Етика и екология – проблеми на интердисциплинността

Author(s): Nikolay Mihaylov / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Issue: 4/2016

The article explores the different approaches to defining environmental ethics. The author examines the emergence and historical development of ecological ideas in ethics and their impact on ethics. The article focuses on anthropocentrism as a basic ethical principle and attempts to address it in the construction of a new type of moral philosophy. Important works by Bulgarian and foreign authors on the subject are reviewed and compared. The author examines the place of environmental ethics in the structure of ethical philosophy.

Личностната идентичност и любовта

Author(s): Vinitsiy Petrov / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Issue: 5/2016

The article explores the connection between the concept of personal identity and the concept of love, focusing on the possibility of personal identity. The investigation starts from the premise that personal identity has a transcendental status with respect to philosophical inquiry, especially in the domain of ethics. Then the author outlines some major problems involved in the clear explication of the concept of personal identity. The proposed solution is that personal identity is constituted by the relation to a loved one. The conclusion is that love has a transcendental status with regard to personal identity, which means it also has transcendental status with respect to all activities contingent on personal identity.

Връзки и взаимозависимости между процесите на външна миграция и престъпност

Author(s): Lyuba D. Spasova / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Issue: 1/2017

The article explores the mutual connection between the processes of crime and external migration and analyses the interconnectivity and relation between these two phenomena. A theoretical model is constructed and tested based on the available data; outlining the illogical gaps in knowledge, the author sets a path for further research.Keywords: emigration/immigration; crime; deviance; trends

Биовластта днес

Author(s): Paul Rabinow,Nikolas Rose / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3-4/2016

Transitions Online_Around the Bloc-Wednesday, 21 October 2020

Author(s): Jeremy Druker / Language(s): English Issue: 10/26/2020

Regional headlines: Estonia faces fallout over homophobic remarks; Belgrade to welcome Russian military; EU vs. Poland, TBD; Holocaust play opens in Bucharest; and Chernobyl goes virtual reality.

Transitions Online_Poland-Bus Stop Shakespeare

Author(s): Dorota Salus / Language(s): English Issue: 11/02/2020

In Gdansk, people with Down syndrome are finding jobs thanks to an innovative collaboration between NGOs and the private sector.

Potencijali i perspektive razvitka Velebitskog podgorja

Author(s): Čedomir Dundović,Damian Dundović,Kristina Dundović / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 1/2017

Velebit is not only the largest Croatian mountain but is the only littoral mountain that divides two geographically essentially diverse areas: the Mediterranean and continental – mountain regions, in other words, the Croatian Littoral from Mountain Croatia. The littoral slope of Velebit includes Podgorje which begins near Sveti Juraj where it gradually spreads and rises to Jablanac, whilst in the southern part Velebit gradually passes into the northern – Dalmatian karst plateau. The natural conditions and setting along the sea have contributed in the past to the development of forestry, agricultural and livestock production, shipping, fishing, trade, hunting and tourism. The transport connectivity of the settlements of the Velebit littoral slope with the outside world always took place via the sea, because there were no land routes or they were in such a state that they did not allow a better connection between the settled places. The population coverage of their region is dominated by numerous hamlets, 1-6 km apart and set in the interior from the sea mostly in the central vegetational belt because bare rock dominates along the coastline. Nature has influenced this separation because any settlements had to be placed where the ‘bura’ does not blow. Due to this in the Velebet littoral area, with the exception of Senj, three more important coastal settlements developed: Sveti Juraj, Jablanac and Karlobag. The lack of traffic and communal infrastructure and other necessary amenities (educational, health, economic and so on) are the reason for the large depopulation of this area which in modern conditions is one of the least populated regions of the Republic of Croatia. However, the potential values of this region point to the possibilities of its speedier development. The aims and guidelines of development point primarily to the protection of the natural and cultural resources with an emphasised need in making developmental economic programmes. Besides the development of a road network which in this area would prompt new developmental potentials with the planned measures of development, the development of economic activities (development of tourism, mariculture, nautical tourism ports, health-recreational tourism, hunting tourism, fruit growing and horticulture, livestock breeding, forestry and timber – manufacturing activities, the use of the energy potentials of the wind and sun, the development of manufacturing, trade and free customs zones and so on) and social activities in the decentralisation of the system of centralised settlements (educational, health and cultural infrastructure) should be stimulated. In this paper a special emphasis is made on the appraisal of the natural potentials, of sustainable development and the evaluation of the possibility of the revitalisation of Podgorje. To this end a SWOT analysis was produced as a basic prerequisite for future development.

