Dyskusja wokół koncepcji świadomej zgody w kontekście badań naukowych z użyciem ludzkiego materiału biologicznego

Author(s): Jakub Pawlikowski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 44/2015

The development of research based on human biological material has contributed to a lively debate on the concept of informed consent in these studies, particularly its scope, form and length of validity. The biggest disputes and doubts concern the range of consent for research that will be conducted in the future, whose aim and place are unknown at the time of the sample collection, as are the future researchers and the ability to use the previously collected materials again. This situation raises the question of a just and prudent balance between the rights of participants in the research and the rights of researchers. New forms of consent have been proposed, which sometimes substantially diverge from the classical model (e.g. blanket consent or broad consent and its various kinds) in aiming towards responsible balancing between the necessity to protect the donors’ interests and the possibility of conducting research in medicine. These new concepts also find their application in legislative acts adopted internationally and in some European countries in the recent years.

Erdélyi magyar fiatalokkal kapcsolatos kutatások térben és időben: egy áttekintés

Author(s): Kálmán Ercsei / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 02/2015

The present paper focuses on the empirical researches related to the ethnical Hungarian Youth population from Transylvania, Romania with the aim of giving an overview based on the literature of the domain. As a result of our desktop research we build a database which collects the main characteristics of a number of 70 empirical researches. The study first sketches the context of the formation and evolution of the field of the youth researches in Romania, then shortly presents the institutes in the field of ethnical Hungarian youth research from Romania. The next step analyses the distribution of research topics and methods. Finally, a timeline shows the most of the previously presented researches giving an overview of the researches and their topics.

A lokális humán fejlettségi index eloszlása és területi autokorrelációja Németország és Magyarország esetében

Author(s): Dóra Szendi / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 06/2015

Since the creation of the HDI index in 1990 there was a great demand to measure also the local human development.Using the Polish local HDI methodology of the UNDP the aim of this present paper is to examine thedistribution of the local HDI index at the example of the Hungarian micro-regions (local administrative unit 1)and the German NUTS3 districts and city regions. The main goal is to analyse the core-periphery relations of thehuman development and examine the role of spatial connections (spatial autocorrelation).

Niewidzialny nadzór - architektura w służbie ładu i porządku

Author(s): Błażej Borsuk / Language(s): Polish Issue: 16/2015

In modern philosophy some voices assert a growing tendency of traditional, crystallized structures becoming more and more deliquescent, and of their properties and tasks being transferred to formerly subjugated smaller structures. Similar assumptions can be found in works of constructivists (Jean Baudrillard) and of post-modern thinkers (Zygmunt Bauman, Umberto Eco): they talk about a diluted role of information makers in the information-based civilization. These democratizing (?), emancipatory (?), participative (?) trends are equally noticeable in other areas of social life, and help, among all, maintain law and legal order. In this paper we endeavor to prove that the supervision function is shifted from outside the group to a well-thought-out architectural solution which forces users to take care of the law and order in their surrounding space.

Around the Bloc: Chernobyl Still a Hazardous Wasteland, Greenpeace Says

Author(s): TOL TOL / Language(s): English Issue: 03/15/2016

Strontium-90 levels have actually risen, posing a danger to people living near the devastated nuclear plant.

Program Przyjaciel Parku Narodowego – konceptualizacja, operacjonalizacja i realizacja

Author(s): Jolanta Pułka,Marcin Guzik,Magdalena Frączek / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2016

The article presents an educational program called Friend of the National Park, which is the result of cooperation of Malopolska national parks ( Babiogórski PN, Gorczański PN, Magurski PN, Ojcowski PN, Tatrzański PN) and two universities of Cracow (Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Cracow University and University of Agriculture). Problematic gives the background to the program, context relations man – environment, adopted the concept of theoretical, methodological aspects of the construction program and experiential dimension of the implementation of the program on the basis of the program for the period from 1 May to 30 September 2015, mostly in the Malopolska national parks participating in the program. Friend of the National Park is dedicated to all school-age children who want to explore and know better connection between human beings, know more about the nature and everything what is around us. Children and their parents or teachers can joy together during the activities offered in summer by the Malopolska National Parks.

Decomposition Analysis of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the European Union Based on Its Sectoral Structure

Author(s): Magdaléna Drastichová / Language(s): English Issue: 08/2018

Climate change is a serious threat to sustainable development (SD). A Decomposition Analysis (DA) of the data on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in the European Union (EU) in 2008 – 2014 was carried out using the Log-Mean Divisia Index Method (LMDI). To detect the factors behind de/coupling of GHG emissions from Gross Value Added (GVA) in the EU-28, changes of GHG emissions were divided into three effects. The negative intensity effect showed the highest absolute magnitude in the overall period 2008 – 2014 and the two partial periods 2008 – 2011 and 2011 – 2014. The composition effect also helped reduce GHG emissions, but to a lesser extent. The scale effect boosted increases of GHG emissions except for two years, 2009 and 2012, which was related to the effects of the economic crisis. Transportation and storage along with the Agriculture, forestry and fishing activities should be addressed more significantly in relation to GHG emissions.

