Around the Bloc: Czechs, Bulgarians Won’t Oppose Russian Pipeline Expansion
Prague and Sofia won’t sign Eastern European group’s letter calling on EU to block Nord Stream-2 pipeline bypassing Ukraine.
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Prague and Sofia won’t sign Eastern European group’s letter calling on EU to block Nord Stream-2 pipeline bypassing Ukraine.
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In the article there has been reflection on the possibility of transfer of knowledge and the use of new forms of education for inhabitants of rural areas. The main goal of this article was to show the importance of knowledge and education as essential elements of rural development. The subject matter of knowledge and education is invariably connected here, because through efficient education systems we gather knowledge, which we can later process, complement and create its new resources. The article with the introduction consists of five parts. Initially, it was to analyze the concept and importance of knowledge and its diffusion for the development of rural population. Then, we investigated how the phenomenon of knowledge and education has been described in some documents of the EU, including rural areas. In the next part we examined the same issue, but in the perspective of selected documents at the national level (also with special emphasis on rural areas). In the fourth part we discussed some new forms of education and knowledge transfer feasible in rural areas. The final section presents modern information technologies possible to use in the process of education and knowledge transfer and provides examples of their use.
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The paper focuses on the changes in the processes of spatial redistribution of population in connection with the changes in the educational structure of population. The development of both attributes of population is examined by the case study of the urban region of Košice – the second largest city in Slovakia. Similarly with other urban regions of Central European major cities, the process of centralization of population from the region´s ring to its core changed into the decentralization, during the 1990s. While the natural reproduction of population allowed for population growth of the region as whole, the migration was the driving force of the spatial redistribution of population within the region. Along with the general changes in the educational structure of population related to transformation of educational system recorded in all Visegrad countries, research proves close relations between changes in educational structure of population and the processes of spatial redistribution of population at the intra-regional level of the Košice functional urban region. Changes in the proportion of population with elementary education as the highest educational level attained seem to be affected more by the natural reproduction of population, while the changes in the proportion of population with tertiary education indicate stronger relation with the migration development.
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The article focuses on the analysis of the characteristics that determinespending on education in rural households, and compared the level of expenditure oneducation depending on where location. Includes households located in the largest citiesand villages. Despite the many transformations of the Polish countryside there are stillsignificant differences in spending on education between households of the cities and thecountryside
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The main aim of this article is to explain disparities in socio-economic development of rural communes in the Łódź region and to compare them to the results of studies conducted before Poland joined the European Union. The research resulted in the classification of rural communes in the Łódź region according to their level of socio-economic development. Statistical data were taken from the Local Data Bank, Central Statistical Office. The ranking of communes was compiled for 2008 and 2013, i.e. for the beginning and end of the development programming period in the European Union. Studies are dynamic, making it possible to present the changes in socio-economic development disparities. The results have shown that general development inequalities in rural areas of the region have decreased. In the time period chosen for the study (2008‒2013), there was an increase in the level of socio-economic development. The greatest increase in development level was noticed in rural communes located outside of the Łódź agglomeration, very often in the peripheral areas with dominant agricultural function. Some important elements of the socio-economic growth were increased investment expenses, higher overall expenses and, partially resulting from them, supplementation of basic infrastructural shortcomings (improved living conditions). The worsening demographic situation should be considered the greatest development problem for rural communes. It is obvious that further socio-economic transformations will be impacted by the decreasing share of children and youths, as well as mobile working age population.
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Education is all activities and processes to transferring knowledge and the shaping specific qualities and skills. In this article on example of Pomerania (Pomeranian and West Pomeranian voivodeships) are presented selected educational activities undertaken by local communities that affect the development of the Pomeranian village and create their image. There is depicted a general state education of research area. Primary and nursery schools dominate among educational institutions in rural areas so there is devoted to them most space in this paper. A kindergarten education became almost as important as the education that children receive in school nowadays. In the countryside kindergartens not only educates but also develop social skills increase educational opportunities support children’s individual learning needs and support parents. In Pomerania there are 2044 kindergartens including 45.8% in rural areas. The activity of selected organizations in the education of children and young people from rural communities was covered mainly by creating small schools and kindergartens, and specialization of the village. There is currently extremely important the acquisition of EU funds for developing a broadly defined rural education. Projects: „Little Kindergarten in Every Village”, „Little School” and the action taken by the „Kashubian Sunflowers” or the Association „Speranda” can mention among the most interesting projects implemented in the rural areas of Pomerania. Established educational institutions are the local development centers.
