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The review paper presents the main research topics of the XVIIIth INQUA Congress from selected sessions with contributions from the Czech participants. The results of Czech papers are highlighted and discussed in relation to progress in Quaternary research. Discussed are advances in topical subjects of international studies of Quaternary palaeoenvironments and climate change. Přispěvky českych učastniků na XVIII. kongresu INQUA v Bernu Referativní práce se zabývá odborným podílem českých účastníků na XVIII. kongresu INQUA , který se konal ve dnech 20. 7. až 29. 7. 2011 v Bernu. Jsou uvedeny výsledky českých výzkumů předložené v 10 vybraných víceoborových sekcích, které byly zaměřeny na chronologii a kvartérní záznamy, pan-evropskou korelaci kvartérní stratigrafie, vývoj krajiny v kvartéru, pleistocénní zalednění Asie, paleohydrologické archivy ve fluviálních prostředích, příčiny a význam povodní a požárů v přírodním systému a historii Země, ekologické odezvy klimatických změn v měřítku desítek až tisíců let, rekonstrukce historických změn klimatu podle dokumentárních záznamů a na geoarcheologické aspekty vztahů mezi přírodním prostředím a člověkem. V diskuzi jsou komentovány hlavní tématické okruhy oborově integrovaných výzkumů kvartérního období: a) stratigrafie a chronologie kvartérních mořských a suchozemských sedimentů, procesů a událostí, b) klimatické změny v kvartéru a jejich paleoenvironmentální důsledky, c) historie člověka v kvartéru, d) identifikace klíčových oblastí Země pro výzkum kvartéru.

The review paper presents the main research topics of the XVIIIth INQUA Congress from selected sessions with contributions from the Czech participants.the results of Czech papers are highlighted and discussed in relation to progress in Quaternary research. Discussed are advances in topical subjects of international studies of Quaternary palaeoenvironments and climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines (i) the state of environmental conditions in two low-income urban communities in Accra, Ghana, using a Participatory Rapid Assessment (PRA) method, and (ii) changes in the environmental conditions in the two low-income communities over the years using the PRA method. The PRA was augmented with qualitative interviews with selected heads of household and other stakeholders from the study communities. The results showed that environmental conditions in the two study communities were poor as indicated by the computed average scores for the environmental problem areas. However, conditions were poorer in Chorkor compared to La. The paper recommends that local governments units in Ghana must prioritise sustained, improved, and reliable funding for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) to ensure undisruptive implementation of environmental health programs and policies. This must be accompanied with improved community education and sensitization on proper sanitary practices, which have the potential to mitigate the effects of disease epidemics such as cholera in the two communities. The study also provides important perspectives on differentials in environmental conditions in low-income communities in urban Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to explore the influence of related variety on direct state-supported R&D cooperation across various geographical levels to understand regional performance differentiation and economic base restructuring in Czechia by employing Frenken et al.'s (2007) methodological approach to calculate a related and unrelated variety for all NACE and NACE C-Manufacturing. Findings indicate that the city of Prague has the highest unrelated and related variety, followed by the cities of Brno, Ostrava, and Pilsen. Calculation just for C-Manufacturing changes the ordering significantly. Furthermore, intra-regional and extra-regional pairwise R&D cooperation in joint projects is calculated. The cluster analysis of Czech microregional data (SO ORP) reveals patterns such as emerging collaborators and collaboration powerhouses. Linear regression analyses established a strong positive association between R&D collaboration intensity and related variety, while a negative link was observed with unrelated variety. Similar relationships were observed in the manufacturing sector (NACE-C). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Very little is known about the investment climate and operations of MNEs in Cuba due to limited data provided by the Cuban government. In this paper, we explore the investment climate in Cuba and identify factors that limit the activities of MNEs. We also assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the future prospects for MNEs in Cuba. Our research is based on questionnaires and semi-structured interviews in MNEs operating in Cuba. MNEs consider low macroeconomic stability, the impossibility of acquiring real estate, access to financing and the movement of capital, and profit repatriation as the most problematic factors for their business activities. On the other hand, IPR protection, corruption, the skills and education of the available workforce and the availability of electricity were assessed as the least problematic. Less than half of the MNEs interviewed found positive changes concerning the investment climate in Cuba during recent years. This implies limited prospects for economic growth in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to critically review recent EU level debates on territorial impact assessment, which serves as a tool to improve the understanding of uneven territorial impacts of the EU sectoral policies. The paper also seeks to elicit (1) which European countries employ territorial impact assessment when designing various national policies and (2) how this tool is used in different governance environments. Particular attention is paid to the case of Czechia. The paper elaborates upon the state-of-the-art tools used on a national level and analyses the motivation of actors on regional and local levels to use such tools in their decision-making process. The research shows that EU member states that employ this tool can be categorized into four groups, for instance, depending on whether they enrich other impact assessments tools by territorial aspects, or whether they focus coherence of regional development strategies and sectoral strategies. Territorial impact assessment is not implemented in Czechia, although recent years have witnessed an upsurge of interest concerning territorial aspects of investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the model of identity research using the street names from five major Kosovar cities. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate the fact that identity in the urban environment can be determined through the analysis of street names, to uncover the difference in the presence of hodonyms that express regional identity from those that express national identity, and to investigate the presence of urban toponyms of international importance. This paper also aims to examine the relationship between regional identity and ethnic and religious structure, as well as to identify the role of historical-political circumstances at the level of the manifestation of regional identity. We found that the regional identity has been expressed more deeply compared to the national and international hodonyms, which have a lower representation. Although regional hodonyms dominated in all cities that were analyzed, there were differences in the representation of regional hodonyms which were related to personalities, events, or geographical objects that belong to the respective city or surroundings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of an empirical economic data-based survey of the costs and revenues of geographical data and Web services across public administration in Czechia. The survey was composed of questionnaires and interviews. The data was collected from the 19 biggest public producers of geographical information and 25 organizations that use geographical information. The results focus on the economic consequences of data opening, splitting finances within public administration bodies, the prioritization of activities related to geographical information, licensing issues and life cycle planning etc. We also consider user opinions on the restrictions on the (re)use of geographical information of public administration, including open data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper examines different forms of leadership in strategic planning in structurally affected regions of Czechia. Based on the leadership concepts and strategic planning in municipalities, evaluates different leadership approaches according to the population size of municipalities and the stability/continuity of municipal representatives. Four types of leaders were identified, with entrepreneurial leadership being the most important in all examined regions. The dependence of the types of leadership on the stability/continuity of government in strategic planning was revealed, while, the dependence on the population size of municipalities was no. The importance of entrepreneurial leadership increases with the increasing number of electoral cycles elected leaders remain in office. