The European Union has set a climate neutrality goal that requires all member countries to reduce their energy consumption. In 2021, businesses accounted for approximately one-quarter of the EU's energy consumption therefore, they play a significant role in its reduction. Hungary has taken steps to encourage companies to improve their energy efficiency, mandating large consumer companies to perform annual energy audits and publish their results. Our research focuses on the results of energy efficiency measures implemented by these large consumer companies. Based on online energy reports that were readily available, we analysed the energy performance of companies with more than 1,000 employees between 2017 and 2021. Data narrowing resulted in a sample of 24 companies that are not considered representative, but their analysis indicates that low-cost employee awareness-raising and lighting upgrades were the most used efficiency measures. Results show that energy savings resulting from lighting modernisation ranged from 11 to 844 GJ per year, while savings from cooling/heating modernisation ranged from 4,7 to 47,000 GJ per year. By modernising building systems such as ventilation, the studied companies achieved energy savings ranging from 10 to 403 GJ. The annual energy savings achieved through production modernisation ranged from 972 to 510,435 GJ. Due to the inconsistencies in the data, our analysis also highlighted the importance of stricter monitoring and establishing a database of energy consumption data from companies performing annual audits.

The attractiveness of public transport services plays an important role in urban sustainability as the greater use of public transport reduces individual transport and thereby the amount of congestion, noise, and pollution. However, in order to make public transport more financeable, networks and timetables are often rationalized by minimizing the costs in such a way that the currently assessed travel demands remain served. Although the efficient use of public resources is obviously a matter of public interest, such service rationalization often leads to the public transport network becoming too complicated and difficult for passengers to understand, which worsens the competitiveness of public transport. The question of the applicable service frequencies is also an important component of high-quality services. This paper examines these two major factors by presenting some suitable indicators as well as the feasibility conditions of the recommendations in the relevant literature, focusing on a case study from Győr, Western Hungary.

Green and Blue Infrastructure (GBI) innovations are increasingly promoted in Europe, yet their transfer to new socio-political contexts remains poorly understood. This study applies the Strategic Niche Management (SNM) framework to analyse the conditions under which GBI innovations can be replicated and scaled beyond their original settings. We examine six GBI projects from five EU Member States and assess their perceived transferability through three expert workshops in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Using a comparative qualitative design, workshop transcripts were analysed to identify how actors interpret innovation, allocate responsibilities, and negotiate risks within their socio-technical regimes. Across cases, successful transfer depended on leadership by municipal actors, a supportive knowledge base, flexible regulatory arrangements, and targeted communication that strengthens public acceptance. Major constraints included entrenched “business-as-usual’’ routines in administrative and epistemic communities, misconceptions about the costs and maintenance of GBI, weak participatory traditions, and corruption risks. The findings demonstrate that GBI diffusion is highly context-dependent: local actors may be unexpectedly supportive of nature-based solutions, while bottom-up initiatives can serve as viable entry points even within hierarchical governance systems. The study contributes empirical insights from an under-researched region and illustrates how SNM can be operationalised to guide GBI innovation transfer and regime change.

Public transport systems play an instrumental role in promoting mobility, independence and the equitable participation of all individuals in daily activities Despite accessibility having become a fundamental component within transport planning, a significant proportion of public transport systems continue to exhibit notable barriers, thus impeding the mobility of individuals with disabilities to a considerable extent. The present study employs a qualitative methodology to evaluate the accessibility of the public transport system in the city of Győr, Hungary. This evaluation is based on field study, photographic documentation, and a user survey, the latter of which was conducted to support the findings derived from the qualitative methods employed. The analysis identifies four main categories of accessibility barriers: pedestrian environment barriers, stop infrastructure barriers, transport-information barriers, and vehicle-boarding barriers. The findings indicate that inadequate pedestrian environments, poorly designed stops, insufficient tactile and auditory guidance, and difficulties in boarding vehicles significantly restrict accessibility for users with disabilities. This paper proposes practical recommendations and solutions that have the potential to enhance accessibility and ensure compliance with accessibility standards.