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The article addresses the issue of improving the accessibility of public transport,assuming that infrastructure investments co-financed within the 2007–2013 and 2014–2020 EU financial perspectives have been so far and are expected to remain their primestimulus. Accessibility of public transport has been presented using the GIS tools. Theanalysis compares the accessibility of public transport between the two urban centers ofOlsztyn and Rzeszów, which benefit from the Development Programme of EasternPoland. Number of residents in the two examined cities is similar, in Rzeszów 184, and inOlsztyn 175 thousand (2013). Similar population size corresponds to a comparabledemand for public transport. For the purpose of analysis concerning the improvement inaccessibility the two following dates have been appointed: the year 2013 as a referencepoint (part of investment within the EU 2007–2013 was partly completed) and 2020(as a state after the completion of investment of the 2014–2020 financial perspective).Accessibility of public transport has been presented by the isochrones to the communicationscenter of Olsztyn and Rzeszów (railway station), which are the planned intermodaltrain/bus station. The main objective of this study is to assess to what extent EU fundsaffect the improvement of accessibility for urban residents and to indicate in which of theanalyzed urban center investments supporting public transport are anticipated to bring themost desired results. Improvement of public transport accessibility has been expressed inthe number of inhabitants, area and population density located within the distance of timeintervals (isochrones).
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The aim of the study is to demonstrate the usefulness of methods of analysis in GIS software, in broad studies of changes in the geographical environment of the city Myslowice. Geographical environment are created of natural and anthropogenic elements, concluded on maps for centuries. Assumed research method showed a very high possibility of using GIS software to analyze the changes, which took place in the town of Myslowice in the years 1883–1993. For this purpose, two digital elevation model (DEM) were generated by vectorization of izohips and altitude point. The first model was based on the old German Messtischblatt topographic maps at scale of 1:25 000 from the years 1883–1942. The second model was generated from Polish topographic maps at a scale of 1:10 000 from the year 1993. All these maps have been calibrated (registered) to a common coordinate system Poland 1992. Generating uneven-aged DEM also gave the opportunity to track changes in morphology on selected lines of cross-sections. Myslowice is a city of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, in which the exploitation activity is dating back more than two hundred years. However, due to the limited number of maps the study only shows the effects of 110 years of exploitation. The usefulness of the method was confirmed in determining the precise areas of the city, which were hardest hit by the effects of mining activities. This fact was also verified in the field. As a result of the surface exploitation in several large quarries traces of underground mining operations are erased, but with a careful analysis they can be distinguished from each other. With GIS software and precise calibration of old maps is it possible to trace the changes in the components of the geographical environment, such as rivers, water reservoirs, roads, building development, afforestation. In addition, it enables the precise location of some elements of the environment that no longer exist such as old excavation of raw materials, sand, clay and limestone or traces of the former ironworks.
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At least 21 die as torrential downpour overwhelms villages near Skopje.
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In this paper use of 1:10 000 scale topographic maps and open-source GIS software to build Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with 5-meters resolution was analysed. DEM was built from contour lines vectorised in Quantum GIS using five different interpolation methods available in SAGA GIS: Ordinary Kriging, Ordinary Kriging with Block Kriging, Thin Plate Spline (Local), Thin Plate Spline (TIN), Multilevel B-Spline Interpolation. Special attention was given to the accuracy of DEM's built with those methods. DEM's were analyzed by crossvalidation of their surface with elevation points vectorised from topographic maps, which were not used in DEM interpolations. Correctness of generated drainage network was also investigated. Although construction of DEM in presented way is very time-consuming, it is often the only way to build high-resolution DEM of small catchments or other spatial units, which could be used in large-scale hydrological or geomorphological modeling.
