*2.3. PEST Analysis—Social Environment*

Table 3 presents the social environment of RE in the Pomerania Voivodeship in the context of its development potential.


**Table 3.** Social environment of RE in the Pomerania Voivodeship (author's own work).

The population of Poland has been steadily declining for a decade. At the end of 2020, there were 38,265 million Poles, which is 273,000 fewer than in 2011 (it is worth mentioning that, for example, Gdynia has 244,000 inhabitants) [71]. The current data are even more concerning, as 75,869 people in Poland had died from COVID-19 by 11 October 2021 [72]. In the Pomerania Voivodeship, the population at the end of 2020 was 2347 thousand [71]. The Polish society is aging and the population is set to decline in the future—in 2020, the fertility rate was 1.38 [67]. It is assumed that if the fertility rate fluctuates in the range of 2.10–2.15, we can talk about the so-called simple replacement of generations. This means that, in the assumed situation, each woman of reproductive age gives birth to slightly more than two children on average. Such a state is desirable in order to be able to ensure an optimal size of the workforce in the future, and thus not to overburden the pension system.

The unfavorable demographic situation in the Pomerania Voivodeship and in Poland has a very significant impact on the activity of the regional labor market. The related problems include the limited mobility of employment and the reduced ability to flexibly respond to changes in the labor market. A large group of the unemployed are people with higher education. Local authorities should support entrepreneurship by creating favorable employment conditions in micro- and small enterprises, which, inter alia, produce energy from RE sources [55].

Graduates of secondary schools (general and vocational) occupy a dominant position in the structure of the population according to the level of education; currently, the percentage of such people is 29.0%. Since 1995, the share of people with higher education in the 24–64 age group has increased from 9.7% to 21.2% [67]. Internet access, RE promotion (seminars, conferences, shows), and Poles traveling abroad have contributed to a gradual increase in knowledge of and support for RE. Secondary school students indicated that they learn about RE from the Internet, television and newspapers, and, to a lesser extent, from the curriculum content at school. Most of them assess their knowledge of RE as not very high. It is worth noting that teachers judge their knowledge of RE as good or very good, while information on RE is obtained mainly from the Internet and television [55]. Polish society has agreed to build a low-carbon economy, provided that it does not significantly increase the prices of energy and consumer goods. The respondents to this survey almost unanimously believed that the further development of renewable energy sources would have a positive impact on reducing the emission of pollutants into the environment [55].

Until recently, there were no fields of study related to RE offered by universities. Around 40 Polish universities have introduced to their offer fields of study/subjects related to RE sources. For example, at the Gdansk University of Technology, one can study "Green technologies and monitoring" [55].

The rapidly developing RE sector is looking for new employees, most often in rural areas, i.e., areas with a high unemployment rate. The technology of agricultural biogas plants fits perfectly into this scheme, thanks to which unemployment in Northern Poland may drop. Membership in the EU ensures the free movement of new technologies, as well as scientists and employees, in the RE sector.
