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The information technology (IT) sector is a powerful factor in present-day society, and its role in pro-sustainability policies is crucial. This study aims to gain insight into IT students' perspectives on the role of education for sustainable development (ESD) in their academic curriculum as well as to project their attitudes and actions to prospective employers.

This study used a cross-sectional survey design, involving 260 students majoring in IT at a public university in Bulgaria.

The majority of the students (67.30%) believed that their university education should promote students’ social and environmental skills. However, 55–65% thought that the current academic curriculum failed to connect subject matter with relevant environmental issues. The students held high expectations of prospective employers. There was a significant concordance between the participants' views on sustainability and their perceived workplace actions. The participants who believed that employers should reduce carbon emissions were significantly more likely to refuse to do any work that supports the fossil fuel industry [odds ratio (OR) = 4.82, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.04–11.37] or leave a job if the company provides products or services for the fossil fuel industry (OR = 3.10, 95% CI: 1.26–7.26). Such participants were more likely to opt for a lower salary in favor of environmental principles (OR = 2.38, 95% CI: 1.32–4.28).

The IT sector is a powerful factor in present-day society, and its role in pro-sustainability policies is crucial. IT students’ perspectives on the gaps in current sustainability practices convey a message to the IT academic and employment communities that environmental issues matter and are important to this new generation of technologically savvy people.

There have been a few other studies in Bulgaria on the issue of ESD, but no other study has focused on the projection of students' attitudes toward the environment onto future employers. The study's results showed that the Bulgarian young people who were getting ready for jobs in the IT field had the same environmental values and concerns as their peers from different higher education areas in different parts of the world. They were interested in acquiring knowledge and competencies that would help propel pro-environmental actions in their academic institution and future workplace. Notwithstanding the overall low economic standards in their country, they tended to put carbon-free and environmentally friendly policies ahead of financial interests. Their critical perspectives on the gaps in current sustainability practices convey a message to the academic and job communities in IT that environmental issues matter to this new generation of technologically savvy people.

Identifying the barriers that hinder the circularity in the wine industry in Bulgaria and proposing a preliminary circular economy (CE) index for ranking in order of importance the barriers for providing a suitable and replicable model through the contextualization of the study applied at the territorial level.

The article adopts a Fuzzy AHP methodology based on 6 main barriers and 19 sub-barriers to find the weights of the barriers and rank them. The study was conducted in Bulgaria, and it consists of a questionnaire with pairwise comparisons to ask for expert opinions of members of the Executive Board of the National Association of Bulgarian Vinegrowers and additional members of the regional vine and winegrowing chambers.

The study identifies training and education and environmental barriers as the most important among the main barriers whereas, economic barriers are assessed as low impact. Considering the sub-barriers, lack of consumer awareness and interest, unclear taxation for CE, lack of knowledge about environmental emissions (carbon, water etc.) within the supply chains, and lack of digital trends are determined as the most significant sub-barriers.

The preliminary CE index can be practically used and tested, when necessary, by each winemaker according to their understanding and opinion of CE barriers and sub-barriers. The ranking within the CE index can lead winemakers also to decisions related to the company's social policy.

The study uses the Fuzzy AHP methodology with expert opinions to analyze and weigh the main barriers to achieving CE at the micro-level.