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Development directions of microregional spatial environments
61-64Views:294The question how economic, technological and infrastructural developments, as well as products and technologies contribute to the unity and constant strengthening of the society is still unanswered both in Europe and the whole world.
The current erosion of the society and the weakening social cohesion is a regrettable process. These phenomena are a barrier to real development processes and weaken the extension of the economic space; therefore, this negative process has to be stopped and turned into a positive direction.
For this reason, it is increasingly urgent to work out new, feasible solutions, since it has become obvious that solutions whose sole aim is to increase profit typically weaken the indispensable unity of the society, market positions, innovation processes, as well as natural and environmental harmony.
In this situation, we analysed and interpreted the disadvantaged and multiply disadvantaged microregional spatial environments, with special regard to the strategic developments that serve both the strengthening of the microsocieties of microregional spaces and the development of the economy and the extension of economic space.
The identification of disadvantaged microregional spaces is basically done by means of economic indexes, but it is also important to emphasise that these indexes can only be interpreted with social indexes, as they define the situation of the microregional space and the possible development directions together.
The constant strengthening of social unity (cohesion) and the related economic development is basically a new focal point and objective.
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Conceptions regarding sustainable agriculture – the national sustainable development strategy
42-51Views:198The task of the national sustainable development strategy is to provide a long term conception for the economy and society, so that this might function and develop in harmony with the environment. Creating the conditions for sustainable agricultural production requires the elaboration and implementation of long-term programs spanning generations. The objective is to find a compromise between the conceptions appearing in the long-term and the short-term programs.
In Hungary, several principles, conceptions and proposals have been suggested regarding sustainable agriculture. In the present study, I intend to systematize the above mentioned principles and conceptions, and compare them to the conceptions regarding agriculture in the national strategies of the EU member states. Furthermore, I examine to what extent the agricultural policy of the European Union supports the conceptions regarding agriculture in the strategies. This topic deserves special attention, as the Hungarian national sustainable development strategy is being prepared and is supposed to be finished by the end of 2005. -
Reflections on the use of subsidies received from the Agriculture and Rural Development Operational Programme and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development in the micro-region Ibrány-Nagyhalász
211-216Views:174Hungary’s accession to the European Union caused major changes in the country’s life. Rural development subsidies can be received through extensive application mechanisms. This is particularly challenging for lagging micro-regions. My study presents the lagging microregion of Ibrány-Nagyhalász, focusing on what types of organizations and upon what grounds received subsidies in the framework of the Agriculture and Rural Development Operational Programme 2004–2006 (AVOP). I focus on the same parameters when examining the measures in the third axis of the New Hungary Rural Development Programme 2007–2013 (ÚMVP), followed by a comparison between the two programmes’ effectiveness. I conclude that due to the experience collected throughout the period of AVOP, both the number and the quality of applications have risen from the year 2007. Still, due to the lack of competence, cooperation and motivation, the region's planned improvements are not yet fully met and the capabilities of the region are not yet fully exploited. For the future, even more complex and more feasible projects are needed.
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The role of animal breeding with special regard to native pigs of food supply and rural development in Laos
149-154Views:430The present paper explored the influence of breeding native pigs on livelihood conditions and the contribution of native pigs to the rural development and rural poverty reduction in the rural areas of Lao PDR. Pig production plays an important role in meat supply for both urban and rural areas of Laos. It is clear that most of the pig products in the country come from smallholder pig farms, and more than 90 percent of those products are the native pigs mostly raised by farmers in remote areas. In general, livestock production distributed between 15–18 percent to GDP, while most of animal production still remains as the traditional methods. Rural development is always the first priority of the Laos government since its independence in 1975, however, the poverty rate in rural areas remained high at 23% in 2018. It might block the development goal of the government which will lead the country out of the least development status by 2020. The food security and malnutrition in the rural or mountainous areas are considered as the majority issue that both government and several international organizations have been thriving hard to overcome, which researchers showed that more than 45% of children under 5 years of age were stunted, and 28% of them were underweight. Inspired of more than 50 % of the households in the rural areas of Laos reported they consumed chicken and pork at least one day a week. While native pigs play an important role on meat supply, it also constituted around 9–14 % of annual income of the households in rural areas. Therefore, the increase the production of pigs and poultry is one option to promote the meat supply to households in the rural areas of Laos. This paper will be a pathway to guide and identify for the final decision to what experiment will be implemented on Lao native pig in Laos (2021–2023) to complete the comparative study on reproductive physiology and reproductive management methods of Hungarian and Lao Indigenous pig breed. Which found it still needs further afford to research and improve more about native pig performance for all areas of productive and quality management.
