Myroslava Soldak

Based on the theoretical foundations of evolutionary economic geography and the concept of resilience, a methodological framework for identifying trajectories of economic reconstruction of territories is proposed. The framework is grounded on understanding historical heritage, capturing manifestations of resilience in the present, and shaping a vision of the future based on a combination of economic, social, and environmental values. This perspective allows the reconstruction of Ukrainian territories to be viewed not as a pre-designed process, but as a dynamic response to prolonged military threats and a high degree of uncertainty, in which adaptability and local innovative activity emerge as key drivers of structural transformation. It is shown that dependence on previously established industrial paths, institutional lock-ins, and regulatory barriers have constrained the emergence of new local innovation trajectories in Ukraine, thereby limiting the capacity of territories to respond to the polycrisis associated with large-scale military threats. At the same time, elements of historical legacy—such as sectoral structures, professional communities, educational institutions, production chains, and resilient social networks—can be considered a starting point for the formation of new trajectories of economic reconstruction. The importance of complementing formal institutional solutions with attention to emerging resilience is substantiated, understood as the capacity of communities for self-organization, creative response, and the development of new practices in the face of existential challenges. It is further argued that contemporary industrial culture shaped around the concept of DIY 4.0 opens new opportunities for broad citizen participation in local-level structural transformations on an innovation-driven basis. Production spaces such as FabLabs and RoboLabs combine elements of education, digital manufacturing, experimental entrepreneurship, and social cohesion—components that are critically important for reconstruction oriented toward wartime and post-war challenges. Such spaces not only contribute to strengthening human capital but also provide a foundation for transforming regional industrial ecosystems into systems capable of generating and sustaining new development trajectories under conditions of profound structural change.

The article explores the integrated relationship between the economic and energy dimensions of industrial performance, with a particular focus on the position of Ukraine’s industrial sector in the global context. Although major international institutions systematically publish extensive datasets – including industrial value added (World Bank) and industrial consumption of primary energy resources (IEA) – these two informational domains remain largely disconnected at the analytical level. The absence of a unified sector-specific indicator analogous to “energy intensity” for industry forms a significant gap in assessing cross-country industrial efficiency and structural competitiveness. The study proposes an approach to evaluating the economic–energy efficiency of national industrial systems by combining data on industrial value added with corresponding volumes of primary energy consumption. Using econometric methods with temporal and spatial resolution, the authors compare Ukraine with a wide range of world economies, including technological leaders. The results demonstrate that even in the pre-war year 2021, Ukraine exhibited one of the lowest levels of industrial energy efficiency globally. Such disproportions have critical implications for the country’s economic resilience and energy security, especially under wartime conditions marked by damaged energy infrastructure and limited access to fuel resources. The findings underline the necessity of profound industrial restructuring in Ukraine aimed at reducing energy intensity and improving the metabolic efficiency of industrial production. The proposed analytical framework can support the formulation of modern industrial policy and serve as a methodological basis for further interdisciplinary research at the intersection of industrial economics and energy studies.

The steel industry’s clean energy transition can enable new market creation and economic growth stimulation. Yet, the most efficient and feasible pathway to decouple the sector from fossil fuels remains unclear, particularly within developing nations and unstable socio-political contexts. Here, a blueprint for reconfiguring plant locations and reallocating resources is developed through a Ukrainian case study under two scenarios, which capture potential post-war conditions. Framed by regrowth of Ukraine’s export-oriented steel industry and prospective European Union accession, green iron and steel trade strategies are devised. A steel supply chain optimisation model underpins the techno-economic, spatially granular analysis of energy and material flows, which utilises the inputs from a separate cost-minimised renewable energy, green hydrogen, and green ammonia production model. Results show that optimal supply chain configurations rely on mixed emissions-free energy profiles, the emergence of new steelmaking sites nearby high-quality renewables, regional alliances for green iron and steel market creation, and multi-billion-dollar investment. Mature nuclear and hydro power critically reduce costs in the near-term, whilst the rapid expansion of solar and wind energy infrastructure underpins production system scale-up. To simultaneously rebuild the 22 million-tonnes-a-year Ukrainian steel industry and transition to near-zero emissions by 2050, infrastructure investment surmounts to $62 billion, given full liberation of Ukrainian territory. Near-term investment is necessary to ease the pace of change, and although mobilising capital of this magnitude will be challenging, convincing carbon prices favour decarbonisation efforts.

Emergent urban resilience (EUR) develops within volatile and uneven crisis environments, where disrupted infrastructures, fragmented governance, unstable economies and shifting social practices interact in unpredictable ways. These dynamics make EUR analytically important yet empirically elusive. Evidence is often partial, rapidly outdated or entirely absent; many adaptive practices are short-lived and leave no stable trace. As a result, research tools designed for stable contexts struggle to capture how resilience takes shape during war and protracted disruption. This paper examines the conceptual, methodological and ethical challenges of studying EUR under such conditions. Drawing on a structural model of urban domains and a dynamic perspective on crisis temporalities, it shows why traditional assumptions about data, visibility and coherence do not hold. Rather than offering new methodological solutions, the paper outlines what researchers must consider when working with fragmented evidence and unstable field conditions, and highlights the interpretive and ethical responsibilities that accompany research in crisis-affected urban settings.

