Use of a multidimensional comparative analysis to evaluate a synthetic indicator measuring environmental management in rural areas in Poland

Abstract

The main objective of this study has been to measure and evaluate changes in the values of metrics applied to environmental management systems implemented in rural areas in the years 2010 and 2022. The study included three provinces in Poland representing different socio-economic development classes. Two strategic research groups were distinguished within the provinces: rural municipalities and rural areas in urban-rural municipalities. With the Perkal method, a synthetic indicator was constructed to measure environmental performance in rural areas. The Pearson correlation coefficient was applied, leading to the results which substantiated the conclusion that the highest improvement of the environmental management indicator value was achieved in the province at the highest socio-economic development level, even though the sub-indicators did not improve between 2010 and 2022 in all the analysed groups. The management of the environment is a task mostly delegated to local governments. Proposing an environmental monitoring method can support making decisions at the level of local governments as regards directions in the management of the environment in a given area because the synthetic indicator created in this study comprises only these elements that can be moulded by actions undertaken by local governments.