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sanitation change continues to be on the forefront of the global development agenda, even as it is becoming clear that the targets established in the Sustainable Development Goals will not be met. But since improving access to safely managed sanitation facilities remains a cost-effective and impactful measure to improve people's lives, it is still important to assess currently implemented policies to be able to learn from best practices and to understand how different approaches work under different contexts. This paper provides comparative analysis of country-level policies in India and Ethiopia, two countries that achieved notable progress in eliminating open defecation through distinct sanitation strategies, with the aim of confronting the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches. While in India the primary emphasis has been on the supply-side, i.e., provision of subsidized sanitation infrastructure, Ethiopian strategy prioritized the demand-side by addressing change in sanitation behavior through Community Total Led Sanitation. The analysis shows that neither of the strategies can fully achieve the sanitation change and a combination of both seems to be the most impactful approach in combating open defecation. It also argues that policymakers must consider not only local socioeconomic and budgetary constraints but also historical, institutional, sociocultural, and geographical specifics in deciding what type of subsidies would be the most fitting. At the same time, they also need to address the appropriate social norms to achieve the desirable change in sanitation behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the course of migration and expansion of small mammals in the Makalu Barun region influenced by the orogenetic uplift of the East Nepal Himalaya and climatically conditioned changes in the extent of morphogenetic zones from the Upper Pleistocene up to the present. The results of zoological and parasitological research are compounded with the knowledge of the dynamic development of landforms, which testifies to significant changes in the high-mountain environment during the Quaternary. The migration of Palearctic species of small mammals across the gradually emerging orographical barrier during the orogenesis of the High Himalaya was completely interrupted by the glaciation in the Upper Pleistocene. This extensive glaciation also excluded occurrence and survival of small mammals in the high-mountain valleys of the Makalu Barun region. Migration routes and the extension of the territory of small mammals remained open only in the periglacial zone of the Arun and Barun Khola valleys. Following the interstadial period of warmer and humid climate conditions were changed by the Late Glacial Maximum when small mammals were again pushed away from heavily glaciated valleys to the lower altitude periglacial zone. During the Holocene interglacial, the occurrence of fauna and flora in the high-mountain valleys depended on repeated spatial changes of periglacial and glacial morphoclimatic zones. Current biogeographical hazards are accentuated due to the rapid retreat of glaciers, the expansion of the periglacial morphoclimatic zone and the increased human impact in the High Himalaya. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the variability of life expectancy at birth in Europe after 1950. It aims to assess the development of the East-West mortality gap and to identify the sub-regions or countries that most influenced mortality divergent and convergent trends in Europe. To achieve the goals, European countries are divided into Western and Eastern according to their political history, and the squared coefficient of variation is used for analysis of variability. This measure is further decomposed into between- and within-group components. The results of the study show that there were 4 divergent periods during the study period associated with the delayed cardiovascular revolution and mortality crisis in Eastern Europe and the COVID-19 pandemic. Variability of mortality in Europe during the pandemic was the highest in comparison to all previous divergent periods. Throughout the studied period, the between-group variability was influenced by both the continual progress of Western Europe and the lagging of Eastern Europe, with both regions contributing more or less similarly. However, since the 1990s, in case of within-group variability, a strong dominance of Eastern Europe can be observed, and therefore post-socialist countries deserve special attention. The results also suggest that some longer-term trends in behavior and attitudes towards health may persist in society, and that in the case of an unexpected crisis, there is a greater risk of mortality divergence reappearing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper evaluates measures taken to restore mountain Peat Bogs and their effect on hydrological regime, with the main focus on groundwater levels. The level of groundwater is a key factor in maintaining the character of mountain Peat Bogs and the main objective of restoration is to increase and stabilize the groundwater level in disturbed Peat Bogs. At the same time, the paper provides a complex overview of the topic, which is being often discussed nowadays, mostly due to a big retention potential of mountain Peat Bogs. The paper is based on detailed measurements of groundwater levels in a selected experimental drainage ditch in the catchment of the Rokytka stream. Basic statistical characteristics, the equation of Penman-Montheit or antecedent precipitation index were used to show the dependence of groundwater level on precipitation or evapotranspiration. The results show a positive influence of the restoration measures on Peat Bogs. In this case it has been confirmed that restoration measures cause increase of groundwater level and decrease its fluctuation in the Peat Bog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, geography has included in research the increasing role of religion in postmodern Western society and space. Religion is no more being understood as an objective truth, but as an individual experience of a person with a significant impact on the perception of space and place-making. This problematic undoubtedly requires a new theoretical and empirical perception in the new geographies of religion. This paper appeals for the geographical study of the relation between religion and (postsecular) space could be significantly enhanced using feminist approaches, which enable the inclusion of personal experiences and individuality in the geographies of religion. Using the feminist approaches, the changes in religious climate, ongoing currently in the West, including Czechia, could be better addressed in geography. Thus, the paper theoretically discusses the potential of feminist approaches and argues especially for the relevancy of four topics, personal experience of people, emotions, embodiment, and the everydayness, which can offer new insights into understandings of the relation between religion and space. Similarly, methodologies used by feminist scholars provide unique option for getting to know how religious people interact with sacred as well as secular space. Therefore, the paper aims to justify the contribution of feminist approaches and the empirical research considering the creation of sacred space and framing the everyday religious experience of people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the entanglement between photography and aerial military operations during the World Wars, showing how, in warfare, the camera became a technology of power serving a dual purpose: 1) It was a weapon used to map the territory as well as to detect and bomb specific targets, and 2) it constituted a powerful propagandistic medium employed to circulate persuading and aesthetically innovative aerial vistas among civilians. The technological and industrial sophistication that was adapted to the modern aerial battlefield required optical and photo-developments. These technical improvements challenged military activity while also reshaping civilians' perception and conception of the landscape as well as determining new aesthetic canons. At the core of this article there is the notion of training of the eye - understood as the process, which involved both experts and the general public, of assimilating new photographic vistas from the sky. Using mostly the North American and German frames of reference, and interweaving military technology, visual culture, and landscape studies, this paper analyzes production and reception of "the view from above" mainly through mass-market illustrated magazines, such as the American Life and the German Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung. Developed within the military context, the peculiarity of aerial photography became embroiled with the idea of a cold, hunting, distanced and simultaneously penetrating gaze. However, recent scholarship understands the