AN INVESTIGATION OF ECOLITERACY AND IGBO COSMOLOGY IN CHINUA ACHEBE’S ARROW OF GOD

Author(s): Cindy Anene Ezeugwu / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2020

The study interrogates the relationship that exists between language, literacy and the environment given the fact that the need for its sustainability is of essence especially in the contemporary times. This paper investigates eco-literacy in Achebe’s literary corpus Arrow of God. Findings suggest that long before campaign for environmental protection became a global trend, Igbo societies have made significant in road towards saving the biosphere from harmful effects due largely to human induced activities. These attempts are made manifest through traditional religion, myth, superstition and other cultural practices. The researchers’ contend that though the Igbos’ contribution may be deemed insignificant compared to the enormity of the emerging issues, it is still not out of place to assume that the present imput by government, and other agencies towards this direction are rather complementary to the efforts being made by the Igbo societies. The study adopts the Butterfly Effect and Chaos Theory for the inquiry and concludes that if the colonizers had known the thoughts of the Igbo concerning the ecosystem, they would have probably helped to strengthen eco-literacy ideology using natural and sustainable in road already created. The study recommends the need to revert back to some of these natural means which could help to sustain the environment.

Zagrożenia naturalne dla bezpieczeństwa ekologicznego w powiecie gryfińskim

Author(s): Mateusz Szymczak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 51/2021

Ecological security, which refers to the preservation of an adequate ecosystem and a biological balance in a close area, was a term which oscillated around the daily sense of security of the inhabitants of a region. Natural hazards was a counterpart aimed at the dangers lurking, for example, in areas of natural value and strict protection, which was very often financed and controlled by EU bodies. The aim of the research paper was to confirm the impact of natural hazards on the state of ecological safety in the district of Gryfino. The research methodology was based mainly on institutional and legal sources. It was initial to analyse existing documents. A key aspect became the use of one of the research techniques which is an interview with a retired Border Guard officer. Gryfino County is a region of local self-government and thus of second-level administrative division in Poland. Its great advantage was not only its geographical location in the midst of the so-called Polish Amazonia, i.e. areas of a network of canals and old riverbeds connected to each other, but also its proximity to the Federal Republic of Germany. Cross-border cooperation has been developing promisingly since the period of political transformation at the security level. The public security services, through mutual assistance and common exchange of information, have been able to implement projects and programmes to improve the environment of the territories. In conclusion, it could be said that the inhabitants of both the eastern and cross-border parts of the county were exposed to natural disasters. However, it is worth noting that due to the presence of water areas they were more diverse and unpredictable in nature. Environmental awareness among the inhabitants was extremely important, but at the same time it had to be supported by the creation of a civil society in the capital’s charming areas. Appropriate coordination of public safety services, innovative local government policies and the involvement of residents were able to counteract the form and strength of natural hazards and their direct impact on ecological safety in the Griffin district.

Wartości wewnętrzne i użytkowe wydm nadmorskich w Polsce na tle światowych trendów zarządzania

Author(s): Tomasz Arkadiusz Łabuz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 37/2018

The coastal area for the centuries has been performed economic, settlement and defense functions. The disappearance of natural habitats and natural resources as a result of land development caused the need to designate protection zones. However, their area in Poland is insufficient due to the unlimited development of tourist services on the coast. The contemporary approach to the needs of environmental protection distributes human utility values (meaning as instrumental) from intrinsic values of nature. Both human and nature have the right to function and develop. Natural environment is giving many non economic benefits. If, in modern management methods, the human-nature conflict will be not resolved in the future, there will be no natural coastal areas in Poland. This paper presents the methods of valuing the natural environment in the context of the need to preserve the natural values of coastal dunes.

