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        <title>Eastern European Countryside Feed</title>
        <link>https://sciendo.com/journal/EEC</link>
        <description>Sciendo RSS Feed for Eastern European Countryside</description>
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            <title>Eastern European Countryside Feed</title>
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            <link>https://sciendo.com/journal/EEC</link>
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        <copyright>All rights reserved 2026, Nicolaus Copernicus University</copyright>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Sustainable gastronomy: a study of catering facilities-traditional farms in rural Vojvodina (R. Serbia)]]></title>
            <link>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2024.003</link>
            <guid>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2024.003</guid>
            <pubDate>Thu, 24 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[

Sustainable gastronomy is vital for the social, economic and environmental development of every economic-tourist region. It has been extensively studied, providing insights into current management practices and potential future activities concerning the gastronomic offer and heritage in the hospitality industry. Vojvodina, located in the north of the Republic of Serbia, is an important multicultural region characterised by a blend of gastronomic influences from its current inhabitants and those who have historically shaped its identity. The fertile plains, combined with its culinary heritage, have made this region one of the most significant economic-tourist areas today, attracting visitors due to its unique gastronomic offerings. This study analysed ten catering farms using a specifically designed GastroFarm Model, which incorporates defined subindicators of the environmental, social and economic dimensions. An overview of the results is presented in a ternary diagram. The study revealed a significant dominance of the economic-social dimension in the management practices of the farms studied, providing insights into aspects clearly visible to consumers (the traditional offerings and ethnic dishes.
]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Educational farms in Poland from the perspective of visual sociology]]></title>
            <link>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2024.004</link>
            <guid>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2024.004</guid>
            <pubDate>Thu, 24 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[

This article explores the use of visual materials (photographs) as tools for social understanding and methods for collecting and interpreting visual data in the sociology of rural areas. The photographs presented were taken during a nearly two-year research project titled ‘Educational Farm – An Innovative Form of Entrepreneurship in Rural Areas’, aimed at diagnosing the resources of Polish rural areas that could serve as a sustainable foundation for the development of educational farms in collaboration with educational institutions (preschools, primary and secondary schools). The photographic documentation not only reveals the specifics of education on farms but also provides a basis for discussing the future of the Polish education system, particularly in the context of educational trends such as adventure pedagogy and alternative learning methods beyond traditional school settings (outdoor learning, outdoor education).
]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Regenerative agriculture. An innovative approach towards mitigation of climate change through multi-tier learning]]></title>
            <link>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2024.006</link>
            <guid>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2024.006</guid>
            <pubDate>Thu, 24 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Tourists’ environmentally responsible behaviour: The case of ecotourism and geotourism destinations in Serbia]]></title>
            <link>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2024.005</link>
            <guid>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2024.005</guid>
            <pubDate>Thu, 24 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[

Sustainable tourism is a key strategy for nurturing tourists’ relationships with the values of protected areas, which is beneficial for conservation. Since tourism activities may potentially harm the environment, maintaining the sustainability of the destination heavily relies on tourists’ environmentally responsible behaviour (TERB). This study aims to investigate TERB in protected areas, which have been identified as exceptional and therefore require preservation and appreciation. To comprehend TERB, the conceptual framework is based on the Knowledge-Belief-Norm (KBN) theory. Data for this research were collected through a survey of tourists visiting ecotourism and geotourism destinations. The structural equation model demonstrates the linear relationship between KBN theory constructs and TERB, while TERB positively influences satisfaction and indirectly affects behavioural intentions. Geotourists and ecotourists were not distinguished from one another. Practical implications provide insights into reducing the environmental impact of tourist activities when creating effective strategies.
]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Agritourism as a new social movement: Entrepreneurship based on values]]></title>
            <link>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2024.002</link>
            <guid>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2024.002</guid>
            <pubDate>Thu, 24 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[

The issue of new social movements has predominantly been discussed in the context of urban areas. Manuel Castells underscores the significance of this field of activity for social movements. In late modern society, it appears that the city is not the only environment where new social movements can emerge; such collective activities may also take root in rural areas. The primary question addressed in the paper is whether there exists an agritourism movement in contemporary rural areas of Poland that serves as a driving force for value-based entrepreneurship. It seems that entrepreneurship within agritourism may contribute, on one hand, to the implementation of a specific set of post-materialist values, and on the other hand, may lead to the creation of an agritourism movement with characteristics akin to a new social movement, which serves as a tool for conducting entrepreneurial activities within agritourism. The empirical section of the article is based on research involving 20 agritourism farms from the Lesser Poland Voivodeship and 35 leaders of agritourism associations operating in Poland. The research aimed to test the hypothesis that an agritourism movement exists in rural areas, providing a framework for value-based economic activity.
]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Managing dissonant cultural heritage in regional and local development policy in the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship (Warmia-Masuria)]]></title>
            <link>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2024.001</link>
            <guid>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2024.001</guid>
            <pubDate>Thu, 24 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[