The consequences of military actions are an unprecedented case of environmental damage in Ukraine. According to official data, more than 670,000 tonnes of waste were generated due to the damage (destruction) of buildings and structures as a result of hostilities in the territory of Ukraine, which can be considered the minimum possible amount according to the preliminary assessment. Attacks continue and lead to increased volumes of waste, burden on land use in communities and creation of ecological threat. International experience shows the possibility of obtaining ecological, social and economic benefits from the reuse of construction and demolition waste. In the context of the implementation of the European integration vector, Ukraine should focus on the effective management of such waste based on the principles of the circular economy − reuse, recycling and recovery. The fulfilment of this urgent task is possible thanks to the creation of conditions for the deployment of industrial circular ecosystems − a set of entities of various economic activity sectors and civil society that work and evolve together with the aim of creating added value based on the principles of reducing the use of primary materials, reusing materials and products, their processing and recovery, thereby extending the life cycle of goods and forming their enhanced value. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the expediency of deploying circular industrial ecosystems as a condition for eco-efficient elimination of the consequences for the environment caused by military actions. Based on the example of the eponymous project of the global company Energy Vault on gravitational energy storage using composite blocks, which are created with industrial waste and construction and demolition waste, key actions are outlined that will contribute to the emergence and development of circular industrial ecosystems in Ukraine around existing technologies. A range of problematic issues that need to be solved for the formation of institutions, routines, behaviour and culture of economic entities for the deployment of circular industrial ecosystems, in particular, with the aim of eco-efficient elimination of the consequences for the environment caused by military actions, is outlined. Recommendations have been provided on updating the legal support for the management of waste from the demolition of buildings and structures as a result of hostilities; reforming and expanding the range of tools for stimulating sustainable waste management; as well as developing interdisciplinary research.

Introduction. This study analyses countries' industrial development using the momentum of industrial growth and the product of the added value created by industry by its growth rate. It is constructed by analogy with momentum in mechanics, just as the measure of production of movement of a body depends on its mass and velocity; therefore, the measure of industrial growth is determined by the volume of production (scale factor) and the rate of its change (speed factor). Aim and tasks. This research aims to define the concept of the momentum of industrial growth and justify the possibility of its use for the identification of supranational industrial ecosystems, specifically for groups of countries whose industries are characterized by close development parameters. The subject of this research is the historical dynamics and geographical diversity of the industrial ecosystems of the states. Results. The momentum of industrial growth depends on many factors, among which we can distinguish sets of institutional, economic, scientific-technological, labour, and environmental factors. Based on the analysis of the array of 21 indicators of these sets for a sample covering 67 countries, five indicators were selected that had the closest connection with a performance indicator, such as the specific momentum of industrial growth (per capita). This indicator allows the comparison of industrial systems of different sizes and considers not only the specific industrial output but also the rate of its growth. Conclusions. The selected indicators were used to identify supranational industrial ecosystems, groups of countries whose national industries have similar development parameters. In total, using cluster analysis, five large groups of countries were singled out, which, in turn, can be divided into subgroups: industrial ecosystems with the closest characteristics. Ukraine is included in Group V “Developing countries with the lowest specific momentum of industrial growth”. Unlike the group of leaders, which included the most industrially developed states, Group V was characterised by a lower scientific-technical production level, more significant reproduction problems, and a level of human capital along with traditionally influential informal institutions. To specify the cluster factors of growth and consider them in the formation of the national industrial strategy, it is reasonable to devote particular research to the issues of their analysis in time and space.

The article examines the creation of a spatial entrepreneurial system using the example of a brownfield industrial park (the case of the revival of soda ash production in the city of Sloviansk, Donetsk region). Its potential for the sustainable development of the production area, industrial modernization, and the establishment of new manufacturing points of modern progressive technological growth is revealed. It is substantiated that the key elements for the implementation of such a project are: the identification of soda ash production as a flagship industry; the presence of a technology support institute; the provision of training and professional growth for the workforce; the prospects for the development of next waves technological branches; and alignment with Ukraine's European integration objectives.

Карл Маркс обнаружил тенденцию к понижению нормы прибыли как общее явление, проявляющееся на фоне стремления отдельного капиталиста максимизировать собственную прибыль. По мнению К. Маркса, причина — в эволюции органического состава капитала, сопровождающейся уменьшением его переменной составляющей, используемой на покупку рабочей силы. Увеличение капиталоемкости и снижение численности занятых на единицу продукции определяют тенденцию к снижению нормы прибыли. Целью данной работы является качественная оценка взаимосвязи между техническим ростом и экономическим благополучием угледобывающих предприятий. На основе изучения и учета опыта Великобритании, Германии, Украины, Польши, Австралии и США была выдвинута следующая идея: повышение уровня механизации производства приводит к снижению рентабельности добычи угля. Ключевые слова : инновации, механизация, тенденция снижения нормы прибыли, угольная промышленность.

The monograph presents theoretical and scientific and practical principles for determining and forming strategic directions for the development of countries and regions of Europe through smart specialization and the prospects for using it to enter the trajectory of sustainable development of industrial regions of Ukraine in the process of European integration; The genesis of the theoretical and methodological principles of strategizing smart specialization of countries and regions of Europe is studied, smart specialization is considered from the positions of different schools of economic theory. The features of the restoration of old industrial territories of Europe in the context of the Global Goals and the implementation of smart specialization strategies are identified. The priorities of the EU regional policy and the prospects for their reproduction in Ukraine in the context of European integration and overcoming the consequences of the war are determined.