aerial view differently, due to the latest use of aerial photography for environmental science, and with the purpose of raising public awareness on the devastating ecological impact of industrialization and militarization. The contemporary progression from aerial photography to satellite imagery can in fact be interpreted along two directions: the God's-eye view of surveillance and/or the bird's-eye view of environmental care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tokaj wine region has been declared as a historical landscape by the decree of the National Ministry of Human Capacities in 2012. The historical landscape is defined in the Act LXIV of 2001 on the Protection of Cultural Heritage as an area under the preservation of Historical Monuments. The Tokaj Wine Region is the only legally recognized historical landscape in Hungary. This protection aims to preserve the historical built and natural environment as well as the traditional land use methods. The historical landscape, in the case of Tokaj, is a legal tool to increase the heritage protection level of the wine region. Nevertheless, no further details have yet been communicated on the preservation method. In this matter, protection remains on the level of discourse which puts emphasis on the expected perspectives in territorial planning and development. It may create a narrative that might potentially transform the territory. The region of our case study has been inscribed as a cultural landscape on the UNESCO World Heritage List and was added to the World Heritage List in 2002. Besides, the national government recognized the region as a territory of priority development in 2014 and a territory of priority touristic development in 2017. The area in question is marked by the stark contrast between social inequality and the image of the prestigious wine sector. In this paper, after providing a discussion of the institutional background of the adoption of the historical landscape in Hungary, I describe the different protection tools from the perspective of heritage conservation in order to reflect on the conception of the historical landscape: how was the region recognized as a historical landscape, and what was the purpose of this recognition? The main aim of the paper is to analyse the institutional process that led to the integration of a new object of protection in Hungary, called historical landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to analyse the attitudes towards immigration among Czech youth and their changes on two distinct surveys of young Czechs (aged 14-19) held in 2011 and 2016, the years before and after a period of a greatly increased inflow of migrants to the European Union. In these surveys, special focus was given to changes in attitudes and factors influencing attitudes in each year. The results show that there was not a big difference in attitudes between both samples. Nevertheless, looking closely at the results, we found two main differences. The first was higher polarisation of answers in survey from 2016 than from the one held in 2011. The second one was in factors influencing answers, mainly in the statement on having an immigrant among close friends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the topic of European imbalances. They are defined as large and persistent differences in the current account position of European countries, which are closely connected to the emergence of the financial crisis and the subsequent sovereign debt crisis in 2008. A build-up in current account deficits had been observed from the mid-1990s, namely in two peripheral regions of the EU. However, little attention was paid to the potential differences between the Southern and Central European peripheries of the EU. The emergence of large and persistent current account deficits in Southern Europe was accompanied by a significant shift in gains from global value chains. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the factors that co-determined the changes in the geographic structure of GVCs in Europe. These changes decreased GVC income in Southern Europe, increased it in Central Europe and contributed to the build-up of account imbalances in Southern Europe. Despite the fact that Central Europe was among the deficit regions in European imbalances, the four Central European countries substantially increased their gains from global value chains as well as GVC participation. The shift in GVC activity towards Central Europe between 1995 and 2011 was driven not only by total labour costs but also by better regulatory quality. At the same time, TNCs switching from Southern to Central Europe had to accept worse quality contract enforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effect of rural transport on smallholder farmers' purchased input use. A random sample of 500 respondents was selected and relevant data was collected. Descriptive, correlation, and regression statistics were used to analyze the data. The multiple linear regression analysis revealed that farmers' purchased input use was found to be significantly and negatively related to distance to major market, distance to all weather road, distance to farm plot, transport cost, and size of land holding. In contrast, farmers' purchased input use was found to be significantly and positively related to family size, off farm income, membership in a cooperative, being in Horro district, having animal cart, and access to good road. Further, the results of hierarchical multiple regression showed that approximately 82% of the total variation in purchased input use can be explained by the linear combination of all independent variables. Furthermore, the result showed that rural transport infrastructure-related variables, as a set, contributed 13.3% to the prediction of farmers' purchased input use over and above the remaining predictors. The results suggest that improving the rural road infrastructure and access to rural transportation services is vital in encouraging farmers' purchased input use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to reveal and explain the role of metro stations in a post-socialist metropolis as nodes that determine the perception of the city. By means of Lynch-type mental maps, we sought to find whether metro stations really function as perceptual nodes concentrating urban functions and traffic, and how recent changes of urban built environment and functions induced by neoliberal policy are reflected in the public perception. The results are discussed in relation to transit-oriented development that considers public transport stations and spaces around them as community hubs. The study has confirmed the expectation that the metro system constitutes an important part of the urban image and often functions as a skeleton that is used to arrange and frame the mental map of the city. Most of the metro stations function as perceptual nodes concentrating a particular urban function (monofunctional nodes) or combination of different functions (multifunctional nodes). The current perception of nodal areas around the metro stations reflects the recent transformation of urban built environment and functions, including intense and sometimes aggressive commercialization, as well as deindustrialization, although the role of open green public spaces and waterfronts continues to be important. To promote economic development and produce a more comfortable living environment, the metro-related nodal areas need to balance different functions, resisting abusive commercialization and promoting, keeping, and creating open public spaces, green areas and heritage protections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to reveal and explain the spatial pattern of Facebook adoption in Western Ukraine. It discusses how to trace the fragmented nature of social networking services' (SNS) penetration at the intra-regional level using Facebook data analysis. This study has confirmed the expectation that in Western Ukraine Facebook adoption is predominantly an urban phenomenon, but with some peculiarities depending on the local context. The largest cities and regional centers attract the highest number of users, while peripheral and the economically least developed places have the lowest Facebook penetration rate. However, there are some areas with a higher number of Facebook adopters caused by a specific rural settlement system and the location in the Carpathians with no large cities 'pulling' the audience. The spatial pattern of Facebook adoption in Western Ukraine is an intricate and intertwined mosaic of 'SNS hubs' and peripheries, suggesting a 'digital differentiation' rather than a 'digital divide'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the socio-spatial relations of changes in the concept of place. Since the 1970s, place has been one of the key terms of humanistic geography. Therefore, this paper reflects how the concept of place, its functions and meanings could be applied in the changing space-time and social contexts. The 'exotic' phenomenon of the American Bar which had penetrated into Europe in the first half of the 20th century can be regarded as a representative of place