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Tourism and sustainability in Hungary
135-143Views:206Sustainable development is a very popular conception since many years. In practice there could be many difficulties.
Economic, social and ecological systems are too complex to see all the consequences clearly. After all, sustainable criteria are indispensable for responsible planning.
Tourism is one of the world’s dynamically developing economic sectors. But according to this development, we have to confront with a lot of negative effects, like air pollution, or mass. With globalization, the opportunities for tourism increase: thanks to modern transport, places which were too far to be accessible before are now able to be reached. But there are consequences to this expansion. Unfortunately, growth e.g. in air transport causes considerable environmental damage.
In today’s fast-paced world, the sanctity of nature, a soundproof environment, clean air and rural life have become increasingly important. With the growth of demand and tourism globalized, these values can damage or disappear in a short time. So, in tourism, it is vital to project development plans with sustainable principles.
Just as other countries, in Hungary, the development of sustainable tourism is slowly becoming a priority. Fortunately, in plans for the next few years, there appear more concrete ideas on ways to make sustainable tourism grow.
In my study, I assess Hungary’s position in sustainable tourism, examining how sustainable tourism indicators fit in sustainable development indicators and how can we measure aims of sustainable tourism. -
The role of network administrative organizations in the development of social capital in inter-organizational food networks
11-20Views:230This paper is concerned with the role of network administrative organizations (NAOs) in the development of social capital in interorganizational
networks aiming at supporting their members to innovate in the food sector through interacting with one another. A multi-case study approach is used whereby three Belgian interorganizational networks are investigated i.e. Wagralim, Réseau-Club and Flanders Food.
Our study shows that there are many options available to NAOs to build social capital within the networks they are responsible for. We propose to categorize these options in three main distinct groups. First, NAOs may nurture the development of social capital within the network through creating ‘space’ boundary objects which appear, in our study, to be an absolute precondition for the development of interactions and hence creation of ties between network members. Second, NAOs may impact the development of social capital by favoring certain members – or set of members – over others due to their characteristics such as good reputation, possession of common past experiences, multidisciplinary experiences, non-conflicting goals, similarity in terms of sector of activity and/or experience level and common mindset towards information exchange. Third and finally, NAOs may foster social capital development by enhancing effective communication between members on the one hand, and between members and the NAOs’ coordination and decision bodies on the other hand, via a clear mandate, network decision making
bodies composed of members, the use of ex-post evaluations and formal governance mechanisms (e.g. legal contracts), and the selection of staff endowed with a proactive and perspective taking behavior and able to show neutrality when conflict arise. -
Development of LEADER in Hungary
37-40Views:209The development of the Hungarian LEADER programme was organised by the Institute of Rural development, Training and Consultancy under the control of the Ministry of Rural Development. Starting the programme without earlier experiences, lead to problems, but these were solved by the efficient work of the organizing institutions. The changing European economical situation makes it necessary to review and update the Local Development Strategies along with opening the programme again. This makes the programme work more effectively with every new turn. Continusing LEADER in Hungary after 2013, by using the hungarian and Western European knowledge, can bring economical and social benefits for rural areas and for the whole nation as well.
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Milestones in the development of agronomic management practices in crop production
203-209Views:282From the dawn of the history of the human race, agriculture has always been a profound activity of mankind producing food and feed as well as various plant originated materials for further processing.
Agronomy, like any other human activity, depends on the perpetual development of knowledge and technical skills, - in a modern context – science and innovation. This paper is intended to provide the reader with information regarding the main phases of the development of agricultural production from the Neolithic societies through the early Mesopotamian and Egyptian empires to the inventions of first organised learned society of Rome. The major research findings of the past two millennia including agro-chemistry, genetics and technical development are presented.
Such a review should not lead to any scientific conclusions, but rather a philosophical postulate similar to that of Jonathan Swift written some centuries ago: “And he gave it for his opinion, that whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground, where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together”.
