Suchergebnisse

A régiók nem csak a közelmúltban jelentek meg az európai politika színpadán, mint önálló szereplők, tevékenységüket már évtizedek óta jegyzik. Ennek középpontjában mindenekelőtt a régiók határokon átnyúló együttműködése áll, ezt egészítették ki a régiók transznacionális megállapodásaival, amelyek arra szolgáltak, hogy a nemzetállamok kormányaival valamint a nemzetközi szervezetekkel, különösképpen az Európa Tanáccsal és az Európai Közösséggel szemben érdekképviseletüket gyakorolják. Az utóbbi időben a régiók egyre energikusabban és követelőbben hívták fel magukra a figyelmet. Tevékenységük súlypontja jelenleg nyilvánvalóan az EU és az integrációs folyamatokon belül helyezkedik el. A régiók mint az EU-kontextus politikai tényezői igen sokrétű tevékenységet mutatnak fel, amelyek az "Európa régiói" megjelölésben foglalhatók össze. Az elnevezésből, mint sokszor használatos szlogenből azonban hiányzik egy egyértelmű és ugyanakkor közös megegyezéssel alapuló, elfogadott tartalom. Regions appeared as autonomous entities on the European political stage not only in recent years. The activity of regions has been recorded for decades. It focuses above all on the cross-border cooperation of regions, and was supplemented by the trans-national agreements of regions, which served to practice their representation against the governments of nation states as well as international organisations, in particular, the European Council and the European Community. Most recently, regions have drawn attention to their presence more and more and when doing so have found increasing attention. Their centre of activity is now obviously located within the EU and the integration processes. Regions as the political factors of the EU context show a wide range of activities that can be summarized under the label of 'the regions of Europe'. The name, as a frequently used slogan, is lacking a clear and at the same time jointly agreed, accepted content. Regions and regionalism are rather flourishing in Europe. But what do regionalism and the expression Europe of regions exactly mean? There are many approaches to the question, the concept of cross-border interregionality between the Member States of the European Union, or the effort to make regions the basic building blocks of European integration instead of states, and the objective to introduce a three-tier structure to the European Union which would extend the already existing tiers of the European Union and the Member States with a third one, the territorial units within nation states. The first approach has long been adopted, the second approach is rather utopian. The third one is subject to fierce debates: a three-tier European Union with European, nation state and regional levels.

Regions and regionalism are rather flourishing in Europe. But what do regionalism and the expression "Europe of regions" exactly mean? There are three approaches to the question: first, the concept of cross-border interregionality between the Member States of the European Union; second, the effort to make regions the basic building blocks of European integration instead of states; and finally, the objective to introduce a three-tier structure to the European Union which would extend the already existing tiers of the European Union and the Member States with a third one, the territorial units within nation-states. The first approach (interregional cooperation) has long been adopted; the second approach (the vision of Europe made up of regions instead of states) is rather utopian. The third one is subject to fierce debates: a three-tier European Union with European, nation-state and regional levels. Although the form, motives and causes of movements promoting regionalism may vary greatly, 1 their purpose is the same for autonomous, federalist and separatist movements alike: to relativise the existing central nation-state. Thus, advancing European integration has become a natural ally for them as – from their perspective – it meant the disfunctionality of traditional nation-states. A supranational and therefore multinational and multicultural community promises much more room for development than a classic nation-state.

The education has been exceedingly affected by the economic recession, the transformed state governance and the demographic waves, so the educational system of each country underwent some changes. The aim of my research is the comparative study of the educational systems in the East-Central European region. I examined the relationships between the different qualities, historical backgrounds, reforms and I explored the relationship between the current states of the systems (Karsten & Majoor, 1994; Lannert, 1998; Knell & Srholec, 2007; Horn & Sinka, 2007; Báthory, 2008; Dienes, 2007; Kelemen, 2010; Dakowska & Harmsenbert, 2015). My research questions are the following: What were the main reforms in the transformation of education systems? What similarities can be observed in the school systems of the countries? The region I studied is a specific East-Central European region, so the countries I have chosen are Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland. In my study, I have created three groups and I present the changes in the education systems of these countries, taking into consideration economic, social and political issues (Lannert, 2004; Kozma, 2006; Barber & Moirshed, 2007; Valuch, 2009; Kelemen, 2010; Jakubowski, 2015). Analyzing the results, it can be concluded that the regime change has enabled the countries to redefine themselves and find their new status in domestic and international politics, and also in world economy. The world economy situation created same problems for the states of the region, but their resources were different, so the public spending on education, the characteristics of education management and the infrastructure characteristics of the institutions were different. Among the main results, I have identified two groups during compulsory schooling, the first group being countries that introduce compulsory schooling up to the age of 6-15 years, and the other group consists of countries introducing compulsory schooling up to the age of 16. I have examined the curriculum regulation and the textbook market, it can be stated that, as a result of the reforms, new curricula were prepared, the textbooks were adapted according to these. Examining curriculum regulation is the result of countries striving for central regulation, but it has to be emphasized that there are countries that have integrated framework curricula and / or local curricula into a single national core curriculum, thus giving the opportunity to more autonomous management. In summary it can be concluded that the history of the countries studied and the development of their educational systems evolved similarly, however, differences can be observed by examining the different educational characteristics. My theoretical research can contribute to the discovery of the situation in Hungary and to the development tendencies and trends in the region.