when it had emerged during Americanisation as a new cultural element. This article compares the interwar development of this phenomenon in two European capitals (Berlin, Prague) and analyses both differences and the common attributes of the process of forming place. Emphasis is placed not only on the localisation of the American Bar, but also on more complex historical and geographical analysis of its development and perception that were characteristic exclusively for the Central European region. Using the archive materials, the contemporary press, legislative measures and professional and memoir literature, the study confirms that the American Bar phenomenon had acquired different meanings within different contexts which had changed over time and which can be documented through the "spreading" of this phenomenon in space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an interdisciplinary discipline, historical geography uses a diverse aggregate of historical sources, from traditional written through tangible up to pictorial, i.e., iconographic. From the pictorial sources, we can separate an individual group of cartographic materials - old maps and plans, which are one of the most important sources of information in current historical geographic research. The paper briefly summarizes the development of historical geography and then addresses the presentation of the source materials in historical geography. It draws attention to classification of the sources concerning their form and purpose and then focusses on historiographic sources of comparative and individual character. In addition to traditional comparative cartographic works (the Müller map, the military surveys and the stable cadaster), the paper emphasizes the individual maps of smaller territorial units - maps of estates - as sources that originated until the mid-19th century and as still relatively insufficiently utilized material. Through their analysis and interpretation, it is possible to obtain relatively detailed knowledge on the historical landscape of the pre-industrial period, thus filling blank spots in the research on past landscapes. The paper documents the testimonial value of these maps with an example of two aristocratic estates, those of Jilemnice and Nové Hrady, and a comparison of several specific features (depiction of the settlement, land cover, and map legends). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Ethiopia has experienced fast economic growth and has been a major recipient of development and humanitarian aid. However, these developments were unsuccessful in eliminating food insecurity problems, and Ethiopia continues to be a considerably famine-prone country. The aim of this paper is to examine the applicability of Howe's framework of the six archetypal situations symptomatic to famines (watch, price spirals, aid magnet, media frenzy, overshoot, and peaks) to the 2015-2016 food crisis, which left an estimated 15 million Ethiopians in need of acute food assistance. This paper observes that the food crisis proved to have some of Howe's archetypes including watch, price spirals, and, to a lesser extent, media frenzy and peaks. Even though the aid magnet and overshoot were not recorded, the dynamics of the 2015-2016 food crisis confirmed Howe's argument that the current system of humanitarian assistance does not lead to timely and effective responses. In this paper, I also argue that the Ethiopian political context further exacerbates the food insecurity situation of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper attempts to develop a new model by considering various indicators of different types of land degradation or desertification. These types include water erosion, soil salinity, vegetation degradation, and lowering of ground water table. The indicators can be used to find areas with higher rates of degradation which are called Potential Risk Areas (risky zones) in this paper, and can also be used to estimate the probability that degradation will increase in these areas. The Mond river basin, located in the southern part of Iran, has been selected as a test area to assess the risk and kind of desertification. For this purpose two sub basins of the Khormuj and Khane-Zenian & Siakh-Darengun have been chosen for detailed study as these two provide enough variation in climatic conditions like rainfall and topography. The different kinds of data gathered from records and published reports of the different governmental offices of Iran have been used for this purpose. The thresholds for the severity classes of indicators have been established and then the hazard map for each indicator of types of desertification has been prepared in a GIS. The risk maps of water erosion, soil salinization, lowering of water table, and vegetation degradation have been produced for both sub basins. Areas on the maps are assigned to risk classes on the basis of risk scores derived by considering the cumulative effects of all indicators overlying the area in the GIS. It was possible to distinguish the areas under 'actual risk' from areas under 'potential risk' of desertification types. Also areas under potential risk are classified to subclasses with different probability level to show a statistical picture of risk in future. The final map of risk of desertification is produced by overlaying all four maps of degradation types. Between the two basins the overall environmental condition in the Khormuj sub basin is worse. Results show that potential risk areas are much widespread than areas under actual risk in the upper reaches (of both sub basins) of Mond basin, indicating further threat of land degradation or desertification in the future. The percent of areas under actual risk are much more extensive in the lower reaches (Khormuj sub basin), indicating the higher degradation at present. It is hoped that this attempt using GIS will be found applicable for other regions of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although participatory research can be an improvement over conventional research, there is a lack of self-critique and self-reflection by scholars. The aim of this paper was to develop a method of participatory research in human geography based on a case study of the local community. We evaluated the positive and negative aspects of carrying out participatory research in community development from the local community and academic points of view. The participatory method was used in a rural local community in Slovenia, where cultural values were identified as an alternative developmental source. The method was presented in detail in three steps: 1) knowledge acquisition, 2) knowledge synthesis, 3) knowledge implementation and evaluation. The results yielded important social impacts, some economic and cultural impacts, and no significant ecological impacts. The paper discusses the impacts of conducting such research on the local community. It recognizes that, if the community is actively engaged in research, outcomes are likely to be matched to its needs and expectations. We discussed scholars' bias towards economic aspects of community development and the fact that ignoring local knowledge may result in the failure of developmental initiatives. There is a need for more accurate and unbiased critical assessment of long-term impacts of carrying out participatory research. We believe we avoided two common traps of participatory research: regarding the positivist critique, this method offers sufficient scientific vigour and could be reproduced in similar communities; regarding the post-structural critique, personally committing stakeholders towards implementation and legitimising all social groups to overcome intrinsic power relations within the community. We concluded that participatory methods are important for obtaining local knowledge that complements traditional academic research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines (i) the state of environmental conditions in two low-income urban communities in Accra, Ghana, using a Participatory Rapid Assessment (PRA) method, and (ii) changes in the environmental conditions in the two low-income communities over the years using the PRA method. The PRA was augmented with qualitative interviews with selected heads of household and other stakeholders from the study communities. The results showed that environmental conditions in the two study communities were poor as indicated by the computed average scores for the environmental problem areas. However, conditions were poorer in Chorkor compared to La. The paper recommends that local governments units in Ghana must prioritise sustained, improved, and reliable funding for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) to ensure undisruptive implementation of environmental health programs and policies. This must be accompanied with improved community education and sensitization on proper sanitary practices, which have the potential to mitigate the effects of disease epidemics such as cholera in the two communities. The study also provides important perspectives on differentials in environmental conditions in low-income communities in urban Ghana.

