| 1. |
- Arsovski, Slobodan, et al.
(författare)
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Can urban environmental problems be overcome? The case of Skopje—world’s most polluted city
- 2018
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Ingår i: Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series. - : Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika/Nicolaus Copernicus University. - 1732-4254 .- 2083-8298. ; 40:40, s. 17-39
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The condition of the environment is one of the most fundamental concerns of cities worldwide, especially when high levels of pollution and environmental destruction exert immense impact on people’s quality of life. This paper focuses on Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, which often tops the charts as the world’s most polluted city. Despite associated problems such as congestion, ill health, and premature death, Macedonia’s scarce resources are instead spent on controversial projects, such as ‘Skopje 2014’, involving creating a national identity through massive and extremely costly constructions of neo-classical government buildings, museums and monuments. The aim of this paper is to compare the situation of Skopje to environmentally oriented activities conducted in several Polish cities and to discuss the possibility of their implementation in Skopje. Considering the scale and scope of Skopje’s environmental problems, the paper offers some priorities for action, including solutions that emphasize institution building, technical input and self-governance. It also highlights a number of economic, ecological, and socio-cultural contradictions involved in the process of achieving sustainable development.
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| 2. |
- Biegańska, Jadwiga, et al.
(författare)
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From policy to misery? The State Agricultural Farms vs. 'the rural'
- 2019
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Ingår i: Quaestiones Geographicae. - : Adam Mickiewicz University Poznan. - 2082-2103 .- 2081-6383 .- 0137-477X. ; 38:4, s. 77-90
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 1989 was a turning point within the socio-economic development in the former Eastern bloc, initiating a system transformation that affected the society at large. It also contributed to the crystallisation of certain cultural landscapes, hitherto largely illegible due to the inhibition of spatial processes encountered during Communism. In Poland, after a quarter-century of free market economy, the focus on social problems began to expand to the spatial realm as well. It became apparent that the progressive social polarisation that followed was most prominent in environments striated by a particular landscape type – the former State Agricultural Farm (PGR). Considering PGRs “the epitome of rurality” subject to ideas informing the direction of contemporary “rural development” prompts a different way of looking at the problem. In this paper, we investigate the concept of rurality in the discursive tenor of implemented policy and contrast it with contextualised empirical examples. Our findings suggest that efficient policy should be confronted with the expectations of residents at the local level, while introducing top-down actions usually ends in failure as in the case of post-PGR estates.
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| 3. |
- Biegańska, Jadwiga, et al.
(författare)
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Młodzież z osiedli popegeerowskich a kształtowanie społecznych zasobów lokalnych : Youth of former State Agricultural Farm estates as local human resources
- 2016
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Ingår i: Studia Obszarów Wiejskich (Rural Studies). - : Polish Academy of Sciences. - 1642-4689. ; 44, s. 75-92
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper aims to reflect upon the future direction of development in former PGR (State Agricultural Farms) estates in Poland. Using the post-PGR estate of Chotel (central Poland) as a case study, the authors analyzed and evaluated the potential of the local youth as human resources for future development. It was assumed that the youth, as a social category, will in the nearest future influence the structure of human resources, which in turn will determine both the pace and the direction of change in rural areas. Given that post-PGR estates are considered some of the most problematic settlement forms with respect to rural planning, and given that their adult residents are known to exhibit loose social bonds, intensified enmity and lack of initiative for co-operation, a number of important questions arise. Firstly, what are the specific human resources of the youth in post-PGR estates? Secondly, how do these resources differ from those of their parents? Thirdly, do these resources give hope for future melioration of socio-economic problems inherent of post-PGR estates? The conducted analysis is prognosticating – a quality, which otherwise is extremely difficult to obtain in the context of the studied estates. The paper concludes that with regard to developmental threats in post-PGR estates the attitudes of the youth and the adults are similar. However, considering developmental opportunities the differences are more pronounced, in favor of the youth.