The importance of green and renewable energy sources, as well as environmental awareness, is playing an increasing role in our lives as we move forward in time. Even at the conceptual level, it is already understandable and clear to most people what should or could be done to protect the Earth. The use of renewable energy sources, such as the energy of the sun, wind, water, and geothermal energy all contribute to the development of the environmental values of the individual and society, which is shaped by knowledge and moral convictions about the environment. As irresponsible energy-wasting behavior is unsustainable in the long run and can lead to the depletion of natural resources, the use of alternative energy sources can provide a solution to this global problem. For this reason, the main goal of the representative research is to examine the possibilities of using and applying green and renewable energy sources in the case of all 25 settlements of the micro-region of Gyöngyös in the region of Northern Hungary. A questionnaire survey was used as the primary research method, the aim of which is to explore the extent of local governments' investments in renewable energy sources, and what other methods these local governments contribute to the development of environmental awareness of the local population. Based on the results obtained, according to the investments of the local governments, solar energy (e.g. solar panels) is the most efficient energy source, which is closely followed by the use of biomass. Developments and investments related to renewable energy are implemented to a significant extent from domestic or European Union tender sources. The amount of renewable energy investments planned in the future is expected to be between HUF 10 and 25 million in the case of smaller local governments, and more than HUF 100 million in the case of larger local governments. ; A zöld- és megújuló enerigaforrások, valamint a környezettudatosság jelentősége egyre nagyobb szerepet játszik az életünkbe, ahogy haladunk előre az időben. Fogalmi meghatározás szintjén is, már a legtöbb ember számára érthető és egyértelmű, hogy mit kellene vagy lehetne tenni a Föld megóvása érdekében. A megújuló energiaforrások használata, mint pl. a nap-, szél-, folyóvizek energiája, illetve a geotermikus energia, mind hozzájárulnak az egyén és a társadalom környezeti értékrendjeinek fejlődéséhez, melyet a környezetről alkotott tudás és morális meggyőződés alakít ki. Mivel a felelőtlen energiapazarló magatartás hosszútávon nem fenntartható, és a természeti erőforrások kimerüléséhez vezethet, így az alternatív energiaforrások használata nyújthat megoldást erre a világméretű problémára. Ennek okán, a reprezentatív kutatás legfőbb célja, a zöld- és megújuló energiaforrások felhasználási és alkalmazási lehetőségeinek vizsgálata, az Észak-magyarországi régióban található Gyöngyösi járás mind a 25 településének esetében. Elsődleges kutatási módszerként kérdőíves megkérdezés került alkalmazásra, melynek célja, hogy az önkormányzatok megújuló energiaforrásokkal kapcsolatos beruházásainak mértékét feltárja, illetve, hogy ezek az önkormányzatok milyen egyéb módszerekkel járulnak hozzá a helyi lakosság környezettudattosságának fejlesztéséhez. A kapott eredmények alapján, az önkormányzatok beruházásai szerint a napenergia (pl. napelemek) a leghatékonyabb energiaforrás, amelyet szorosan követ a biomassza felhasználás. A megújuló energiához kapcsolódó fejlesztések és beruházások jelentős mértékben hazai vagy európai uniós pályázati forrásokból valósulnak meg. A jövőben tervezett megújuló energia beruházások összege, a kisebb önkormányzatok esetében várhatóan többnyire 10 - 25 millió forint között lesz, a nagyobb helyi önkormányzatok esetében pedig, több mint 100 millió forint.