The article focuses on geoparks as areas with a specific form of local heritage protection. It contributes to a research into two interconnected fields: firstly, the research into local people's participation in local development; secondly, the research into tourism sustainability. Discussion of foreign publications reveals that in the context of Czechia geoparks are misunderstood concept. This argument is supported by a case study from one part of the National Geopark Železné hory. The field research proved that there are significant barriers to meeting the purpose of geoparks. Two conditions are required in geoparks: the possibility of cooperation among local actors and the ability to be competitive through a diverse offer of services and products. The paper discusses factors affecting the actual state of society and their operation in the local development. The aim of the paper is to identify the obstacles to the development of geoparks as a reflection of the problems in local and regional development. In addition, the article deals with possible instruments for the management of geoparks and their utilization for effective coordination of local development. Geoparky jsou v Česku i ve světě poměrně novým konceptem, který se neustále vyvíjí v závislosti na vnějších a vnitřních podmínkách. Výzkum geoparků vyžaduje uplatnění interdisciplinárních přístupů, neboť jejich podstatou je ochrana neživého dědictví, podpora regionálního rozvoje, cestovního ruchu a vzdělávání a v neposlední řadě podpora utváření místní identity. Geoparky jsou vnímány jednak jako podnět rozvoje venkovských a periferních oblastí, jednak jako nová forma turistické destinace. V Česku navazuje zakládání geoparků na dlouhodobou transformaci cestovního ruchu probíhající od roku 1989, přičemž k faktické institucionalizaci sítě českých geoparků dochází od roku 2005, kdy vznikl první český geopark (Český ráj). Od té doby se v souvislosti s existencí geoparků objevují problémy hlavně v podobě omezeného povědomí o geoparcích v české společnosti, nedostatečné podpory a propagace, které jsou bariérou v rozvoji geoparků a tím také překážkou v naplňování jejich původního poslání, rozvoji venkovských a periferních oblastí. Cílem příspěvku bylo definovat bariéry ve fungování českých geoparků a zjistit, jaké jsou jejich příčiny, a to na základě polostrukturovaných řízených rozhovorů s vybranými lokálními aktéry a zástupci institucí v zájmovém území národního geoparku Železné hory, u kterých je pravděpodobná současná či budoucí spolupráce s geoparkem. Vyhodnocení řízených rozhovorů bylo provedeno kategorizací dat v programu MS Excel. Výzkum odhalil bariéry, které ovlivňují rozvoj jak specifického geoparku Železné hory, tak rozvoj území českých geoparků obecně. Mezi vnitřní bariéry specifické pro šetřený geopark lze zařadit např. problémy související s administrativními hranicemi regionů, mezi vnější bariéry náleží např. neodpovídající koncepce podpory cestovního ruchu na úrovni státu. Vnitřní a vnější bariéry jsou úzce provázané. Některé z identifikovaných bariér lze zaznamenat i u geoparků v zahraničí, např. problémy spočívající v neporozumění vlastnímu konceptu geoparků nebo důraz aktérů působících na území geoparků na příliš odborně zaměřená témata geologie jako vědního oboru. Naopak dlouhodobá absence spolupráce mezi místními subjekty/aktéry a neochota rozvíjet spolupráci mezi subjekty/aktéry v horizontálním i vertikálním měřítku, je jevem typickým spíše pro české prostředí (mj. v důsledku historické zátěže - myšlení, které je dědictvím komunistického režimu). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Georgian region, Samtskhe-Javakheti, has a long tradition of pastoralism. Our research focused on the study of pastoral agriculture across XVI--XX centuries. The study is based on census documents, which provide information on the number of sheep and their distribution, statistical and modern field-based materials. The research goal was to study the pastoral systems and related socio-economic sectors and analyze their spatial and temporal dimensions. The paper presents thematic maps prepared by the authors, which reflect the state of pastoralism in the sixteenth to twentieth centuries and the present situation. The tabular and cartographic material presented allows to assess the changes that have taken place over a long time and to analyze modern conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field fortifications from the end of World War 2 which were located in South Moravia are almost forgotten nowadays. This paper presents first results of archaeological research of their remains. Recently, relics of field fortifications have been registered during rescue excavations on 13 construction sites. In the vicinity of the town of Brno, parts of Wehrmacht trench systems, which defended whole town, have been excavated and documented on several sites. Several dozen small infantry entrenchments have been recorded near Pasohlávky and Mušov, where serious fights lasted for two weeks. Also, the use of aerial archaeology will be outlined. On five sites, field fortifications have been identified with the help of digital aerial orthophotos (especially historical) and digital elevation model (derived from airborne laser scanning). Results of both excavations and aerial archaeology suggests that archaeology can enhance our knowledge of this kind of relics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the functioning of traditional farming landscapes in Eastern Poland, using the example of Lubelskie Province. This peripheral region, situated on the border of the European Union, demonstrates how the development of tourism, food tourism in particular, based on local crops and regional foodstuffs, helps to protect and promote local heritage and, at the same time, gain additional financial resources for its inhabitants. With a view to the aims set in the paper, the authors investigated the perception of the Lublin Region's image as regards the predominant features of the natural and socio-economic environment. Moreover, they analysed the recognisability of the regional products and dishes among people from outside the province, who have visited it for tourism purposes. The research material was collected during international and Polish tourism fairs held in five largest Polish cities. The researchers collected 493 questionnaires, 220 of which underwent a detailed analysis. The study shows that the leading functions of Lubelskie Province include agriculture and tourism. The particular form of tourism that should be developed in the region is food tourism and related products due to the natural features and landscape assets. The conclusions drawn from the respondents' answers as well as the query of strategic documents and promotional campaigns allowed the researchers to outline further