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The role of networks and clusters in rural development
57-62Views:152The development of rural areas is a key role for the European Union and its member states as well. The rural development primarily achieved through the development of agriculture, because the main beneficiaries of the grant are the farmers. Hungary today is close to 1 million units in agriculture, but only 10% are competitive. Agriculture as an industry according to its economic characteristics needs closely managed decentralization, where the autonomy of the units remain, but there is a central governing body, which constitutes a proffesional manager function. This is a superorganization, which stay above agricultural units, called cluster.
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Development Level Analysis of the Settlements and Micro Regions of the Hungarian-Ukrainian Borderland
73-78Views:207This paper aims to make a settlement and micro region-level analysis in case of one of Hungary’s most backwater regions, the Hungarian-Ukrainian borderland. After a brief methodological and theoretical review, it creates a complex development indicator with the help of certain ratios belonging to appropriate groups. It analyzes the exceptionally heterogeneous settlement-level values with applied statistics methods and tries to determine the role of population, population density, the distance from the nearest border-crossing point and the travel time from the centre of the micro region and the county. As its main findings the followings can be mentioned: there are significant development level differences in case of the „periphery of the periphery” micro regions which depend on the number of population, population density and the travel time from the centre of the micro regions.
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The Target Areas of Regional Development, Tool and Institutional Background, its Present and Future Prospects
138-142Views:291Regional politics determines the aims of regional structures, and the tools with the institutional background on the whole necessary achieve these. Realizing the aims of regional politics is a precondition of executing the basic principles of regional development and politics. The regional institutional system for handling the decentralized financial resources has not evolved in Hungary yet. The professional institutes for preparing the programs have not been set up, and the management of execution is slowly taking shape. There are still deficiencies in the domestic application of concentration and addition principles. A number of funds are provided on a national level, that are directly or indirectly aimed at regional development. The obvious coordination among the funds is not carried out neither on a national, nor on a regional level, partly to avoid parallel consumption aims. The future of Hungarian spatial structure depends on the type of decentralization strategy the country will follow for the new resources after the accession. Total decentralization offers the most efficient solution for Hungary.
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Role of the landscape in spatial and rural development
37-41Views:196The study is going to reveal the role of landscape potential in spatial and rural development based on the analyses of scientific literature. The target area of the research is three micro regions in Hajdú-Bihar county. In addition to the analyses of scientific literature the study pays attention to the assay of local development concepts and programmes. The conclusion of the study is that the analyses of landscape changes on micro regional level are obstructed by the lack of micro regional spatial development and substantive landscape plans.
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Cultural landscape on the border: érmellék
197-200Views:208Cultural landscapes are haunting topic of the european spatial development. Cultural landscapes as cultural heritage determine the local and regional identity. The study shows the role and the significance of the cultural landscape by the help of UNESCO World Heritage Convention, the European Spatial Development Perspective and the European Landscape Convention. The article speaks about how can we maintain and develop cross border landscapes and cultural landscapes and through introducing Érmellék it would like to draw attention to the fact that landscape level planning and development of common landscape politics are one of the main interests of Hungary. That kind of politics play an important role not only in maintaining landscapes but in the regional economic development.
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Development of the reproductive tract of immature gilts
165-166Views:173Mechanisms of regulation of litter size in pigs are complex and depend on many factors, including genetic regulation and also physiological and anatomical development of the reproductive tract in gilts. Improvement of growth rate in present breed pigs raises the question as to whether, with the development of the reproductive tract, sexual maturity would also be attained.
The aim of the study was to assess the morphometric traits of reproductive tracts taken from gilts slaughtered at 100 kg body weight, i. e., just when they may become actively sexual mature.
This study was concluded on 80 prepubertal gilts of the Polish Landrace (PL) breed tested at the Pig Program Testing Station. The animals were kept in individual pens with control feeding and standard management. They were slaughtered after attaining 100 kg body weight. Immediately after slaughter, the reproductive tract was removed and carefully assessed. The morphometric estimation of the reproductive tract involved the
measurement of uterus weight with ligament, vagina-cervix length, uterine horns and oviducts length, ovaries weight, height and width. Uterus volume capacity was also determined, based on volumetric method of Kwaśnicki’s (1951) with own modification.
All pigs were divided into three groups in respect to age at slaughter: A – below 160 days (n=38), B – from 160 to 180 days (n=28) and C – above 180 days of age (n=14). The results were elaborated statistically computing the arithmetic means (x) for every traits and standard deviations (s). One-way analysis of variance ANOVA was performed. The significance of differences between age groups was estimated using Duncan’s test.