This article aims to analyse how cultural heritage is addressed in documents defining the objectives and directions of socio-economic development in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in light of their practical implementation. This paper seeks to determine whether and how these documents and practices acknowledge that, due to the region’s complex history, this heritage is characterised as dissonant. The analysis reveals that authorities often manage this awkwardness by remaining silent about much of its ethnic and religious provenance or by employing generic terms, obscuring its meanings. This approach reduces the level of dissonance associated with the heritage, leading to attempts to transform it into a resource in the form of tourist attractions (sites and festivals) to contribute to the region’s development, rather than engaging in discussions about its significance or remember traumas that generate social conflicts.
]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[On the Actuality of Sociological Institutionalisation. The Upheaval and Decay of Interwar Sociology in Central and Eastern Europe]]></title>
            <link>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2023.006</link>
            <guid>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2023.006</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[The Creative Economy as a Driver of Rural Development: A Case Study of Szigetköz in the Hungarian-Slovak Border Region in North-Western Hungary]]></title>
            <link>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2023.003</link>
            <guid>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2023.003</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[

Kevin Stolarick and Richard Florida (2006) argued that an agglomeration of those whose occupation is creative (or has a creative component) is responsible for regional innovation, using interaction and spillovers. Following this line of thought, this paper deals with the problem of cultural and creative industries (CCIs) in the Hungarian-Slovak cross-border area of Szigetköz, located in northwestern Hungary. In a strict sense, the aim is to explore the strengths and untapped potential of the region’s CCIs. The research methods adopted include statistical data analysis based on individual enterprises and firms and in-depth interviews (N=30). The study describes the micro-level CCI sector for the period 2015–2020, where the number of enterprises is steadily decreasing and the number of self-employed is steadily increasing. However, most of the activities of the sector are less visible (and therefore less accessible) to the wider public. It also highlights the problems and gaps in the creative economy in the Szigetköz region, falling into four main categories: localisation of the creative economy, the ‘meeting points’ of supply and demand, cooperation and communication, and the operational and management issues of the creative economy.
]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Prospects of and barriers to (further) agricultural development in Uzbekistan]]></title>
            <link>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2023.002</link>
            <guid>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2023.002</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[

Almost 30 years after gaining independence from the Soviet Union, the government of Uzbekistan has initiated significant structural reforms, including agricultural reform, which are expected to result in a transition to the free-market system and an acceleration of development, among others. The change in development direction is accompanied by great interest from global and international organisations supporting developing countries (e.g. the World Bank, European Investment Bank, European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, Japan International Cooperation Agency and Islamic Development Bank, etc.). This study discusses the causes of implementing these reforms in Uzbekistan much later than in the countries of Central Europe and the former Soviet republics and the pitfalls faced by the agricultural reforms undertaken in the past five years.
]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Agroholdings in the East German Länder: an Adaptation to Complex Organisational Environments]]></title>
            <link>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2023.001</link>
            <guid>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2023.001</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[

In recent decades, new forms of agricultural organisation have received increasing attention, in which individual agricultural enterprises are vertically or horizontally integrated into larger business networks (holdings). This paper addresses ‘agroholdings’ as an organisational pattern that is gaining importance in the East German Länder. To explain the phenomenon, we adopted the approach of new sociological institutionalism, which considers the emergence of new organisational forms as a cultural change. The theoretical assumptions of this approach are largely confirmed in regional case studies conducted in East Germany. This approach is a promising way to analyse the current structural change in agriculture.
]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[The Role of Services of General Interest in the Promotion of Spatial Justice]]></title>
            <link>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2023.004</link>
            <guid>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2023.004</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[

The concepts of social and spatial justice attempt to answer the question of how we can manage inequalities in society fairly and equitably while offering equal opportunity for all of its members. How diverse services are delivered to ensure justice in terms of availability, accessibility, price and even quality is a significant aspect of resolving this question. The principles of services of general interest (SGI) are based on a European model of society that strives for equality, social welfare, solidarity and cohesion. These ideas are also crucial for achieving social and spatial justice.
Based on the findings of case studies of the RELOCAL H2020 research project, this study shows that while local challenges related to the provision of SGI (e.g. the improvement of living conditions) can be managed to some extent, development programmes aimed at local SGI can also lead to the reproduction of social and spatial injustices, as well as hierarchical dependencies, due to procedural and distributive deficiencies. The paper argues that the roles and responsibilities of players at various spatial levels, as well as their power relations, are crucial to these processes because they link agreed-upon and intended principles to their actual implementation.
]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Behavioural Geography and Countryside: Disadvantaged and Rural Areas in the Cognitive Maps of Hungarian Secondary School Students]]></title>
            <link>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2023.005</link>
            <guid>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2023.005</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[