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The aim of following article is to present and evaluate possibility of automatic extraction of terrain skeleton lines using computational methods from Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Authors describe examples of morphological analysis in geomorphology, difficulty and time-consuming of executing of this kind of research using traditional, manual methods. Topography map of quaternary ground of Lodz Region has been analyzed. Firstly terrain skeleton lines were traced using traditional ways. After that lines were generated and analyzed by using ArcGIS software with ArcHydro and SpatialAnalyst extensions. Both of received maps were compared and evaluated.
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The existence of marginal regions is closely linked to the socio-spatial polarisation of our society. Especially in the post socialist countries, including Slovakia, which have undergone significant social and economic transformation, spatial polarisation and related regional disparities have become a relevant issue across multidisciplinary academic research. This study focuses on similarities and differences in defining the marginality from two different perspectives - one that is based on quantification of statistical data and another based on individual perception of marginality from the position of local mayors. Local mayors, the main figures of the local governance, have in the Slovak system of administration huge responsibility in the development of communes and a great opportunity to improve the status of certain communes, especially those marginal. At the same time this study investigates how the political affiliation and political support affect their competencies and activities in relation to the marginal position of their commune.
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Studentification is a global phenomenon that has been prominent in urban geographical discourse since the large-scale expansion of higher education in the early 1990s. In many developed and developing world countries, expansion in student enrolment has outstripped the ability of institutions of higher learning to provide adequate accommodation. Similar trends have been recorded in South Africa. The task of this paper is to investigate studentification as experienced in one of South Africa's secondary cities. The paper draws attention to the economic, socio-cultural, and physical characteristics of this form of student housing on host locations. It is argued that studentification holds both positive and negative impacts for the host communities of Bloemfontein. Finally, it is suggested that studentification in South Africa requires greater research attention.
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This paper interrogates the geography of tourism innovation in the Western Cape, South Africa. In particular, innovations by tourism firms are mapped and local tourism innovation networks are analysed. Networking behaviour is examined since it is regarded as indispensable for accessing knowledge and learning for innovation purposes. The analysis draws on a broader investigation of tourism innovation and networking within the Western Cape province. It is revealed that the main tourist regions in the Western Cape are also the most innovative. Whilst external networking relations are observed to be highly significant for tourism innovation, local embeddedness remains critical for stimulating path creation and exploiting local core competencies for the competitiveness and survival of tourism firms and destinations.
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Coastal towns rely heavily on the quality and expanse of their beaches to attract tourists. Climate is an important tourism determinant, controlling the length and timing of peak arrivals. South African tourism is particularly reliant on these factors. Perceptions of tourists and tourist accommodation establishment regarding climate change threats to tourism are explored for the towns of St Francis Bay and Cape St Francis. Tourism accommodation establishments were predominantly concerned with day-to-day changes in weather, investing in small-scale infrastructural changes to improve the comfort of their guests. By contrast, tourists demonstrated greater concern for the risk of flooding, sea-level rise and the degeneration of the beaches. This reflects concerning disjunctures between perceptions of tourists and accommodation establishments regarding climate change threats. This may portray to tourists insufficient investment in adaptation at accommodation establishments, resulting in decreased tourist visitations in the short-term in favour of destinations perceived as better prepared.
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Central Europe, Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Southeast Europe as macro- region space concepts are not regions designable by physical geography; the geographical content of these concepts is drawn and re-drawn by historical, cultural and geopolitical processes. Debates on the extension and content of the macro-regions featured intensify every now and then, especially in crisis periods - it is enough to think of the years before, during and after the world wars, the regime change, and these days. Our paper, with the brief summary of the preliminaries, highlights, from the perspective of our age, the geopolitically determined transformation and demonstrates the findings of our empirical research. During our research we made a questionnaire survey in which we recorded mental maps of the university students of Hungary and its seven neighbour countries, looking at where the respondents put their own countries and what image of the respective macro-regions lived in their minds. Our findings may be subject to debates but clearly show the convergent or divergent directions of the respective countries, at least as regards the judgement by the youth.