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| 4. |
- Biegańska, Jadwiga, et al.
(författare)
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Youth of former State Agricultural Farm estates as local human resources : Młodzież z osiedli popegeerowskich a kształtowanie społecznych zasobów lokalnych
- 2016
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Ingår i: Studia Obszarów Wiejskich – Rural Studies. - 1642-4689. ; 44, s. 75-92
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper aims to reflect upon the future direction of development in former PGR (State Agricultural Farms) estates in Poland. Using the post-PGR estate of Chotel (central Poland) as a case study, the authors analyzed and evaluated the potential of the local youth as human resources for future development. It was assumed that the youth, as a social category, will in the nearest future influence the structure of human resources, which in turn will determine both the pace and the direction of change in rural areas. Given that post-PGR estates are considered some of the most problematic settlement forms with respect to rural planning, and given that their adult residents are known to exhibit loose social bonds, intensified enmity and lack of initiative for co-operation, a number of important questions arise. Firstly, what are the specific human resources of the youth in post-PGR estates? Secondly, how do these resources differ from those of their parents? Thirdly, do these resources give hope for future melioration of socio-economic problems inherent of post-PGR estates? The conducted analysis is prognosticating – a quality, which otherwise is extremely difficult to obtain in the context of the studied estates. The paper concludes that with regard to developmental threats in post-PGR estates the attitudes of the youth and the adults are similar. However, considering developmental opportunities the differences are more pronounced, in favor of the youth.
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| 5. |
- Brauer, Rene, et al.
(författare)
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A wider research culture in peril: A reply to Thomas
- 2021
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Ingår i: Annals of Tourism Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 0160-7383 .- 1873-7722. ; 86
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper calls for greater rigor when it comes to issues relating to research around the ‘impact’ of research impact. It addresses some of its criticisms but also expands on the research program associated with the impact of tourism research. We conclude by addressing the fundamentality of the challenges posed by ‘research impact’. We argue they go to the very core of academic scholarship, as the commoditized neoliberal treatment of impact represents an existential challenge that goes beyond tourism research.
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| 6. |
- Brauer, Rene, et al.
(författare)
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Conflation between ‘public good’ and ‘greater good’ in the context of research impact
- 2024
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Ingår i: Philosophy and Theory in Higher Education. - New York : Peter Lang Publishing Group. - 2578-5753. ; 6:3, s. 377-404
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study sets out to conceptually distinguish between ‘public’ and ‘greater good’ in respect to research impact claims. We argue that the former is a category reflective of genuine benefit for the wider public, while the latter merely represents a rhetorical category to pursue the ends of a select few. Methodologically, we showcase that only within the actual research conduct is it possible to distinguish between these two categories. Likewise, without acknowledging methodological limitations, researchers may contribute to post-truth predicaments in the sense that the interaction ritual chains they are using constitute a mere rhetorical flourish rather than a rigorous argument for genuine benefit. We conclude with an appeal to future scrutiny for how researchers can retain their integrity in this new research impact discourse. We argue that an uncritical use of impact arguments may undermine the very social fabric that makes scientific pursuits possible.
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| 7. |
- Brauer, Rene, et al.
(författare)
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Human geography and the hinterland: The case of Torsten Hägerstrand’s ‘belated’ recognition
- 2017
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Ingår i: Moravian Geographical Reports. - : Walter de Gruyter GmbH. - 1210-8812 .- 2199-6202. ; 25:2, s. 74-84
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Seeing human geography as a nexus of temporally oscillating concepts, this paper investigates the dissemination of scientific ideas with a focus on extra-scientific factors. While scientific progress is usually evaluated in terms of intellectual achievement of the individual researcher, geographers tend to forget about the external factors that tacitly yet critically contribute to knowledge production. While these externalities are well-documented in the natural sciences, social sciences have not yet seen comparable scrutiny. Using Torsten Hägerstrand’s rise to prominence as a concrete example, we explore this perspective in a social-science case – human geography. Applying an STS (Science and Technology Studies) approach, we depart from a model of science as socially-materially contingent, with special focus on three extra-scientific factors: community norms, materiality and the political climate. These factors are all important in order for knowledge to be disseminated into the hinterland of human geography. We conclude it is these types of conditions that in practice escape the relativism of representation.