The South Transdanubian Region is a region in a critical condition which economic performance is continuously lagging behind the national average, and which still has not found its path after the social-economic transition of Hungary. The economic performance and the employment capacity of the former industry could not be fully substituted by the new industries which settled down in the region on the basis of the collapsed one. The situation was worsening by the deterioration of the performance of the agriculture. On the other hand, the reduction in the performance of the productive sectors could have been counterbalanced neither by the tourism, nor by the development of the service sector. While the capital attraction ability of the region is extremely weak (only 1.1% of the foreign direct investment has flown into the region), thus the development of the region is determined by the fact that to what extent the region's own resources can be exploited and how much financial transfers can be obtained by the region from the central government. Therefore, the further deterioration of the region can be refrained on the one hand with a regional development policy which concentrates on the elimination and conscious counterbalance of the regional disadvantages, on the other hand, with a future-oriented development policy harmonized among the counties and the economic organizations of the region.

All actors in Central-East Europe face the changing role of different regions. In Hungary, the regional policy of the new government recasts chances and duties of former development regions with primary focus on counties. The article deals with a specific region along Southern course of river Tisza. We prove that this part of a wider European region, a sometime organic one, is actually object of reintegration. We analyze different conditions and dimensions of altering relations which play eminent role in the reinforcement of the organic character. The perspective of local actors in the next period, can be found in he new European Danube Strategy, as long as they are ready to organize themselves on appropriate regional base. Danube Strategy will be filled with real content if each identity region will be ready to accommodate itself in the new and wider European structure of a functional macroregion called Danube Region. We conclude that appropriate management of conditions supports the ongoing European and inner integration process.

Nem kérdés, hogy Európa egy radikális átalakuláson megy keresztül. Egyszerre figyelhetjük meg Európában a kistérségi egységek és regionális mozgalmak reneszánszát. Az államok szubnacionális egységeiről való politikai, gazdasági és kulturális gondolkodás, valamint cselekvés túlnyomórészt Európában tört utat magának. A regionális mozgalmak nagyobb autonómiát követeltek hatalmi szférájuk és befolyási területük számára, részint erőszakkal, egészen egyes területek különválásáig. Földrajzi, etikai, nyelvi, vallási, kulturális, történelmi vagy gazdasági dimenziók különböző vonatkozási pontjait választották ki, hogy egy ily módon elhatárolt területet régióként jelöljenek. Azok a közös jellemzők, melyeknek egy régió lakói birtokában vannak, megteremtik a speciális egység érzését és a regionális identitást. Nagy jelentőséggel bír az Európai Unión belüli régiók rendkívül széles palettája a szubnacionális egységek jogi státuszát, kompetenciáit, valamint pénzügyi forrásait és ezáltal politikai minőségét illetően. Subnational mobilisation was one of the most outstanding features of the European internal policy of the 1990s. The phenomenon is reflected by two, mutually reinforcing factors. On the one hand, the 1988 reform of the Structural Funds and several provisions and principles of TEU created new opportunities for regions to become involved in the European politics; on the other hand, processes and theoretical debates towards the territorial decentralisation of power within Member States, as well as the openness and activism of regions in the area of structural and cohesion policy expressed more and more pronounced needs of enforcement of their rights. The opportunities and demands, the "Europe of the regions", the concept of a "Three-tier Europe" together with the EU becoming a multi-level governance system collectively constitute the conditionality of subnational mobilisation. The phenomenon can be summarised as follows: the regions within the state and at Community level, by the concurrent use of institutional and informal tools, are increasingly becoming involved and are increasingly becoming involved and are increasingly shaping the EU institutions and their decision-making processes.

Central Europe means different political, economic, cultural, geopolitical and a "regional security community" contents in relation to my topic. Nowadays, this region, the "Central Europe" region primarily means the V-4 cooperation and the very important role and initiatives of the region in the EU. The V-4 cooperation, which was established in 1991, can be conceived as an attempt at creating a special form, as a mechanism and sub-stance to the political dimension of this region. The four members of the special mechanism are trying to get closer to one another by relying on solidarity with each other. The V-4 cooperation is based on the common history of the participating countries and close similarities between their recent transformation processes. Such resemblances explain the V4 structure's success, including parallel navigation in the problems of European Union and NATO accession. In the absence of permanent institutions [except the International Visegrad Fund (IVF)], the dimension and ambitions of the V-4 cooperation depends on the political objective of the governments and direct security environment, which impacts on these countries.