Calculations were performed with STATISTICA 8PL Software.
Obtained results are presented in the tables below. The most pronounced differences in the development of the reproductive tract are dependent on the age of gilts concerning only the uterus weight (P≤0.01) and uterus vagina-cervix length (P≤0.05). Gilts at age 160-180 days attained the full stage of reproductive tract development. Differences between the compared age groups of gilts dealing with the other morphometric traits
and ovary characteristics were statistically not significant. -
Mitigation and adaptation measures in the hungarian rural development programme
245-250Views:202In the Hungarian Rural Development Programme (RDP) climate change adaptation is addressed through the measures in Axis 1, 2, 3 and 4. Under Axis 1 farmers can receive support for farm modernisation that will help them adapt to climate change. The processing industry will also be able to use the available resources for capital expenditure on buildings and new equipment. Axis 2 and especially the soil and water package within the agrienvironmental
measure aim to support production methods, which protect soil quality and will help adaptation to climate change. Measures of Axis 3, such as basic services for the economy and rural population, village renewal and development will provide local communities the opportunity to identify actions that can be undertaken to deal with the effects of climate change. On the other hand, the extension of forest resources contributes to climate change mitigation and enhances carbon sequestration. New methods have been elaborated to the sustainable regional water management, irrigation, water regulation, defence against internal water, and soil protection established. Water management contributes to the balance of water quantity on one side, but also to mitigating the climate change on the other. -
Additional information for the interpretation of the practice of rural development in the light of the corporate relations of the Agricultural Centre, University of Debrecen in the North-Great Plain Region
65-69Views:193In the spirit of the Lisbon strategy, the European Union has set out the primary aims of innovation development and competitiveness. A potential method to reach these aims is to enhance the relation between science and practice and to apply scientific results. This is the case at the Agricultural Centre of the University of Debrecen as well, since the tighter and looser cooperations of the institution provide a scientific structure, which is now a significant prerequisite for Hungarian agro-innovation, primarily for rural development processes in the North Great Plain Region. The present study, based mostly on empirical findings, strives to analyze the field of activities in relation to rural development performed by the Agricultural Centre, University of Debrecen.
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Some context of the multifunctional agricultural and sustainable rural development
29-37Views:281The paper first negotiates the concept of multifunctionality, then the main steps of the development of the connection between agriculture and rural development are discussed. It presents the situation of a most disadvantageous sub-region that is aided by a complex program. The local rural resources are estimated by the multifunctional rural resource analysis method considering threefold function of the rural areas. It is concluded, that the land use systems and labour-intensive cropping systems have specific missions in multifunctional agriculture and rural development in the sub-region.
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Relationships of Fruit Production and Regional Development in the Northern Great Plain Region
181-187Views:262The role of retaining population in agriculture is stronger and more significant in the long run in the North Great Plain Region compared to other regions. The region has a significant processing industry along with a good basis for producing raw materials, developed food processing capicity and high quality agricultural products typical of the region. The GDP in agriculture, forestry and game management is somewhat higher than the national average.
Variety is of cardinal importance when establishing the quality of horticultural products and determining the product value. The Hungarian breeding results of apple, quince, apricot, cherry, raspberry, red and black currant are promising.
The regulation system of EU the vegetable and fruit market is based on Retail Cooperatives Producers. With the establishment of national vegetable- and fruit production and retail organizations, the market regulation, production and quality development issues of the sector can be handled and solved. Reaching EU standards in fruit production can only be achieved with up-to-date plantation systems and breed selection. A key issue in development is establishing the required financial resources for investments and updating production. In order to reach these standards, significant state subsidies and good credit conditions are needed. By solving these tasks, the sector is expected to become self-financed without government help.
