course in the examined years successfully aligns with market expectations, fostering competencies essential for the business domain, thanks to introducing new methodologies (interactive project-based, seminars), usage of AI assisted applications, and introducing new forms of assessments.

Regarding Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) concept-related development, an important aspect has arisen and become inevitable in the last few years: sustainability. Although sustainability and creativity are closely linked, it is important to examine the sustainability factors of creative city development from a broader perspective. The present research aims to explore the environmental sustainability of the cultural and creative industry of a Central and Eastern European capital, Budapest, through a literature review and then two case studies of environmentally sustainable CCI companies. The aim of the paper is to show the gap in the literature regarding the environmental sustainability of the CCI sector, despite its significance, and present two case studies of how environmental sustainability can appear in two CCI companies, showing a best practice. The literature analysis has shown that the interpretation of CCIs' sustainability and the comparability of the sector in the region under study are hampered by the wide variation in methodologies for measuring the sustainability of CCIs. In the case of Budapest, within the study’s 13 y reach, research has shown that Budapest plays a significant role in CCIs, although it also struggles with the issues of sustainability. The two case studies can show role models for environmentally sustainable CCIs by making sustainability the scope and basis of their operation.