The essay deals with the territorial disparities of Poland and the new aspects of regional development. According to the general opinion, there are two types of explanation of the differences of the level of regional development. According to the evolutionist perception, the roots of the regional differences are the consequents of the cleavages coming from the historical past. On the other hand, the other opinion is based on the 'big bang' of the economic and political transformation. There are different perceptions of the phenomenon 'region', some of the authors concentrate on the regional identity and the region as a historical phenomenon. The regions have different historical past in the Central and Eastern European countries where the role of the central government had greater influence. Finally, the essay deals with the cleavages of Poland and the several approaches made in oreder to eliminate these differences, and the role of the regional development programmes and practices.

During the Hungarian EU Presidency the Western Balkan has been a priority in the forefont of the Hungarian and European foreign policy. Nowadays we should notice that their is a new, developing subsystem in the Balkan area, where Hungary will be play an important role. Our relationship with the region is identified by the past connections, with other ethnic groups situations (especially on the Serbian-Hungarian relations) and the fact that Hungary could become a facilitator Euro-Atlantic integration, which seems to be the only solution for the region. The task of politics is to create the opportunities in the area of permanent and effective presence, and ensuring the institutions and provide the experience of integration by experts. In the present study, we undertake an analysis of cooperation in different scenes, with particular attention to the economy, which are related to the Western Balkans, such as Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia.

This paper is aimed at analysing the impact of the crisis of the liberal international order on the transatlantic relations. Both the EU and the US have vital interest to maintain the existing international order, however regarding certain foreign policy goals we witness an increasingly divergent approach to world politics. This is the case with the Middle East, where the EU acts as a global player based on historical ties, while the United States have recently started a gradual disengagement from the region. The so-called post-American Middle East have its own opportunities as well as challenges for the European diplomacy. This article focuses on the differences between the EU and the US foreign policy goals related to the Middle East. It primarily addresses the Iranian nuclear program and the Middle East Peace Plan recently launched by the US. The author argues despite some differences in interests, the EU and the US do not perceive the region in an entirely different way.

The fundamental principles of the EU LEADER Programme are common in every member states. However the Programme was fit to the national legislative framework, institutional culture and social features, thus it was implemented with significant differences in the different EU countries/regions. Our study examines the LEADER implementation in one of the Spanish autonomous regions, Andalusia, which has many parallels with Hungarian rurality in terms of political culture, rural economy and society. The Andalusian implementation of the LEADER Programme is especially advanced on various ways. Resulting from the genuine decentralisation of the programme, local action groups enjoy a great degree of independence. They act as paying agencies, make independent and fast decisions and provide tailored assistance for their local clients. The Andalusian implementation of LEADER clearly proves that it can be successful, even in less advanced socio-cultural circumstances. Many elements of this system could be usefully applied in Hungary too, given that we find a way to embed a similar approach to rural development in various levels of our institutional system. We recommend our study to all those who aim for a better rural development system for Hungary in 2014-20.

The aim of our study is to reveal the relationship between doing sports and persistence among higher education students in the Northern Great Plain Region of Hungary and especially among Hungarian minority students in Romania, Slovakia, Serbia and the Ukraine. The theoretical background of the research is based on the developmental model (Brohm, 2002; Miller, Marchant, Polman, Clough, Jackson, Levy, & Nicholls, 2009; Melnick, Barnes, Farrel,l & Sabo, 2007) as well as Tinto's (1975) and Pascarella and Terenzini's (1980) institutional integration model. For the analyses, we used the database of the Center for Higher Education Research and Development (CHERD-H), which includes the higher education institutions in the border regions of the five countries under investigation (Hungary, Slovakia, the Ukraine, Romania and Serbia) (IESA 2015, N=2,017). According to our results, despite of the integration model theory, university sports membership decreases the level of persistence regardless of gender, country and social background. However, comparative analyses show that non-university sports club membership conveys values like appreciating the usefulness of learning and commitment to successfully complete exams and learning requirements. University and non-university sports club members mostly agree that they want to achieve the best possible learning outcomes.

The aim of the study is to present the position and possibilities of Vojvodina in the European territorial cooperation with special focus on the EU Strategy for the Danube Region. Firstly, I examine the external relations of Vojvodina. I analyse the institutionalisation and the future of the DKMT Euroregion and the Banat-Triplex Confinium EGTC from the aspect Vojvodina, because these cooperations are significant component of the European integration process. The European territorial cohesion includes all the cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperations and democratic local and regional structures, forming under the identity of the EU Danube Strategy. This macro-regional strategy covers parts of 8 EU countries and 6 non EU countries (include Serbia) and faces numerous specific challenges: big socioeconomic disparities, underdeveloped potential of the Danube waterway, a unique environment threatened by pollution –to name just a few. Accordingly, there is a need for a stronger than usual cooperation dimension and for an integrated cooperative response across borders. Finally, I summarise how the Danube Strategy can achieve greater effect and reveal how macro-regional cooperation can help tackle local problems in Vojvodina, providing alternative solutions to problems stemming from legal and institutional differences of the border regions.

