Environmental and comfort value of renewable energy sources is a less studied area. The article introduce the economic value of these characteristics, related to social determinants. The data basis ...is representative of the Hungarian population above 18 years of age, by gender, age and level of education. Our model estimation was developed by hybrid choice context in latent class modelling. In addition to the usual WTP (willingness to pay) calculation, we also used WTI (willingness to invest) calculations. The results show that the value of environmentally-friendly nature in Hungary exceeds the convenience factor. The latter cannot be significantly detected for the majority of the Hungarian population. This statement is supported by results for both fuels and boilers. Our findings show the strong attachment of the Hungarian average person to the use of firewood and natural gas, which are very typical in Hungarian heat consumption. Regarding socially selected consumer groups, strong correlation can be observed between social capital supply, income level, access to information and environmental awareness in Hungary. Regarding policy implications, our results in development of clusters may be useful for the establishment of a selective support policy and two clearly identifiable groups should be highlighted in the energy policy.
•The value of environmentally friendly nature in Hungary exceeds the convenience factor.•29% of the homeowners would be willing to pay more for clean and comfortable fuel and equipment.•Higher educated and higher income upper classes are more sensitive to environmental values.•Hybrid choice modelling is an excellent method to know what characteristics respondents actually have environmental awareness.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
•Community governance of common-pool resources is rare in post-communist Europe.•Links between market institutions and self-governance are modelled.•The joint institutional dynamics of markets and ...producer communities are explored.•Transitional absence of market institutions hindered self-governance.•Contrary to literature, bottom-up self-governance is now feasible in the region.
The performance of post-communist countries in building institutions for self-governance by users of common-pool resources has been meagre. While previous studies have emphasised weak social capital and bad policies, we focus on the dynamic effect of market institutions on self-organisation. We argue that common-pool resource users who trade their products are more likely to self-organise after private enterprises and their markets are in place. Therefore, the absence of market-supporting institutions was one of the factors that hindered the self-organisation of producers after the collapse of communism. While markets often destroy communities, we detect a positive effect in this geo-historical context. Two case studies about the development of local communities of winemakers in Hungary between 1990 and 2014 illustrate the logic of institutional dynamics.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
A commonly addressed aspect of urban planning involves the integration of nature-based solutions (NBS). Before applying NBS, acquiring stakeholders' viewpoints, e.g., city councils, local ...governments, and academia, contributes to the successful application and thus to mitigation of global challenges such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, water, and food scarcity. The present study explores how stakeholders across Europe view the role of NBS in urban planning. A thematic analysis was conducted to identify patterns, themes, and concepts within interview transcripts gathered through semi-structured interviews held in Budapest, Cordoba, Ljubljana, Reykjavik, Vienna, and Zurich. The study resulted in 107 distinctive codes categorized into NBS benefits, challenges, opportunities, NBS actors, and regulations. The frequency of codes (Fr) mentioned by the interviewees showed that NBS benefit cooperation (Fr=125) between individuals, while the most challenging issue obstructing NBS implementation was the lack of NBS knowledge (Fr=93). The need for green areas (Fr=42) was identified as an opportunity that could give rise to NBS applications. This study also provides practical recommendations to overcome some barriers when implementing NBS.
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•Perceptions of stakeholders were attained for NBS in urban planning.•Semi-structured interviews were conducted in six EU cities.•107 distinctive codes and 11 categorizes were identified.•NBS promoted cooperation within society.•Lack of knowledge was a challenge for NBS promotion.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
This article presents the results of an international comparative study on food self‐provisioning, an activity still widespread in the countries of the Global North. We collected the data in a ...sociological survey done in 2010 as a part of the household energy use research project GILDED. We selected a region with urban and rural areas as a case study in each of the five EU countries, including Scotland, the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. Our article raises two main research questions: (1) What is the level of food self‐provisioning in the regions? (2) Who participates in it? Additionally, we inquired into the motivations of self‐provisioners using the results of analyses of sociodemographic and food consumption habits for their interpretation. We found that the level of self‐provisioning varies considerably among the regions. Its share ranges from 13 percent in Dutch urban areas to 58 percent in German rural areas. The effects of some sociodemographic and geographic factors differ significantly among the countries. However, we can summarize that living in one's own property, living in a house or in a rural area, having a partner or children, being retired, or having a low income increases the probability of food self‐provisioning.
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DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Innovative agri-environmental contracts are increasingly studied in the literature, but their adoption has been relatively slow and geographically scattered. Action-based agri-environmental measures ...remain the predominant policy mechanism across Europe. A three-round Policy Delphi study was conducted with policy makers, scientific experts, farmers’ representatives, and NGOs from across 15 different European countries, to investigate how and under which circumstances novel contractual solutions could be implemented more widely. The expert panel perceived result-based and collective contractual elements as the most promising. Although considered beneficial from several aspects, value chain contracts were perceived less relevant to the policy environment. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Pillar 2 measures were highlighted by the experts as the key policy area to implement novel contracts by national or regional authorities, but Pillar 1 eco-schemes, being launched in the CAP 2023–2027, were also considered as a potentially suitable framework for testing and implementation. The Delphi panel envisaged innovative contracts should be adopted by governments in iterative steps and not as a complete substitute for current payment schemes, but rather as an additional incentive to them. Such an incremental approach allows contractual innovations to capitalise on existing best practices. But it also implies the risk that innovative contracts could remain marginal and fail to substantially change farmers’ behaviour, resulting in a failure to improve environmental conditions.