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Despite of increasing volumes of individual passenger transport and growing dependence of the post-socialist societies on the passenger car, public transport is still inevitable for certain communities. Its social and environmental aspects are obvious reasons why public transport remains within the scope of state and regional policies as a mixture of public and commercial services. Long-distance and international overground public transport represents a higher standard of travelling of considerably commercial nature. An important feature of this segment of the public transport is its capability to compete with individual transportation for long-distance journeys. The commercial character of the long-distance public transport should motivate operators to run territorially effective links covering adequately populated communites and regions with high demand for this segment of public transport services. This study deals with several territorial aspects of the network of long distance and international bus and train links of public transport in the Slovak Republic. The network of communities having direct access to the high-standard modes of public transport has been identified, revealing some of their spatial patterns and focusing on categorization of urban settlements by selected parameters of high-standard public transport services. The relationship with the population size of the urban settlements is assessed in the study, too
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Renewed interest is being shown in South Africa in the promotion of infrastructure for renewable energy (RE) to supplement the country's current energy-generation capacity and to break loose from its dependency on an unsustainable fossil-fuel-based energy-provision system. The latter system not only has unfavourable consequences for the environment, but is managed by a state-owned institution which since 2008 has been incapable of providing reliable electricity. RE infrastructure - especially for the generation of solar and wind energy - is a relatively new feature in the South African landscape. This paper examines the spatial distribution of the newly commissioned infrastructures for wind and solar energy (operational and under construction) and the role they can play in the diversification of the rural economies of parts of the country's Northern Cape, Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces. First, literature on evolutionary economic geography, path dependence and new path creation is reviewed. Second, the role of a single energy provider - embedded in a monopolistic energy policy -in inhibiting the transition from a mainly fossil-fuel-based energy-provision system to a multisource (multi-owner) provision system is discussed. Third, the reasoning behind the siting of the infrastructures for solar and wind energy in three particular provinces is explained. Fourth, the possible roles these new infrastructures can play in the diversification of the rural economies where they occur are advanced. The paper concludes that solar- and wind-energy projects have the ability to transform the South African energy context and that these projects present some positive socio-economic impacts for rural economies in the three particular provinces. The paper also recommends that future research efforts should be aimed at the evolution of this socioeconomic transformation by taking into account the pre-development context of the areas under study.
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The article sets demographic change in the Alps in the framework of European Territorial Cooperation programs . A statistical overview of selected regions in five Alpine countries serves as a basis for further policy analysis. The latter was undertaken to reveal how transnational projects tackle youth issues, including the difficulties within the labour and real estate markets that appeared to be the most problematic factors influencing (out) migration of the youth. While there is only a minor recognition of the young in current policy making on supranational, regional and local levels, the analysis showed that the added value of transnational programs for mountain regions and localities can be recognized in the development of multi-stakeholder environments, creating and transferring new solutions for the labour market as well as empowering youth participation in policy processes. However, the extent to which these solutions might contribute to overcoming the challenges of demographic change because of transnational programs is limited by various factors. Among these are the precise governance framework, administrative capacity, and population figures.
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Transnational entrepreneurship is an evolving field of research which occupies an interface between social and regional sciences. The phenomenon of transnational entrepreneurship is driven by entrepreneurs that migrate from one country to another whilst maintaining business-related linkages with their former country of origin and the adopted country. The most critical distinguishing feature of transnational entrepreneurs is bifocality or the ability to function across two different business environments. Most writings on transnational entrepreneurship concentrate on business individuals from the global South operating enterprises in the global North. Absent are empirical studies of the nature and behaviour of transnational migrant entrepreneurs who operate across or between emerging or developing economies. This South-South gap in international research concerning transnational entrepreneurship is addressed in the paper which provides an exploratory analysis of the nature of transnational entrepreneurship occurring in Southern Africa using evidence of Zimbabwean transnational entrepreneurs based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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