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| 8. |
- Brauer, Rene, et al.
(författare)
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Quality of life in rural areas: A topic for the Rural Development policy?
- 2014
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Ingår i: Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series. - : Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika/Nicolaus Copernicus University. - 1732-4254 .- 2083-8298. ; 25:25, s. 25-54
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Contemporary transformations of rural areas involve changes in land uses, economic perspectives, connectivity, livelihoods, but also in lifestyles, whereupon a traditional view of 'the rural' and, consequently, of 'rural development' no longer holds. Accordingly, EU's 2007-2013 Rural Development policy (RDP) is one framework to incorporate aspects labelled as quality of life (QOL) alongside traditional rural tenets. With a new rendition of the RDP underway, this paper scopes the content and extent of the expired RDP regarding its incorporation of QOL, in order to better identify considerations for future policy making. Using novel methodology called topic modelling, a series of latent semantic structures within the RDP could be unravelled and re-interpreted via a dual categorization system based on RDP's own view on QOL, and on definitions provided by independent research. Corroborated by other audits, the findings indicate a thematic overemphasis on agriculture, with the focus on QOL being largely insignificant. Such results point to a rationale different than the assumed one, at the same time reinforcing an outdated view of rurality in the face of the ostensibly fundamental turn towards viewing rural areas in a wider, more humanistic, perspective. This unexpected issue of underrepresentation is next addressed through three possible drivers: conceptual (lingering productionist view of the rural), ideological (capitalist prerogative preventing non-pecuniary values from entering policy) and material (institutional lock-ins incapable of accommodating significant deviations from an agricultural focus). The paper ends with a critical discussion and some reflections on the broader concept of rurality.
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| 9. |
- Brauer, Rene, et al.
(författare)
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The impact of tourism research
- 2019
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Ingår i: Annals of Tourism Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 0160-7383 .- 1873-7722. ; 77, s. 64-78
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The exceedingly competitive climate of academia has increased the emphasis on performance-based research funding. In this paper we evaluate the UK's government assessment of research impact and critically comment upon the implications for future research conduct. The key findings are as follows; firstly we provide a summary of UK tourism research impact. Secondly, we demonstrate the effect of the resulting significance gap, and comment upon the consequences of the Research Excellence Frameworks' (REF) research impact assessment in terms of a research culture change. Lastly, we proposition that the current assessment structure can have negative long-term consequences in that key issues facing tourism fall outside 'good' research impact.
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| 10. |
- Brauer, Rene, et al.
(författare)
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The language of sustainable tourism as a proxy indicator of research quality
- 2020
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI. - 2071-1050. ; 13:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sustainable tourism (ST) has recently become the mainstream of the tourism industry and, accordingly, has influenced contemporary tourism research. However, ST is not just theories about indications and contraindications of global travel, but also a specific language that needs mastering to take sustainability work forward. In other words, what research receives recognition depends on the proficiency in how the articulation in research proposals and within assessment under the heading of “research impact”. The aim of this paper is to investigate how tourism research gains recognition within research evaluation, by investigating the national research appraisal in the United Kingdom (Research Excellence Framework). By using content analysis, we disentangle the rhetorical choices and narrative constructions within researchers’ impact claims. Our findings suggest that researchers adopt a rhetorical style that implies causality and promotes good outcomes facilitating ST. However, the structure of the assessment format enforces an articulation of sustainable research impact without stating the methodological limitations of that such claim. Therefore, the rhetorical choices of ST researchers merely represent a proxy indicator of the claimed impact. We conclude that the lack of rigor in accounting for the impact of ST research may inadvertently restrict attaining ST.
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