•A policy Delphi survey investigated options for novel agri-environmental contracts.•Result-based and collective contracts are perceived as promising innovations.•Value-chain (certification, labelling) contracts are perceived less policy-relevant.•The ideal contract mixes action- and result-based elements.•Implementation of novel contracts should be gradual and adapted to local contexts.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
A helyi sajátosságok, értékek megjelenítése a vidékimázs és a helyi identitás megerősítése és fejlesztése egyre fontosabb kérdés a vidéki térségekben élők számára, mivel azok megjelennek a ...települések és helyi közösségek fejlesztési startégiáiban, de befolyásolják az adott térség idegenforgalomban, migrációs folyamatokban betöltött szerepét is. Napjainkban egyre hangsúlyosabb szerephez jut Magyarországon is vidékiség értelmezések vizsgálata, így ezzel párhuzamosan a vidékszociológiai kutatások egyre jelentősebb témájává is válik a kérdés. A tanulmány célja, hogy egy szisztematikus irodalmi áttekintés alapján feltárja, milyen módszerekkel vizsgálta az elmúlt két évtizedben a nemzetközi tudomány a tágan értelmezett vidékimázst és vidéki identitást. A dolgozat első felében a vidékimázs, vidékidill, vidékreprezentáció és vidéki identitás kifejezések megjelenését és elterjedését mutatjuk be a tudományos diskurzusban, majd pedig átfogó irodalmi áttekintés segítségével vizsgáljuk a fenti témákhoz kapcsolódó különböző módszertanok (kérdőíves, interjús, NLP, részvételi) elterjedtségét, és összevetjük a különböző módszertani megközelítések lehetséges korlátait és előnyeit.
Self-promotion and reinterpretation of local identity is becoming increasingly important in rural communities. Local identity building is succeeded very differently by rural municipalities and ...regions. The paper analyses the role of small towns in local identity creation. There are varying interpretations of places in Hungary as ways of achieving meaningful territorialisation. Small towns based on their leading and central position within the micro regions can dominate the place-making processes. Using the example of six Hungarian rural micro-regions we analyse how rural small towns position themselves by local image building. The aim of this paper is to investigate interactions between territorial position and innovative capacity of rural towns through the analysis of symbolisation process and image building. We purpose to introduce a concept of a place oriented approach and demonstrate its usefulness for analysis of rural innovation and place-based development. The case-studies are based on qualitative methods: document-analysis, semi-structured interviews, transect walking and participatory observation. The paper analyses the process of local community and identity building in six rural micro-regions. We seek to understand how small towns position themselves in place-making, the aim of ‘placing’ themselves in the territorial hierarchy of the settlements of micro region. Our results suggest that small towns play very different roles in local image building. Characteristics and territorial scope of local cultural heritage significantly determine the innovative capacity of small towns in local image building where there is a wide range of meanings procedures and processes of place-making.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Stakeholder participation in nature conservation policies and especially in the management of protected areas has gained importance in the last decades. These changes are underlined by democratic ...principles and the perceived contribution of stakeholder involvement to the effectiveness of conservation management. Evaluating participatory processes is essential to learn about the past and thus increase the quality of future processes. The evaluation can be useful for the organisations responsible for planning and management, stakeholders and policy makers as well. The present paper shows the results of a systematic evaluation of 25 participatory processes related to the development of management plans for Natura 2000 sites in Hungary between 2007 and 2015. A conceptual framework was developed to evaluate the process and outcome of participatory management planning processes. Criteria were based on the scientific literature on public participation and tailored to conservation-related management planning and stakeholder involvement. Evaluated processes were grouped in three cases based on their time range and financial sources. Overall, the analysed processes scored at a medium level, showing better performance in the process criteria than in the outcome criteria. The best case scored significantly higher in four criteria compared to the other cases: representativeness, resource availability for facilitation, new, creative ideas and impact on the plan. The main factors behind the success were (1) embeddedness of the planning process in a larger project, where the plan was a tool for conservation, (2) carrying out only one process at a time, (3) previous experience of facilitators and planners with participatory planning and (4) the opportunity and capacity to propose a payment scheme as an incentive. But even this case received low scores in some criteria: conflict resolution, early involvement and well defined goals. Based on the results we suggest that more data is needed to evaluate the implementation of the plans and, in many cases, the impact of the process on the plan. Performance can be improved with the assistance of policy makers by further developing guidelines, harmonising payment schemes with the conservation measures of the plans and providing training on conflict resolution. The evaluation framework proved to be suitable for the assessment of a large set of conservation related management planning processes, but it also had some limitations, e.g. concerning the incorporation of stakeholders' views in the evaluation.
•Evaluation criteria from participation literature can be applied to conservation.•Participatory conservation-planning processes conducted in Hungary scored medium.•Policy makers can assist participatory processes related to conservation management.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Abstract
The linear pattern of production-consumption-disposal of cities around the world will continue to increase the emission of pollutants and stocks of waste, as well as to impact on the ...irreversible deterioration of non-renewable stocks of raw materials. A transition towards a circular pattern proposed by the concept of ‘Circular Cities’ is gaining momentum. As part of this urban transition, the emergent use of Nature-based Solutions (NBS) intends to shift public opinion and utilize technology to mitigate the urban environmental impact. In this paper, an analysis of the current research and practical investments for implementing NBS under the umbrella of Circular Cities is conducted. A combined appraisal of the latest literature and a survey of ongoing and completed National-European research and development projects provides an overview of the current enabling tools, methodologies, and initiatives for public engagement. It also identifies and describes the links between facilitators and barriers with respect to existing policies and regulations, public awareness and engagement, and scientific and technological instruments. The paper concludes introducing the most promising methods, physical and digital technologies that may lead the way to Sustainable Circular Cities. The results of this research provide useful insight for citizens, scientists, practitioners, investors, policy makers, and strategists to channel efforts on switching from a linear to a circular thinking for the future of cities.