The pursuit of safer production, improving quality and increasing yields require the establishment of up-to-date irrigation systems. The improvement of family farms, motivating land concentration is necessary for increasing average size of plants. Establishing the above mentioned conditions is important since the vegetable-fruit sector is of great significance in the employment of rurally based population, improving their living conditions and executing rural development programs. -
Greenhouse gas emissions and Europe 2020 strategy
241-244Views:225Common Agricultural Policy has identified three priority areas for action to protect and enhance rural heritage: (i) the preservation and development of natural farming and traditional agricultural landscapes; (ii) water management and sustainable use and (iii) dealing with climate change. Measures of Rural Development Plan in EU countries promote the development of agricultural practices for preserving the environment and safeguarding the countryside. This is achieved by targeting rural development and promoting environmental friendly, sustainable practices, like agri-environment schemes. Farmers are encouraged to continue playing a positive role in the maintenance of the countryside and the environment. Changes in total emission between 1990
and 2007 do not show any correlation with the total GHG emission. GHG emission was reduced in Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Romania, Poland, Estonia and Bulgaria, where GHG efficiency is low. -
The role of agriculture in regional development
25-30Views:723Agriculture is the leading national economic sector of Hajdú-Bihar county. The proportion of employees in this sector and the share of pro ducts produced in this region is above the country average. The contribution of agriculture to the GDP is 6.3%, as opposed to the average value of the country (3.3%). Based on their primary activity, 8% of the enterprises in the county are classified as agricultural and forestry companies, while this proportion is only 5.3% in the whole country.
Nearly three quarters (71.1%) of the sowing area is occupied by maize and other cereals, mainly wheat. This proportion is slightly more than the country average (69.2%). The proportional area of oil crops - including sunflower – and roughage is nearly the same as the country average. However, there is a significant difference in vegetable production. Due to the higher intensity of vegetable production, the area occupied by vegetables is three times the country average. 19.4% of the crop products, 23.5% of animal products and living animals, 25.8% of the income generated by production factors and 29.8% of net enterprise income of Hungary originates from the North Great Plain region.
The facilitation of creating local markets, e.g. local public food supply, satisfying the needs of food trade with local goods, the necessary awareness raising actions, secondary and higher education of experts, as well as the more specific and targeted utilisation of development resources are agricultural development tasks.
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Regional restructuring, reindustrialization and development of the higher education
173-176Views:211The development of the new economy in Hungary involves a complexity of economic and social processes. The sectoral structures and territorial location of the industy and the higher education show significant inequalities. Capital city concentration, low level of research orientation and insufficient linkages with industries are the most important barriers of the development of higher education and reindustrialization. The regional and cohesion policies need strong relations between economic restructuring and higher education development. The paper focuses on demonstrating the regional differences in these fields in southern and eastern Hungarian regions.
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Assessment of Environmental Susceptibility/Vulnerability of Soils
62-74Views:246Soils represent a considerable part of the natural resources of Hungary. Consequently, rational land use and proper soil management – to guarantee normal soil functions – are important elements of sustainable (agricultural) development, having special importance both in the national economy and in environment protection.
The main soil functions in the biosphere are as follows: conditionally renewable natural resource; reactor, transformer and integrator of the combined influences of other natural resources (solar radiation, atmosphere, surface and subsurface waters, biological resources), place of „sphere-interactions”; medium for biomass production, primary food-source of the biosphere; storage of heat, water and plant nutrients; natural filter and detoxication system, which may prevent the deeper geological formations and the subsurface waters from various pollutants; high capacity buffer medium, which may prevent or moderate the unfavourable consequences of various environmental stresses; significant gene-reservoir, an important element of biodiversity.
Society utilizes these functions in different ways (rate, method, efficiency) throughout history, depending on the given natural conditions and socio-economic circumstances. In many cases the character of the particular functions was not properly taken into consideration during the utilization of soil resources, and the misguided management resulted in their over-exploitation, decreasing efficiency of one or more soil functions, and – over a certain limit – serious environmental deterioration.
Soil resources are threatened by the following environmental stresses:
– soil degradation processes;
– extreme moisture regime;
– nutrient stresses (deficiency or toxicity);
– environmental pollution.
Environmental stresses caused by natural factors or human activities represent an increasing ecological threat to the biosphere, as well as a socio-economic risk for sustainable development, including rational land use and soil management.
The stresses are caused by the integrated impacts of various soil properties, which are the results of soil processes (mass and energy regimes, abiotic and biotic transport and transformation and their interactions) under the combined influences of soil forming factors. Consequently, the control of soil processes is a great challenge and the main task of soil science and soil management in sustainable development.