GREEN GROWTH, JUST TRANSITION AND DECENT WORKS IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND COMBATTING CLIMATE CHANGE

Author(s): Çiğdem TUĞAÇ / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2020

Traditional economic growth models damage natural resources to which humanity depends, causing important environmental, social and economic problems, especially climate change. Today, it is understood by countries that a new growth approach should be applied in order to ensure the sustainable use of scarce natural resources, combatting negative effects of climate change and reduce poverty while realizing economic development. The view that environmentally friendly investments aren’t cost effective is changing and countries want to take advantage of the opportunities offered by green growth. However, this process also requires a just transition. The aim of this study is to evaluate green growth, just transition and decent work concepts in the context of sustainable development and combatting climate change. In the study, it is concluded that if green growth and just transition processes are well managed, they provide significant opportunities for realizing UN-SDGs, combatting climate change and the creation of decent works.

Das städtische Grundstück im Opava (Troppau) des 13. und 14. Jahrhunderts aus archäologischer Sicht

Author(s): František Kolář,Michal Zezula / Language(s): German Issue: 2/2013

The separation of the original core of the town of Opava, founded between 1213 and 1220, into plots was adapted to the communication scheme of the earlier settlement. Within the development of the town in the second half of the 13th century, regularly measured-out blocks of houses were built in the southern part of the town. Archeologically, the development of the land subdivision and buildings may be observed by means of the finds of fences and sunken basements of wood-and-clay buildings, which dominated among the buildings of the early town. Around the turn of the 14th century, we encounter the earliest known evidence of stone chambers (‘Steinwerk’), built at the place or earlier basements of wood-and-clay buildings, which were in the course of the 15th and 16th centuries integrated into the new stone buildings covering the entire width of the plots all to way to the street line. It is also characteristic for the period of the 13th and 14th centuries that the terrain in the area of the plots as well as in public spaces was significantly raised, which was mainly caused by the deposition of soil from the construction pits for house basements and waste disposal in their immediate vicinity. From the second half of the 13th century, the sanitary situation of the town was improved by the gradual spread of wooden-constructed waste pits, whereas medieval wells have been recorded only sporadically.

Modelling Natural Capital: A Proposal for a Mixed Multi-criteria Approach to Assign Management Priorities to Ecosystem Services

Author(s): Mónica de Castro Pardo,Pascual Fernández Martínez,José Manuel Guaita Martínez,José María Martín Martín / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

Investment in natural capital is increasingly necessary and urgent considering the increasing loss of global biodiversity and the associated social and economic losses. Ecosystem services are tools for quantifying the stock of natural capital and there is great concern about their assessment and valuation. However, there remains a substantial gap between the large amount of information available about ecosystem services and the information required to support decisions and this undermines the efficiency of their management. Multi-criteria analysis techniques can be very useful to efficiently develop decision-making processes to properly channel investment and optimize the costs associated with conservation. This paper proposes an innovative mixed methodology for multi-criteria analysis to assign priorities to ecosystem services in protected areas in terms of importance and vulnerability. The model was applied by a group of experts to prioritize 20 ecosystem services in the Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park. In order to collect and analyze the individual valuations, a mixed method of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Goal Programming (GP) was used, and to aggregate the valuation criteria, a Joint Relevance Index (JRI) was used, which presents the relative importance of each service in an aggregated way. The results show that conservation policies should be primarily directed towards lifecycle maintenance and water conditions. Depending on the vulnerability of the services, conservation policies should be channeled towards provisioning services related to wild animals and wild plants. Considering the relative importance of services in the park, priority should be oriented to lifecycle maintenance, water conditions and intellectual interaction with the environment.

The Perception of Time in the Virtual Space: A Cultural-Philosophical Analysis

Author(s): Bina Nir / Language(s): English Issue: 10(39)/2017

In this article, we will present the key conceptions of time in Western culture, while observing changes in the perception of time in the context of virtual space. Among other things, we will examine the change in the Newtonian space-time concept. The Newtonian conception views a permanent system of space and time. Being in virtual space transforms us, it would seem, to the cultural conception of time presented by Einstein, which does not view time as an absolute measure, but rather as changing according to the speed of our movement. The faster we move, time speed reduces. It is not the objective of this article to probe the depths of physics, but to try and understand the cultural shifts in the perception of time in terms of existing physics models. Moreover, we will explore the cultural return to “mystical time” in terms of the “divine gaze” – today, in virtual space, a new point of view enables us to observe existence from an external point of view. Changes also include the obstruction of the linear sequence of time due to the simultaneity of past, present and future in the Augmented Virtual Reality. In this article, we will attempt to understand experiencing virtual reality in terms of hallucination time, and will conclude with the virtual promise of eternal life – being in eternal time, which exists in the virtual space.

