The aim of this study was to develop a concept plan of a rural habitat in Bukówno, Radzanów commune. The plan includes elements characteristic for the rural region of Ziemia Białobrzeska, located on the southern Mazovia. The area covers 2600 m². The inventory of an existing vegetation was conducted, analysis of selected environment elements and linking views were done. On the basis of the obtained data a development design of the plot was prepared.

In the Carpathians, groundwater fluctuations and spring discharges are subjected to monitoring. The monitoring has been carried out by Polish Geological Institute – National Research Institute (PGI-NRI) from 1989 until present and by Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW) from the 1960s until 2000. Currently (as of 2014) monitoring records, which are performed under the tasks of the Polish Hydrogeologic Survey, are taken in 88 study posts which comprise 49 wells, 35 springs and 4 dug-wells. In many posts, multi-year, cyclic (ca. 20-years) changes in spring discharges and groundwater fluctuations are observed. Results of the observed changes in groundwater level, formed the basis for identifying hydrogeologic cycles associated with changes in subsurface retention.

The paper presents the methodology of estimation of ecological effects. The ecological effects are understood as the reduction in air pollution achieved by using energetic willow wood instead of coal. The study was conducted in Skała municipality in Malopolskie Voivodeship. The research base used in the study was a detailed inventory of fallow lands occurring in the study area. The authors showed ecological effects calculated as the amount of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide which are not emitted into the air. Moreover, a significant reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions was recognized as additional ecological effects. The discovered ecological effects are very important for the analyzed municipalities, due to the neighborhood of Ojcowski National Park.

This paper presents a methodology to preparing dynamic water management balances for river basins and a computer model derived from such balances. The paper describes the problems and results of the implementation of this model for the Skawa River watershed located in the area of the the Regional Water Management Board in Kraków. The Model allows the qualitative and quantitative analysis to be performed on different variants of water resources management for the catchment areas and variations in the water user needs and hydrotechnical infrastructure and environmental requirements.

The paper presents tests results of the geotechnical conditions for foundation of the building D of University of Agriculture in Kraków, 116 Balicka Street, which were made because of its planned extension by two adjacent buildings – from the north (A) and south (B). The study showed that the building D is built on a 0.6 m width concrete continuous footing without offsets, within the layer of silty sand. Foundation of both newly designed buildings on continuous footings of 0.60 m width at a depth of 1.20 m (building B) and 1.40 m (building A) in a layer of silty sands was proposed. The calculations showed a high load-bearing capacity of the ground. For design purposes it is proposed to use the ultimate resistance obtained from calculations made according to Eurocode 7.

The Wielkie Błoto peat bog located in the Niepołomicka primeval forest is an area of intensive spatial development changes. After World War II the peat bog was used agriculturally, there was exploited peat and it provided materials to produce paint. The proprietorship of Wielkie Błoto changed with the time which was beneficial for inhabitants. Peat exploitation until the 1990s contributed towards the development of Szarów village. Nevertheless the changing political and economic situation of the country also impacted Wielkie Błoto itself. With the beginning of the 1990s most of the inhabitants abandoned agricultural activity, which resulted in shrubs thickets. Since 2011 peat bogs have been included in the areas of Nature 2000. The aim of developing new ways of this area development should be an active protection which will be beneficial for flora and fauna of this area as well as for the inhabitants of Szarów village and its tourists. The area of Wielkie Błoto can be a stimulus to the development of this region.

The structure of land use and ownership rights to them in the area of the Pieniny National Park is unfavorable for conducting protection processes in accordance with the principles laid down in the Act on the Protection of Nature, because a large part of the area is a private property. For many years the Park has been carrying out the buyout of the property rights to the Treasury, but often the owners lack the desire to resell the land and also the lack of financial resources slows down the process. During the seven years Park has purchased 366 cadastral plots with a total area of 39.7669 ha.

Environmental protection is one of the most important fields of knowledge and science for today’s communities and it directly refers to our surroundings on the macro and micro scales for the various forms of their protection. The rapid technological progress has entailed the revolution in the methods for acquiring, processing, and presenting spatial information for various purposes, including those of environmental engineering. The main effect of such transformations is the creation of the GIS (Geographical Information System) technology, which allows us to visualise, analyse, interpret, and reveal the relations and trends occurring in the surrounding environment. The GIS technology combines numerous fields of science and knowledge, such as geodesy, cartography, and information technology. However, the effectiveness and productivity of these systems depends on the fundamental issue of reliable and adequately precise measurements taken in the field. This falls to the domain of contemporary geodesy, which provides us with a wide range of options in this respect. One of the most effective current technologies satisfying these needs is satellite technology and the associated satellite navigation and positioning systems. This paper uses an empirical example to present the utilisation of such a system. The obtained results are analysed for measurement accuracy and effectiveness, and the benefits from the introduction of innovative satellite technology in the environmental protection sector are presented.

The concept of ecosystem services has recently gained relatively a lot attention in the academic debates. The concept is derived from the ecological economics discipline. Thus it combines ecological implications and economic approach. The ecosystem services may be perceived as a different approach to the notion of natural capital which is one of the capitals sustainable development paradigm is based on. Ecosystem services’ best known definition provided by Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) is the benefits people obtain from ecosystems. In 2005 the MA researchers divided ecosystem services into supporting, regulating, provisioning and cultural. On the basis of MA and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s reports, the classification of the ecosystem services in lakes has been delivered along with the valuation method proposal and implementation strategies.

The article presents a proposal for decision analysis application to the selection process for the removal and treatment of sewage in rural areas. Selecting the optimal solution was carried out based on the criteria of sustainable development. The proposed methods: hierarchical method of AHP and compromise programming can be used to choose the best solution at the planning stage removal system and wastewater treatment in countryside settlements, due to the fact that the analysis and the choice of system solutions removal and disposal wastewater in rural areas is a complicated task decisionmaking, which should be evaluated in many different aspects, adopting various criteria and measuring instruments.

The character of structures for water impoundment entails the necessity that these structures should be particularly well inspected and the data obtained in the process of control measurement and observation should be used to prepare the safety assessment of the structure. Measurement techniques used for the inspection of water impoundment structures should be improved along with experience gained in this area. In this paper a possibility of addition of terrestrial laser scanning, allowing quick and automatic determination of location, geometry and features of a surface of the objects, to foregoing methods was analysed. Research carried out for Solina-Myczkowce Dam and Rożnów Dam proved that observations acquired using terrestrial laser scanning can be used to supplement basic diagnostics conducted to inspect and assess the technical state of dam constructions.