directions as regards using traditional farming landscapes with the aim of development of the region. It appears that centuries-old forms of farming and methods of food production, resulting from the region's history and natural conditions, may determine recognisability, build a brand based on the place of origin concept, and influence the socio-economic situation of the area, preserving traditional landscapes at the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the Modified MEDALUS (MMEDALUS) approach, a quantitative assessment of desertification, in the case study area located in the Southern part of Iran. Six main factors of desertification including: soil, climate, plant cover, management, erosion state and ground water situation were considered for the model approach. Then several sub-factors determining the quality of each main factor were quantified according to their quality and weighted on a scale between 1.0 and 2.0. We used a Geographic Information System (GIS) software to analyze and prepare the spatial distribution of the factor layers. Subsequently, the final desertification hazard map was prepared by combining the different MEDALUS factors in Arc GIS 10.3 in order to define the final hazard classes on the basis of hazard scores based on the geometric mean of the main factors. The MEDALUS and MMEDALUS models show the "Desertification Potential" that in turn was validated with the current state of desertification observed in the field. The results show that the applied MMEDALUS approach yield significantly better results than the MEDALUS model in the study area. The results also show that the areas under severe and very severe hazard are the most extensive classes in the desertification map. Thus, we illustrate that most of the study area is sensitive to desertification. However, we highlight that management, climate and water table qualities were the most important indicators affecting the desertification processes, while soil quality seems to play a minor role in our study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even in the absence of serious injuries and fatalities, landslide and flood events can have significant socio-economic impacts. These include the severance of access to and from relatively remote communities for services and markets for goods; employment, health and educational opportunities; and social activities. The economic impacts can be classified as: direct economic impacts, direct consequential economic impacts, and indirect consequential economic impacts. In addition, the vulnerability shadow cast can be extensive, and its geographical extent can be determined by the transport network rather than the relatively small footprint of the event itself. Using a number of debris flow events and a flood event in Scotland this paper places values on the economic impacts of landslides and floods. It also demonstrates the widespread impact of the events by means of the vulnerability shadow that is cast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gaps in comprehension of demographic change in the region of ex-Yugoslavia after 1990, caused by a lack of reliable data series, frequent change of borders, and distinctive historical and cultural tradition in comparison to other post-communist societies, motivated us to contribute to the understanding of the spatial diffusion of recent profound fertility changes in South-Eastern Europe. We analysed changes in the spatial pattern and distribution of typical fertility indicators of the second demographic transition at the sub-national level in Serbia in order to find out whether these demographic shifts could be interpreted to be similar to those in Central and Eastern Europe. We found that differences in economic, historical, and cultural development between sub-regions of the country strongly affect spatial patterns of fertility change. Also, this paper suggests that the sub-regions forerunners of the first demographic transition could be considered as the cores of diffusion for the second demographic transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the model of identity research using the street names from five major Kosovar cities. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate the fact that identity in the urban environment can be determined through the analysis of street names, to uncover the difference in the presence of hodonyms that express regional identity from those that express national identity, and to investigate the presence of urban toponyms of international importance. This paper also aims to examine the relationship between regional identity and ethnic and religious structure, as well as to identify the role of historical-political circumstances at the level of the manifestation of regional identity. We found that the regional identity has been expressed more deeply compared to the national and international hodonyms, which have a lower representation. Although regional hodonyms dominated in all cities that were analyzed, there were differences in the representation of regional hodonyms which were related to personalities, events, or geographical objects that belong to the respective city or surroundings.

Copyright of Acta Universitatis Carolinae Geographica is the property of Charles University Prague, Karolinum Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper analyses the variability of life expectancy at birth in Europe after 1950. It aims to assess the development of the East- West mortality gap and to identify the sub-regions or countries that most influenced mortality divergent and convergent trends in Europe. To achieve the goals, European countries are divided into Western and Eastern according to their political history, and the squared coefficient of variation is used for analysis of variability. This measure is further decomposed into between- and within- group components. The results of the study show that there were 4 divergent periods during the study period associated with the delayed cardiovascular revolution and mortality crisis in Eastern Europe and the COVID-19 pandemic. Variability of mortality in Europe during the pandemic was the highest in comparison to all previous divergent periods. Throughout the studied period, the between-group variability was influenced by both the continual progress of Western Europe and the lagging of Eastern Europe, with both regions contributing more or less similarly. However, since the 1990s, in case of within-group variability, a strong dominance of Eastern Europe can be observed, and therefore post-socialist countries deserve special attention. The results also suggest that some longer-term trends in behavior and attitudes towards health may persist in society, and that in the case of an unexpected crisis, there is a greater risk of mortality divergence reappearing.