Scenarios of the Near Future: Sustainable Development, Retreat or Collapse and Regeneration?

Author(s): Pavel Nováček / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

The elementary “map of the near future” could consist of three basic scenarios: sustainable development; sustainable retreat; or collapse and regeneration. Sustainable development remains the most serious attempt at finding an answer to the question of how to allow all people and nations to develop and improve their quality of life, while preserving functional ecosystems and a healthy environment for humankind. James Lovelock was the first to articulate the idea that it is too late for sustainable development and that we should strive for sustainable retreat. For Lovelock, the deadliest issue is the ongoing climate change, as it is irreversible and only can be mitigated. Sustainable retreat is hard to enforce politically and difficult to absorb mentally. Collapse of a civilization is a decrease in population size or political, economic, and social complexity over a large area for a long time. The collapse of a society does not usually come in the form of a sudden and apocalyptic downfall. Whether a society collapses or not depends on the society´s response to its problems and its capacity to solve them. A collapse is usually followed by rebirth and regeneration. This is a pattern in nature. Human society has followed a similar trend. Regardless how big a crisis is, it always presents an opportunity for catharsis and hope for a new beginning. However, there is no guarantee of the results.

Soil Degradation as a Matter of Concern for Plato: A Few Notes in the Margin of Critias (110–112, Ed. Burnet)

Author(s): Kazimierz Ilski,Anna Kotłowska / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

The aim of this article is to present the hypothesis that a powerful earthquake, which resulted in, among others, the destruction and engulfment by water of the bay of two cities, Helike and Bura (373/72 BC) may have been one of two significant causes for which Plato drew attention to soil degradation and erosion processes in Attica and their potentially devastating effects. The second reason was the personally experienced anthropogenic transformation of the natural environment. The philological and historical commentary on the dialogue Critias also showed that Plato, in his analysis, used contemporary terminology in the field of natural sciences.

GELENEKSEL EKOLOJİK BİLGİ BAĞLAMINDA IĞDIR’DA BİR HALK METEOROLOJİSİ UYGULAMASI

Author(s): Oğuz DOĞAN / Language(s): Turkish Issue: Sp. Issue/2024

Traditional ecological knowledge, which is the result of humanity's effort to live in harmony with its environment on a common plane, forms the foundation of the cultural structure with a life understanding based on sustainability. The practices of weather forecasting and attempting to intervene in weather conditions, prevalent in Iğdır and its surroundings where agricultural activities dominate, are significant examples of this traditional knowledge. This study aims to compile folk meteorology practices, which fall within the scope of ecological knowledge sustained within the oral cultural tradition, through interviews conducted with local informants. The data consist of information obtained using qualitative research techniques. The research conducted in the region aims, in one aspect, to contribute to the documentation and preservation of traditional ecological knowledge. This study not only limits the traditional ecological knowledge in the region to the classification of nature and natural events but also strives to highlight its deep connection with folk culture. Thus, it seeks to fully reveal TEK and prevent possible cultural disintegration. These practices are evaluated within their context, considering the social structure due to the local nature of traditional ecological knowledge. The primary rationale for the locals to resort to such traditional ecological knowledge is to reduce the harmful effects of hail, prevent potential damage to agricultural plants, and contribute to the conservation of natural resources. As a result, traditional ecological knowledge-based practices, inherited from ancestors and continued by the local people, stand as an alternative that can be inspired to solve environmental problems arising in the region due to technological advancements and incorrect agricultural activities. In this regard, prioritizing and supporting TEK-based solutions in agricultural activities conducted in the region should also be considered a focal point for achieving sustainability goals.

Towards Symbiocene: Simulation and Extrapolation of Environmental Inevitability in Ecofiction

Author(s): Pooja Agarwal / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2024

Anthropogenic intervention into the environment has led us towards what isnow widely understood as a new epoch: the Anthropocene. While nature is a concrete andpalpable entity, the othering of it is a linguistic construct. Literary narratives are signifi-cant part of our everyday discourse and their efficacy in positing an alternative worldviewcannot be undermined. The current paper seeks to investigate select texts of ecofiction:Megan Hunter’s The End We Start from (2017), Jim Laughter’s Polar City Red (2012),Louis Lowry’s The Giver (1993), and Ernest Callenbach’s Ecotopia (1975), towards ana-lyzing how ecofiction can foster global eco-consciousness (Wallis 2013) by either in-stilling a sense of eco-guilt (Agoston et al. 2022) or offering ecological hope (Northcott2020). Towards that end, the paper shall trace out the genesis of ecofiction, and considerhow through the twin techniques of estrangement and extrapolation, it creates alternateworlds, thereby simulating future scenarios. These scenarios can offer apocalyptic visionsof dismal and tragic consequences of the human intervention into the environment, orcould posit a rejuvenating alteration in human efforts, resulting in increased environmen-tal imagination, leading us from Anthropocene towards the Symbiocene (Albrecht 2015).

