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• The Diversity of Knowledge Concerning Geographical Areas Based on Surveys Conducted in Institutions of Primary Education in Hungary

  217-251

  Eszter Lupfer-Juhász

  Views:

  99

  My study will discuss the Hungarian public education system, more specifically, the knowledge about and the measurement of the concept of geographical areas as they appear in the subject Hon- és népismeret [approximately: Our Homeland and Its People(s)] in the Hungarian primary education system. The cultural landscape formed by human activity is an important part of Hon- és népismeret education, which also includes knowledge of spatiality, ethnographic geographical areas and maps.

  In my research, I was interested what students taking Hon- és népismeret courses think and know about geographical areas; moreover, if they can use maps and place major Hungarian and ethnographic geographical areas (provinces) on blind maps. In my search, I have conducted a survey among students learning Hon- és népismeret in primary schools in Debrecen with the aim of measuring their knowledge of geographical areas and ethnographic geographical areas, especially related to the use of maps. So, in my study, I present all the tasks of the survey and the students’ answers. Furthermore, I describe the method used during the survey and the data processing.

• Changing Economic Strategies in the Ecsed Marsh: An Example of Renewal in Nagyecsed

  129-149

  Eszter Zoltán-Borzován

  Views:

  131

  The Ecsed Swamp was formed in the New Holocene Era in the lowest areas of Nyírség and Szatmár Plains. Besides the protective nature of the swamp, it was a significant source of livelihood for the local population – loach fish collecting (csikász), bird hunting and egg collecting (pákász) were the main occupations of the “swamp people”. The Ecsed Swamp, which once covered almost 432 km2 was drained at the end of the 19th century that caused significant changes in everyday life and farming. The inhabitants of the so-called “Loach land” (Csíkország) tried to dig up and cultivate marshy areas even before the drainage. Burning, cutting and cleaning were already known among the swamp people, since this was the only way to carry out farming activities in this area. In their frustration the swamp people effected by the drainage tried to obtain land for cultivation. They worked on the lands purchased by the Károlyi noble family. More prosperous ones also built farms on the border of the neighbouring villages, thus the process of homesteading began. In the 21st century, the cultivation of agricultural land in the area of former swamps is causing significant problems since water shortage is now characteristic towhole Europe. Reedfires in the former swamp areais a phenomenon that exists to this day. With the transformation of landscape and ways of farming and living, the need to apply different economic strategies arose, which I will discuss t in my research study with case studies from the 19th and 21st centuries.