The main goal of this paper is to demonstrate the impacts of speed dating on the enhancement of university-business collaboration. With the example of the metropolitan region of Prague and its largest university (Charles University), the case study on a speed dating event was organized by this University in the field of life science and medical devices. The results show, that speed dating itself has limited direct impact on real technology transfer. Only 1 of the 44 newly gained contacts was transformed into real cooperation in the form of consultancy. On the other hand, speed dating has several indirect impacts, which can moderate fragmentation of the regional innovation system, i.e. community and trust building, learning of common "language" and exchange of information. Direct impact can be enhanced by the follow-up activities of dedicated people (e.g. technology scouts or business development managers), who can encourage and support creation of more new technology partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Place remains a critical concept within globalization processes, often communicated via packaging, design, and branding. This article uses grounded theory methodology to develop a theory of Place-Based Discourses (PBDs) based on a dataset of beer labels collected, coded, memoed and analyzed between 2011-2019. I argue that the beer label incorporates all three elements and presents a primary site for studying value addition, providing a ready space for producers to introduce national motifs, such as flags and tartans in the case of Scotch Ales, or depictions of local working landscapes to connote ecological, social, and economic connections to place. Drawing on extant literature on conceptualizations of place within the Global Production Networks perspective (GPNs), this paper contributes to debates about food and drink branding and globalization by generating new ways of examining the sites and processes of representation of place within cultural-material hybrids (such as beer labels) imbricated through globalization mechanisms. I interpret three constituent themes which emerged during the theorization of PBDs - historical imagination and local identity, thin place and thick networks, and performative globalizations - and I argue that this approach provides an important contribution to the geographies of globalization, linking cultural analysis of branding and place to the GPN tradition. Future studies can apply this knowledge to move towards an understanding of other place-based sites and processes within GPNs, with specific research attention directed towards how PBDs can "reveal and rebalance" power structures vis-à-vis the place dimensions of globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Universitatis Carolinae Geographica is the property of Charles University Prague, Karolinum Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The attendance belongs to the basic quantitative indicators, which are used for assessment of the offer in the tourism. It should be used for monitoring of development, geographical structure, seasonality and from interpretational view also for monitoring of achievement or failure. This paper discusses, emphasizes and evaluates the very current topic of methodological differences in the data collection of tourist attractions attendance. The work focuses especially on the subtopic of annual passes on the example of zoos, which belong to the most visited tourist attractions worldwide and where the sale of annual cards is a typical service. Nevertheless, this article proves on the example of the zoos in German-speaking countries that the rise of attendance does not only have to show the reality. The total number of visits and the positive attendance development is in some zoos connected to the methodological approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transport is one of the important factors influencing the arrangement of spatial relations and creating of spatial interactions in society. This proposition can also be applied to the forming of links within an urban system. In connection with this it is possible to point out that, to a large extent, the arrangement of transport relations also predetermines monocentric or polycentric organization of urban systems. The paper deals with an analysis of these connections, both in theory and in practice. The example of the eastern part of the Czech Republic, based on public transport supply, serves to identify transport interactions between 51 centres that make daily interactions between them possible. Apart from the typology of spatial pattern of the found transport interactions the paper also quantifies the benefits for the population of the centres, brought about by potential polycentricity (e.g. a greater plurality of choices regarding the place of daily activities). The benefits are analyzed by means of the calculation of the daily economic potential expressed as the total number of accessible jobs. Dopravní vztahy mezi středisky osídlení ve východní části ČR a jejich potenciál k formování polycentricity Doprava patří k důležitým faktorům, které ovlivňují uspořádání prostorových vztahů a vytváření prostorových interakcí ve společnosti. Tuto tezi lze aplikovat i na problematiku formování vazeb v rámci sídelního systému. V souvislosti s tím je možné zdůraznit, že organizace dopravních vazeb mezi středisky osídlení do značné míry předurčuje i jejich monocentrické, respektive polycentrické uspořádání. V příspěvku je pozornost věnována rozboru těchto souvislostí jak v teoretické, tak i v praktické rovině. Na příkladu území ve východní části Česka jsou prostřednictvím nabídky spojů hromadné dopravy identifikovány dopravní vztahy mezi 51 středisky, které umožňují vznik každodenních interakcí mezi nimi. Kromě typologie prostorové konfigurace nalezených dopravních vazeb je výstupem článku i kvantifikace přínosů, které potenciální polycentričnost obyvatelům středisek přináší (např. vyšší pluralita voleb místa realizace každodenních činností). Přínosy jsou analyzovány prostřednictvím výpočtu tzv. denního ekonomického potenciálu vyjádřeného jako celkové množství dostupných pracovních příležitostí.

Land use and land cover changes occur throughout the world, but none is more concerning than tropical deforestation, much of it for agricultural purposes. Rural-rural frontier migrant farmers such as those colonizing the Sierra del Lacandón National Park in Petén, Guatemala act as a primary direct agent in this land cover conversion. This paper seeks to compare three different algorithms for monitoring changes in forested land cover, making use of freely available remotely sensed Landsat images from two years, 1991 and 2000. In the intervening 9 years, some forested land was converted to cropped, pasture, or fallow land, while other areas experienced no change. This paper contains a detailed description of the methods employed for three different change detection techniques, producing a total of five land change maps: multidate principal components analysis (PCA), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI ) image differencing, and brightness greenness wetness (BGW) image differencing. Of the five land change maps produced, the Greenness component of the BGW transformation had the highest overall accuracy, at 86%, and is conservative in detecting change. The amount of change detected by this algorithm represents approximately 300 km2 of forest loss, or 11.9% of the area examined.