Implozje kultury i natury. O projektowaniu wraz z przyrodą

Author(s): Weronika Mazurek / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2024

The problem of the climate crisis is being analysed within a variety of scientifi c disci-plines, and its complexity is prompting researchers to blur conceptual boundaries and strive forinterdisciplinary research. This gives rise to ontological considerations, as it addresses, among otherthings, the now well-established nature-culture dualism. Numerous polemics against its validity arebased on the need for cultural studies, and humanities in general, to move out of an anthropocentricorientation. The creation of hybrid terms like ‘natureculture’ aims to build a new vocabulary andbottom-up methodologies that respond to new challenges. Is there a chance to fi nd in StanislawPietraszko’s binary theory of culture a gateway to transcend dualisms and search for the intertwiningof the human and the non-human? In this text I seek an answer to this question, and point to thetheoretical basis for developing possible narratives about the world after the Anthropocene. Thesestories situate at their centre adventitious relations that happen between species. I present examplesof these through an analysis of three unique activities in which male and female designers collab-orate with nature: animate and inanimate. Their practices transcend anthropocentric boundariesand inspire new ways of living.

Dog's Whining Effect on the Attention of Its Owner

Author(s): Wiktoria Moczarska / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

This study aimed to discover whether it is possible to transfer attachment vocalizations theory to the human-dog relationship. This study looked at whether people who identified as pet parents showed higher distractions when performing an attention-related task than non-pet parents people with dogs. Also used were the sounds of a baby crying, a neutral dog voice (sniffing), another potentially distracting sound, and silence. 23 people with dogs were examined. A modified version of the Bourdon-Wiersma test and the Lexington Attachment to Pet Scale were used. The study found no significant statistical difference between the stimuli used and between the silence and the rest of the stimuli. Despite the lack of expected effects in the study, it is an important introduction to the subject of pet parenting. It also shows that the chosen way of measuring distraction with emotional stimuli may need to be more accurate. I also show possible future research directions.

Fantomérintés, azaz milyen lehet a virtuális boldogságérzet?

Author(s): Ágnes Karolina Bakk / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 12/2024

This essay explores the nature of the phantom touch experienced on social VR platforms through social interactions. The phantom touch has the potential to induce happiness in users. The study outlines how VR has emerged as both a technology and an imaginative concept. It examines how social virtual reality platforms can facilitate socialization and connection with friends. It highlights that some users experience phantom touch during simulated face-to-face interactions. The conclusion posits that this type of touch, while highly speculative, may contribute to a greater sense of fulfillment in users’ otherwise less stimulating virtual lives.

Home as a Place for Shaping the Environmental Awareness of Poles

Author(s): Monika Podkowińska,Antoni Świerczek,Beáta Balogová / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2025

Home is a place where young people grow up, learn and develop the skills necessary for effective participation in society. It is the place where attitudes, opinions, and behaviours of the youngest family members are formed, including those concerning the natural environment. The aim of the article is to explore the role of the family home – specifically the family – in shaping the environmental awareness of Poles. The topic presented in the article is based on the literature on the subject, as well as the results of research on issues related to the environmental awareness of Poles (e.g., CBOS, EcoBarometr, Report on the study of environmental awareness and behaviour of Polish residents 2022). The authors employed desk research to analyse existing data. Studies (EcoBarometr 2023; EcoBarometr 2024) reveal that the primary source of information on the natural environment is the media, rather than the family. For young people, the Internet is becoming the dominant source, while television becomes increasingly significant with age. The results of the research presented in the article also indicate that the vast majority of Poles engage in environmentally friendly activities within their households (e.g. waste segregation). However, the motivations for taking such actions are influenced not only by environmental concerns but also equally by economic considerations. The family environment is not a setting where discussions are a key tool for fostering environmental awareness of Poles. Neither home nor school, in the opinion of the respondents, is the main source of information about the natural environment. This highlights the need to emphasise the family’s role in shaping young people’s environmental attitudes and behaviors.