Teleologija i evolucija – Aristotel i Hans Jonas u kontekstu ekološke etike

Author(s): Saša Marinović / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 02/162/2021

Aristotle has interpreted research done by empirical methods using metaphysical concepts extensively. According to some authors, his metaphysically intoned philosophy of biology is compatible with the modern theory of evolution and with some of the essential topics of ecological ethics. We will try to show how the interpretation of the substantial whole, under the aspect of the notion of potentiality, is Aristotle’s contribution to the debates of eco-ethical holism. Furthermore, we will show how Hans Jonas also finds the possibility of valuing the individual organic substance in Aristotle’s works, which are not only representatives of the human species. Hans Jonas pleads for a revision of the modern theory of evolution, which, combined with some of Aristotle’s metaphysical elements, could avoid the reductionism to which it was exposed after Descartes.

Emocijų vaidmuo mobilizuojant visuomenę kovai su klimato kaita: emocinės būsenos konstravimas įkvepiant masinį judėjimą

Author(s): Neringa Mataitytė / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 1(101)/2021

How do emotions contribute to mobilizing the international community to join massive protests against climate change? Although it is common to superficially state that protests are full of various emotions, it remains unclear how emotions become collective on the international level and how they ensure the spread of mass mobilization. This research paper examines the process of collectivization of emotions and how it explains mass mobilization in the case of international climate change strikes. This paper raises the question of how the emotional environment was favourably constructed in Greta Thunberg’s case in order to mobilize international society to join climate change strikes, and it aims to reveal how group emotions play an important role in successful international mobilization. Based on Sarah Ahmed’s theory of cultural politics of emotions and James M. Jasper’s theory linking emotions and social movements, it is assumed that specific emotions were circulated to create a distinct emotional environment that inspired the international community to join Thunberg’s climate strike. An Emotional Discourse Analysis revealed that Thunberg’s speeches are full of emotional potential that provokes reactive emotions such as fear, anger and hope in the global society and establishes an injustice-based framing of the problem as well as the dichotomy between the political elite and the global society. This study contributes to the research field of emotions in international relations by exploring in more depth the collectivization of emotions and expands the theory of cultural politics of emotions to include explanations of international politics phenomena such as mass mobilization.

Metodologija trasiranja cikloturističke rute u koridoru napuštene željezničke pruge

Author(s): Goran Kos,Zoran Klarić,Predrag Brlek,Petar Feletar / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 15/2021

Bicyclism has lately become increasingly popular as an activity in which bicycle is used not only as a means of transport, but also as a tourist activity, and a type of recreation useful for human health and considerably environment-friendlier than the use of motor vehicles. This has influenced the process of arranging an ever increasing number of marked and unmarked cyclotourist routes on the existing roads with less traffic in motor vehicles, as well as establishing special bicyclist tracks along the existing roads, and separate bicyclist paths and roads intended for bicyclists only. Particularly popular among them are abandoned railway tracks, which are converted into bicyclist roads, since due to the needs of railway transport, they have relatively gentle slopes. Thus, they are not too demanding for the majority of cyclotourists, whilst their attractiveness lies in the fact that they pass through beautiful landscape. The paper presents the methodology of planning the revitalisation of the abandoned railway track between Bjelovar and Garešnica with a branch line for Grubišno Polje for the needs of developing cyclotourism in the Bjelovar-Bilogora County.

