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In this second paper, we are attempting to demonstarte the changes in the political/citizenshiprelated and cultural-historical national identity of the Hungarian ethnic minority in Vojvodina.
With the end of Yugoslavia as a country this ethnic minority became Serbian citizens. The new
leaders of Serbia had an adverse view on this ethnic minority until 2014 when the Serbian
political leaderership changed their political identity and favoured the West instead of EasternEurope.The financial aid provided by the Hungarian Government to the Hungarians living in
Vojvodina, which targeted cultural and economic development in the area, aimed to better the
life and strenghten the national identity of this ethnic minority. Those who received financial
aid developed a better outlook on life. The possibility to acquire Hungarian citizenship easily strenghtened the Hungarian national identity of this minority and contributed to population
decline. While people migrating to Hungary are primarily motivated by access to better
education, others migrate to Western Europe for work.

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The study reviews the situation of social science research in Szeklerland after 1989, describes the
institutional framework for the organization of research. Presents the most important features
of the Szekler society with a view to providing an interpretative context for the Cross-Sections
Social Science Journal. It also indicates the areas of analysis in which regional researches were
conducted, but could not be included in this study compilation.

Migration for the purpose of employment is an important social phenomenon. The following
study provides insight into the situation of labor migration in Szeklerland after the change of
regime. It outlines the most important trends that define this social process from 1990 to the
present and indicates the changes along which the different periods of labor migration can be
separated. The study discusses the changing perceptions of the connection between migration
and development. The last subchapter contains an analysis about the phenomenon of decisionmaking in the context of new lifestyle trends resulting from migration.

The new challenges of rural areas support expansion of the range of professional research and
analysis focusing on local or regional identity structures as a quality factor of development.
These new approaches are particularly important in the rural areas of the post-socialist
countries, which are in the initial stages of the recognition of the potential inherent in the
endogenous development paradigm. In Szeklerland, according to the new rural development
paradigm, place-based identity could be a potential for the sustainable development. The aim
of my paper is to present the major dimensions of the place-based identity structure in a microregion of Szeklerland.

Those development approaches that support social inclusion, exploitation of endogenous
resources and community development may be an alternative, and can offer new opportunities
for the economically and socially disadvantaged rural areas and for peripheral settlements
that have missed the mainstream of development. The new rural paradigm, and the related
regional development approaches, such as marketing-oriented settlement development, point to
a new community-based trend, where places, local communities get a more important role, the
function of local management changes and endogenous factors become the main resource. The
communication activity and positioning practice becomes more important.

The study uses previous analysis and research reports to review the evolution of adult education.
It presents the national and regional contexts, after that engages in the detailed presentation
of adult education – structures, conditions, practices and functioninig – in Harghita county.
One of the conclusions from the review of previous analysis and research reports is that the
basic practices of adult education evolved during the first two decades of transition are still
very dominant in today’s functioning of adult education. The possible current chances of adult
education are not yet exploited neither in regional policy planning nor in regional development
practice. There are further research and development tasks and opportunities in adult education.

The study presents the attitudes and behaviours of pedagogues, based on interviews with
teachers working with Roma children which constitute the quotidian educational practice. In
absence of institutional programs, infrastructural and personal conditions, the teachers need
to find solutions for the given difficulties. They become the key figures of the integration process
and hence their attitudes and approaches are determining from the point of view of Roma
children’s school efficiency. The target audience of the research are composed by pedagogues,
who teach in elementary schools in the Csiki Basin in Harghita county, where the rate of Roma
learners exceeds 25 percents. Signalling the main directions of the national policy and the
presentation of literature examining the Hungarian-Roma relationship in Szeklerland offer a
broader framework for the interpretation of the subject.