The paper gives an overall report on historical floods in the Sazava River Basin, focused on the preinstrumental period in particular. Documentary sources, flood marks as well as measured data were made use of. The longitudal profile of the Sazava River from 1933, containing the maximum amount of factual information, represented the main tool. Field investigation was carried out especially on water mills and weirs, power plants, ferries, footbridges, bridges and other buildings and settlement parts around the Sazava River, which were located within the reach of floods and to which the upper reaches were related. The paper presents the first more detailed chronology of flood events on the Sazava River within the time limits of the years 1515 and 1891. Quotations from chronicles and other documentary sources are expanded by brief description of a flood’s process on the Vltava River (and/or in the Vltava and Elbe River Basins) so that the chronicle record is verified according to the overall context. Each individual flood also includes a classification according to time occurrence and, at the end, a discussion on seasonality of all documented events. The most important event, from July 1714, is dealt with in the most detailed way. It is especially this event – often reflected in historical literature – that not only belongs to the really extraordinary events of the basin under review, but generally to the most remarkable extremes recorded in the written history of the Czech Lands. Historické povodně na Sázavě Článek přináší souhrnnou zprávu o historických povodních v povodí Sázavy se zaměřením zejména na předinstrumentální období. Využity jsou dokumentární zdroje, povodňové značky i měřené údaje. Základním podkladovým materiálem byl podélný profil Sázavy z roku 1933, který obsahuje maximum věcných informací. Předmětem terénního průzkumu byly zejména sázavské mlýny a jezy, elektrárny, převozy, lávky, mosty a případně jiné stavby a části sídel, které byly v dosahu povodní a k nimž byly maximální hladiny vztahovány. Vyhodnocena je rovněž dostupnost informací o historických povodních, které přinášejí historické povodňové značky. Analýzou dostupných podkladů bylo zjištěno, že v 30. letech ještě poměrně bohatý fond povodňového značení dnes reálně existuje z jedné třetiny. Článek představuje první podrobnější chronologii historických povodňových událostí na Sázavě. V celém období let 1500–2000 se podařilo identifikovat 13 povodní s největší pravděpodobností významnějších než poslední významná povodeň na přelomu března a dubna 2006. Historické značky potvrzují fakt, že jarní povodeň 2006 byla čtvrtým nejvýznamnějším případem v období 1845–2007, po povodních 1862, 1845 a 1891 a to v úseku toku od Davle po Havlíčkův Brod. Podle frekvence jednotlivých výskytů povodní je zřejmé, že i v minulých staletích stoupá frekvence povodní od prosince až po březen. Nejrizikovějším obdobím pro velké povodně Sázavy byl historicky konec zimy. Nejčastěji zde docházelo k povodním na přelomu března a dubna, o něco nižší frekvenci měly povodně na přelomu února a března. Z letních povodní jsou typičtější události červencové, významnější povodně v srpnu či září jsou vzácné. Podrobněji je zpracován nejvýznamnější případ z července 1714. Tento případ, reflektovaný častěji v historické literatuře patří nejen mezi zcela mimořádné případy v právě zkoumaném povodí, ale obecně mezi nejpozoruhodnější extrémy zaznamenané v psané historii českých zemí. Citace kronikářských a jiných dokumentárních zdrojů je v článku rozšířena o stručnou charakteristiku průběhu povodně na Vltavě (případně v povodí Vltavy a Labe), tak aby dle celkových souvislostí byla kronikářská zpráva ověřena. Každá jednotlivá povodeň obsahuje i kategorizaci dle časového výskytu a sezonality.

Traditionally, the spatial organization of elementary education was based on the concept of school districts. Uneven regional development and population changes contributed to the destabilization of some regional education systems and led to the modification of catchment area boundaries. In the West, the neo-liberal policies of the 1980s led to the decentralization of school systems, allowed schools to focus on specific subjects, and gave parents the possibility to choose schools based on criteria other than school catchment area. The aim of this paper is to discuss the importance of factors influencing elementary school choice in an urban environment, using the Czech city of Liberec as an example. We will attempt to answer the following research questions: Do pupils from a given catchment area are enrolled at the elementary school closest to their place of residence? What factors influence school choice? How do school choice-related motives differ based on the socioeconomic characteristics of specific areas in an urban space? This study combines GIS spatial modeling methods with questionnaire surveys conducted in selected schools. The results demonstrate that in choosing schools parents base their decisions on many factors. School location is still one of the most important, even though Czech pupils are no longer required to attend their district school. In our study, attendance of the closest elementary school is influenced by the school's macro-location within the city, that is, mainly by the location of each school in relation to the center and outlying areas of the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the territorial differentiation of socio-economic development of Poland between the years 2002-2014 and on geographic patterns of this differentiation according to the subregions ('podregiony' in Polish, NUTS 3 level). Eight partial indicators entering the composite indicator and also the average base index are applied. The analysis of the socio-economic development of the subregions along the directional east-west gradient, rural-urban concentric gradients (around big cities) and the zones of subregions along the border of Poland with the surrounding countries are used to explain the observed differentiation. Polish subregions have undergone considerable development between 2002 and 2014, but the territorial differentiation of their development has changed only partially. The big Polish cities and also their suburban subregions have the best position of all; the worst are still the rural subregions of eastern Poland and the inner peripheries of Poland. The directional east-west gradient, the rural-urban concentric gradients, as well as the higher development of subregions at German, Czech and sea borders were confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morphometric Terrain Analysis was successfully applied in different sectors of environmental studies. However, other disciplines, such as archaeology, might also profit from spatially distributed high-resolution terrain information. In this paper, we show how detailed topographic analysis and simple hydrological modelling approaches help to explain complex terrain pattern and to assess geohazards affecting archaeological sites. We show that Melka Kunture, a cluster of Pleistocene sites in the Upper Awash valley of Ethiopia, is affected by flooding and erosion/sedimentation processes. Moreover, we identified paleo-landscape features, such as changes in drainage pattern and evidences of tectonic activity. The topographic indices indicate especially a different paleo-drainage pattern with a lake or palustrine environment in the upstream areas. Furthermore, a different drainage of the paleo-lake via the Atabella tributary is likely and might be also stressed by the dimensions of the lower Atabella valley with quite large cross sections not corresponding to the present-day drainage situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes push and pull factors of eventual secondary school student's outmigration from the micro-region of Bystřice nad Pernštejnem in the Czech inner periphery in the light of presupposed depopulation trends and manifestations of peripherality and marginality. The outmigration affects primarily the micro-region's centre while small rural settlements as a whole exhibit a population growth. The lack of prestigious and well-paid jobs and limited cultural activities, entertainment, and sports appear to be the main push migration factors. Possible solutions to this situation are limited and should include efforts to strengthen the relationship of the local population to the territory, to maintain the good quality of the environment, and to enhance the feeling of personal safety. It is argued that similar motivations can be expected in the majority of Czech peripheral micro-regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution advances knowledge of contemporary Moldovan migration and is the first comparative description of the situation of Moldovans in Czechia and Italy. Our specific objective is to review evidence about how the concept of the migration-development nexus applies to the Moldovan situation. In the absence of comparable primary data on Moldovan migration our research design uses mixed methods and triangulates data from Moldova and across the main destinations for Moldovan migration, including Italy and Czechia. In addition to confirming prior research on the significance of remittances to the Moldovan economy since 1991, we report three additional findings. First, Moldovan migrants, particularly women who may work as domestic workers are often invisible and undercounted. Second, Moldovan migration is rapidly diversifying, with new destinations, selectivities, and forms and modes of mobility. Third, the global economic recession of 2008 had different implications for Moldovan migration patterns to and from Czechia and Italy. We conclude with a specific call for research that extends the migration-development nexus by examining social remittances and the mobility and labour strategies of Moldovan family reunifiers. The paper also argues for availability of robust data that would allow comparative analysis of international migration and could better support evidence-based debates about migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]