Explaining the Formation Rates of Post-Communist Interest Organizations: Density Dependence and Political Opportunity Structure

Author(s): Rafael Pablo Labanino,Michael Dobbins,Szczepan Czarnecki,Ana Železnik / Language(s): English Issue: 04/2021

This article presents an analysis of the formation of organized interest groups in the post-communist context and organizational populations over time. We test two theories that shed doubt on whether vital rates of interest groups are explained by individual incentives, namely, the political opportunity structure and population ecology theory. Based on an analysis of the energy policy and higher education policy organizations active at the national level in Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia, we find that while the period of democratic and economic transition indeed opened up the opportunity structure for organizational formations, it by no means presented a clean slate. Communist era successor and splinter organizations survived the collapse of communism, and all three countries entered transition with relatively high density rates in both organizational populations. We also find partial support for the density dependence hypothesis. Surprisingly, the EU integration process, the intensity of legislative activity, and media attention do not seem to have meaningfully influenced founding rates in the two populations.

УКРАЇНА ПЕРЕД ВИКЛИКАМИ ХХІ ст.

Author(s): Mikhail Petrovich Trebin / Language(s): Ukrainian Issue: 4/2017

The 21st century has given humanity, including Ukraine, a huge number of challenges that need to be answered. To understand the range of threats and trends in the development of the world community is the most important task for humanity. The modern world is usually characterized by epithets of «crisis», «turbulent», «unstable». These characteristics are undoubtedly true. But they are not exhaustive. Apparently, with even more reason, the world can be called dynamic, complicated and increasingly dangerous. In the struggle for the future that unfolds on the planet, risks are growing and threats are increasing. To the Davos Forum in 2017, a report was published on the global risks awaiting humanity in the near future. In total, experts identified 30 global risks, as well as 13 trends that can strengthen them or change the relationship between them. Risks are divided into five categories: economic, environmental, geopolitical, social and technological. In ten of the most probable risks in 2017 – three of the areas of ecology and three of the geopolitics, while the environmental is higher: two of them are among the top 3 global risks. These are extreme weather events and large-scale natural disasters. The top ten included also the risks of anthropogenic environmental disasters. The second most significant category of risks is geopolitics. Among them, the most dangerous are large-scale terrorist acts, followed by interstate conflicts and inefficient state administration. They include a one-way approach to solving international issues instead of the necessary collective efforts of the world community. In addition, countries are openly accusing each other of interfering in their internal affairs. It should be emphasized that global risks do not exist separately from each other, but tend to generate each other, overlay, turning into the most powerful destructive cascades of threats. Most experts believe that, for the first time since the late 1980’s, a trigger for such a “domino of risks”, capable of launching destructive processes of global destruction, may become one or another armed conflict, initially local, but those that are increasingly drawn into their funnel the number of states and non-state entities. It is noted that at present, in essence, there are no well-established procedures for preventing the escalation of such armed conflicts and their escalation into a global conflict. In the third place – the technological risks: fraud or personal data or theft, which have reached «unprecedented scale». Among the most likely technological risks of the next decade, experts called large-scale cyber attacks (sixth in the top ten). They also agree that in the coming years the destructive impact of technology on non-productive sectors of the economy will only intensify: the rapid development of robotics, sensors and machine learning will crowd out the human work of the service sector. Among the trends that can aggravate global risks or change the relationship between them, experts included: aging population, changes in the role of international structures (UN, IMF, NATO), climate change, environmental degradation, middle class growth in developing economies, strengthening of nationally oriented sentiments, deepening polarization of society, etc.

Repere evolutive în raportarea de sustenabilitate. Incursiune de la Raportul Brundtland la Obiectivele de Dezvoltare Durabilă

Author(s): Tatiana Dănescu,Radu Bogdan Matei,Lavinia Constantinescu / Language(s): English,Romanian Issue: 2/2021

Sustainable development has become, at a rapid pace, outright desirable, an essential condition for all companies, and the business strategy must be based on transparency and accountability, and the information published must be the architecture of sustainable reporting. This is because the public reports of the companies generate the essential platform that reflects the performance, the social and environmental impact, as well as a subsidiary marketing function through which new customers and investors are attracted, as well as talented employees. The main objective of this research is to identify the main landmarks of the evolution of sustainability reporting in the dimension of non-financial reporting standards applied by Romanian companies. The migration trend from conventional to sustainable accounting is evident, with the latter including a variety of social and environmental issues such as: biodiversity protection, climate change, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, waste management, social inclusion disadvantaged people, respect for human rights, the fight against corruption and transparency of information.