A tanulmány célja a 2015-ben indult Modern városok program (MVP) iparfejlesztési elképzeléseinek kritikai elemzése a hazánkban kialakult függő piacgazdasági modell és a tartós gyengeségekkel küzdő fejlesztéspolitikai intézményrendszer tükrében. A gazdasági válság utáni Magyarországon a főáramú fejlesztéspolitikák kudarca, az ország gyenge felzárkózási teljesítménye növekvő érdeklődést eredményezett az alternatív gazdaságfejlesztési receptek iránt. Az új teret nyert developmentalista felfogás visszanyúl az erős állami beavatkozás ideájához, ezt azonban paradox módon olyan környezetben teszi, amelyben a gazdaság jelentős hányada külföldi beruházók kezében van, a hazai fejlesztéspolitika eszköz- és intézményrendszere pedig tartós és öröklődő gyengeségekkel küzd. A kormány és a fejlesztésre kijelölt megyei jogú városok külön megállapodásain nyugvó, uniós forrásokat újraelosztó Modern városok program projektszemléletű, vonásaiban a francia és a lengyel tervszerződésekhez hasonló (de azoknál gyengébb és esetlegesebb) fejlesztési eszközként, az új fejlesztési filozófia megtestesítőjeként jelent meg az állami cselekvésben. A program, bár elsősorban városfejlesztési eszköz, jelentős számban tartalmaz újraiparosításra irányuló vagy azt támogató fejlesztési célokat (77 projekt). A program elképzeléseit jelentős regionális különbségek fémjelzik. Az ország nyugati felében inkább a hagyományos fejlesztési eszközök alkalmazása és néhány tudásintenzív tevékenység letelepítésére irányuló törekvés figyelhető meg; a Dél-Alföldön és környezetében az endogén növekedési modell számára is kedvező komplex iparfejlesztési célok kerültek előtérbe; az ország ipari perifériáin azonban egyáltalán nem került sor igazi áttörést sejtető, előremutató fejlesztési célok megfogalmazására. Feltehető, hogy az MVP nyertesei elsősorban a már iparosodott vagy újraiparosodó térségek lesznek; a területi különbségek mérséklődése helyett a különbségek további növekedésére számíthatunk. A critical analysis of the Modern Cities Programme, a development programmelaunched by the Hungarian government in 2015, considers the reindustrialisation components as part of the debate on the varieties of capitalism (in particular the issue of Central and Eastern European dependent market economies) and the persisting institutional deficiencies in the Hungarian planning system. After the 2008 crisis, the low efficiency or failure of mainstream development policies and Hungary's poor convergence record have contributed to a growing interest in alternative development policies. The emerging development-policy vision is returning to the idea of strong state intervention, although paradoxically it continues to operate in an environment characterised by exceptionally high foreign participation in the economy, particularly in its most competitive segments. In addition, domestic development policy struggles with permanent and self-reinforcing institutional weaknesses that significantly reduce its effectiveness. The resulting re-centralisation has not only led to an increase in regional differences, but also to a further weakening of development institutions operating in cities and regions. Effective development systems (development coalitions and early-stage urban regimes) that are capable of setting and achieving coherent, systematic development goals exist only in a few select locations across the country. The Modern Cities Programme, essentially a redistribution of EU funds based on special agreements between the central government and the major Hungarian cities, is a project-based development agenda that somewhat resembles French and Polish planning contracts, albeit in a diluted and less coherent form. As an instrument of development policy, it fits into the new etatist development philosophy. Although the programme is predominantly an instrument of urban development, it also includes 77 projects directly or indirectly related to reindustrialisation. These initiatives focus mainly on improving transport links, developing specific sectors, vocational training, education and a limited R&D+I component. The programme characteristics vary greatly from region to region. In the western half of the country, traditional development instruments predominate with limited evidence of attempts at building up knowledge-intensive activities. In the Southern Great Plain, also complex industrial development goals are found that are conducive to endogenous growth, partly reflecting the lack of FDI in the region and a more SME-based development trajectory. The programme has not been able to realise favourable reindustrialisation initiatives in the peripheral industrial areas of Hungary. The fact that the programme tended to benefit 'winners' is likely to increase existing development gaps rather than reduce existing regional disparities.