The efficient control of these processes necessitates the following consecutive steps:
• registration of facts and consequences (information on land and soil characteristics, land use, cropping pattern, applied agrotechnics, yields, with their spatial and temporal variability);
• evaluation of potential reasons (definition and quantification of soil processes, analysis of influencing factors and their mechanisms);
• assessment of the theoretical, real, rational and economic possibilities for the control of soil processes (including their risk-assessment and impact analysis);
• elaboration of efficient technologies for the „best” control alternatives (best management practice).
Scientifically based planning and implementation of sustainable land use and rational soil management to ensure desirable soil functions, without any undesirable environmental side-effects, require adequate soil information. In the last years such data were organized into a computer-based GIS soil database in Hungary, giving opportunities for the quantification, analysis, modelling and forecasting of the studied environmental stresses and for the efficient and scientifically based prevention, elimination or reduction of environmental stresses and their unfavourable ecological and economical consequences.
Special attention was paid to the assessment of various soil degradation processes, as: (1) soil erosion by water or wind; (2) soil acidification; (3) salinization and/or alkalization; (4) physical degradation (structure destruction, compaction); (5) extreme moisture regime: drought sensitivity and waterlogging hazard; (6) biological degradation; (7) unfavourable changes in the plant nutrient regime; (8) decrease of natural buffering capacity, (9) soil (and water) pollution.
The actions against undesirable environmental stresses and their unfavourable consequences are important elements of sustainable, efficient, economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sound crop production and agricultural development. These are joint tasks of the state, decision makers on various levels, the land owners, the land users and – to a certain extent – of each member of the society. -
Cluster, a potential tool for rural development
195-201Views:303There was a heavy change in the characteristics of the agriculture in the last 20 years. It become a multifunctional, sustainable, organic system, which needs strategic approach. On the problem map of the hungarian agriculture the most importatnt questions are the following: dual charachter of the land structure, to occidentalize the farm structure. To develop the rural areas we need to real markets needs adapted, competitive, local agricultural production. From the ’90s into Europe’s economic development policies integrated the clusters, this research tries to certify, that this system is viable in classic agriculture and able to dissolve the defecinces, to support the aims of rural development.
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The structure of tertiary education, training and research potential influencing factors
49-53Views:240Nowadays more and more pronounced demand for tertiary education appears as an output of the labor market and the real labor market needs coordination of intention. A necessary condition for the long-term sector strategies, conscious coordination. In Hungary – the sector management level – headed tertiary education training structure and the transformation of the institutional network. There is a close relationship between training supply and research and development potential, as an institution typically the same disciplinary education and research base continues. Based on this, we assume that the structure of the training may influence the development of the restructuring of the research and development potential as well. The institutional network reorganization (merger, liquidation, establishment of new institutions) is expected to result in a former spatial structure of tertiary education in the modification, which in itself is a training and research supply spatial rearrangement may apply. Against this background, questions have been raised as to how the objectives in the current tertiary education strategy for economic operators serving the needs of each territorial unit, how the institution fits into network transformation of economic structure and labor market needs of the regions.
In order for the Hungarian tertiary education can meet the requirement for industry standards, an essential part of the structure of industries, and the changes occurring in the economic structure, trends and industry relations in the investigation. On the other hand, we do not ignore those factors are not, which have a determining influence on the tertiary education institutions in training and R&D supply. As part of this study in tertiary education institutions will be examined possible factors influencing education, research and development demand and supply, which gets a prominent role in the economic structure of relations between the territorial dimension in the evolution of discount factors and the nature of particular sectors.
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The Assessment of Sustainable Tourism
414-421Views:251Tourism as one of the most significant sectors of the world economy plays an important role in achieving the goals of sustainable development. The fundamental conditions of sustainable development are the proper management of the environmental, social and economic impacts, as well as the well-established planning based on a detailed analysis. Measuring the changes and evaluating the results are tasks carried out by governmental and professional organizations. The first step of the assessment is defining the concept of sustainable tourism. Indicators are the most widely used set of tools for the assessment. Several international organizations have focused on elaborating the most suitable indicators for sustainable tourism development and formulating assessment models based on indicators since the beginning of the 1990s. Neither a generally accepted set of indicators nor a universally applicable assessment method has been put together until now. In the present study a few definitions of sustainable tourism are reviewed, criteria for indicator selection are listed, followed by the presentation of a sustainable tourism model. Finally a recently published assessment procedure based on the Bellagio Principles is summarized.