Awakening of the Self to the Interconnectedness of Things: Stewardship and Caring for Creation through Religious Lens. Review of Religious Self-Cultivation and Environmental Flourishing: A Humanist Relational Approach, by Anthony Le Duc

Author(s): Vien V. Nguyen / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2025

Pomiar parametrów naturalnego promieniowania nadfioletowego w zależności od współczynnika pokrycia liściowego (LAI )

Author(s): Michał Kwiatkowski,MARTA ŁOWCEWICZ,Andrzej Pawlak,Jacek M. Kubica / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2025

The paper discusses the threats resulting from exposure to natural UV radiation (ultravioletradiation) and presents an overview of the results of studies conducted in various places aroundthe world and concerning the impact of urban green infrastructure on the level of this radiation.In addition, a spectroradiometric method of measuring natural UV radiation was presented –associated with the plant parameterization using the leaf area index (LAI), determined on the basisof hemispherical images – and the results of measurements carried out in the urban environmentwith different levels of tree cover. These measurements were performed as part of a project carriedout at the Central Institute for Labour Protection – National Research Institute, and their resultsconfirmed that urban green infrastructure reduces UV radiation and, consequently, reduces therisks to human health in urban agglomerations.

POROSTY. ZIEMSKIE ALFABETY WZAJEMNOŚCI

Author(s): Magdalena Ochwat,Małgorzata Wójcik-Dudek,Piotr Skubała / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2024

Lichens do not belong to plants or animals; they are long-lived and stable, capable ofsurviving in the harsh conditions of concrete urbanization in modern cities. Their strength comesfrom the hybrid combination of a fungus, a green alga, or a cyanobacterium, along with the millionsof supporting cells from other organisms. This alliance of fungi and algae, which we observe todayin the form of lichens, once played a crucial role in shaping life on Earth. Lichens testify that duringtimes of scarcity, mutual assistance becomes key to survival. Their symbiotic history, presented inthis article, is a lesson we urgently need today about reciprocity and the formation of new, diversecommunities. Lichens are an excellent example of how to create a culture of mutuality and com-munity, while offering an alternative to a life of alienation, individual functioning, and the pursuit of maximizing profit. They provide us with an alternative model of life on Earth, in contrast toindividualistic, selfish, and individual-centered ways. The properties of lichens and their practicesof forming alliances can serve as guidelines for functioning during the climate and environmentalcrisis, when resources are shrinking, and global temperatures are reaching record highs. The meth-odology we apply can be called “symbiotic humanities”. Its task is to uncover various forms of lifeon Earth and convey a more-than-human perspective of the world, one that emphasizes interweav-ing, relationships, connections, kinships, and the fact that every species exists only through others.This text is enriched with images of lichens to visually demonstrate to the reader the different formsof embodiment of these fascinating organisms. The article serves as an invitation to observe them,to decipher the irregular calligraphy of their thalli. We present the Lichen Manifesto and literarytexts that may inspire new, unconventional ways of perceiving the world, encouraging explorationof symbiosis, complexity, and the polyphony of lichen nature, as well as the study of geolinguistics.

JAK ROCH „ZSZEDŁ NA PSY” O PROBLEMACH UCZESTNICTWA ZWIERZĄT WE WSPÓŁCZESNYM PRAKTYKOWANIU TRADYCJI KULTUROWYCH

Author(s): Joanna Książek / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2025

This article discusses some of the difficulties related to the participation ofanimals in contemporary cultural traditions, using the example of the animalblessing held annually in Mikstat on St. Roch’s Day. This custom is one of thefew traditional cultural phenomena involving live animals included on Poland’sNational Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage, and in some respects it isunique. The rapid cultural and social transformations, manifested in changingways of thinking and lifestyles, as well as modern technology and economicpractices in animal breeding, are giving rise to challenges in the cultivating ofthis tradition. The emergence of a new type of human–animal relationship, and consequently of animal species other than “traditional” taking part in the animalblessing, has had a twofold effect: on the one hand, it offers fertile ground enablingthe custom to persist; on the other, it generates a kind of tension at the intersectionbetween theological narrative and social practice.

ZWIERZĘTA TOWARZYSZĄCE W ŻYCIU MIESZKAŃCÓW WSPÓŁCZESNYCH MIAST

Author(s): Magdalena Lubiarz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 4/2024

People’s attitudes towards animals depend on cultural and social factors and conditions. Relation-ships between humans and animals have evolved over the centuries and continue to change. Un-doubtedly, the relationship between humans and companion animals has many benefits, from im-proved physical and mental health, to positive effects on learning skills, as well as the developmentof social skills and interpersonal relationships. In this perspective, the presence of pets, especially dogs, is becoming more and more visible in urban areas. The needs of dog owners and their petsinfluence the design of urban spaces, while animals and their impact on people and the environmentare even seen as nature-based solutions.