The present paper aims to measure the degree to which secondary schools target socio-economic and regional characteristics of disadvantaged (mainly rural) regions. Another important goal is to ascertain what other factors influence the cognitive spatial perception of secondary school students, especially concerning disadvantaged/rural areas. A significant methodological element for this is the examination of the geography curriculum as a secondary source. Regarding methods based on primary sources, a questionnaire survey reveals the general conceptual knowledge of one hundred and sixty students concerning the above issue. A section of the students involved in the investigation studies in secondary schools of a county seat and the other section in a small town. The investigation aims to encourage the implementation of goals outlined by frame curricula and in the list of prerequisites for obtaining a secondary diploma by conceptualising a methodological modification. The results confirm that the examined topic fails to gain significance in both primary and secondary education. Targeting the issue of disadvantaged areas in a separate chapter or making it a more remarkable factor among the list of prerequisites would strengthen topographical and conceptual skills. Students would be able to gain an insight into the regional characteristics of socio-economic inequalities during academic breaks by taking part in educational trips, field research or visiting disadvantaged areas.
]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[The rural linguistic landscape of Banat]]></title>
            <link>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2022.003</link>
            <guid>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2022.003</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 11 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[

While the main body of linguistic landscape (LL) research still focuses on urban areas, more recent works have broadened the scope and conceptualisation of LL to include rural spaces. However, these works almost exclusively examine the Global North or the Global South. Suspended somewhere between the Global North and the Global South, the so-called Global East, to which Southeast Europe belongs, is for the most part excluded not just from notions of globality, but also from LL studies. The aim of this paper is to redirect the focus of LL research to a rural area in the Global East, namely, the village Ečka in the Serbian Banat, a region with a specific and lengthy history of multilingualism. We hold that the typologies used for the study of urban LL cannot yield relevant results if applied to rural LL. Our study is based on data collected in 2020 and 2021 during six field trips to Ečka which resulted in more than 300 photographs containing inscriptions in different languages and scripts. Furthermore, we conducted participant observation by recording interviews and collecting walking narratives from locals in Serbian or Romanian. Our study confirmed that there is a gap between the official multiculturalism and multilingualism policy as declared and implemented by top-down agents and the gradual transition to monolingualism and monoscriptalism at the bottom-up level. Therefore, instead of the classical top-down and bottom-up distinction, we propose seeing the village space from a two-fold perspective: the synchronic LL, which mirrors the current use of languages, language prestige and language policies, and the memorial LL, which is a chronicle of the multilingualism of past generations and welcomes a diachronic perspective of LL.
]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[The importance of local community attitudes for sustainable tourism in protected areas: The case of Tikvara Nature Park, Serbia]]></title>
            <link>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2022.006</link>
            <guid>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2022.006</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 11 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[

One of the most important elements of tourism development is encouraging the participation of the local community. In order to encourage their participation, it is necessary to be aware of the attitudes of the local residents with respect to the development of tourism. The aim of this research is to determine the attitudes of the local community towards the development of sustainable tourism and ecotourism in the protected area Tikvara, along with the local residents’ level of nature protection and preservation in the Tikvara Nature Park. A survey was conducted among 301 residents and the results indicate that while good community support for sustainable tourism activities in each area captured by the survey (planning, participation, activities, and decision-making) exists, local residents’ attitudes are affected by their sociodemographic characteristics. Nonetheless, a large number of locals were happy to participate in protection programs and believed that the environment should be protected for future generations to enjoy the natural and cultural resources of this area. These findings should be considered when designing sustainable tourism management strategies, while respecting the needs and rights of the local community, as the willingness of locals to develop sustainable tourism is essential for the success of this sector.
]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[The impact of the age structure of active population on agricultural activity rate: The case study of the Timok Krajina region]]></title>
            <link>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2022.004</link>
            <guid>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2022.004</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 11 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[

As agricultural activity is primarily linked to rural areas, negative demographic trends characterising them present as one of the basic factors of size and age structure changes in the agricultural population. On the other hand, the modernisation of agricultural production, combined with various stimulating mechanisms, impacts its attractiveness, thus influencing the number and age structure of agricultural producers. Change in the overall agricultural activity rate reflects these two processes, making it suitable to be analysed by quantification of effects that produce these changes by applying Das Gupta’s decomposition method. The Timok Krajina region is chosen as a characteristic example due to the recent and relatively significant rise in the overall activity rate in agriculture, in contrast to the national level, where a constant decline in this rate is present. This research focuses on the difference that occurred in the last intercensal period (between 2002 and 2011), aiming to determine the impact of changes in the age structure of the active population that performs an occupation on the change of overall activity rate in agriculture in the Timok Krajina region. The research results depict that the changes in activity rate in agriculture in the examined period almost completely occurred under the influence of demographic factors, while other factors, marked as the rate effects, had a symbolic impact.
]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Gentrified countryside and non-gentrified countryside: Spatial dimension of the rural gentrification process]]></title>
            <link>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2022.001</link>
            <guid>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2022.001</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 11 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[

The subject of the paper is the process of rural gentrification in Poland. In Poland, this process has a special character. It began later than in the West and intensified in the last decade of the twentieth century. It resulted from two parallel processes endogenous and exogenous to the countryside. The rural middle class grew due to an increase in the level of education of the rural population (resulting from the “educational boom” after 1989) since a higher level of education entitles one to occupy a higher position in the social and professional structure. It was accompanied by the settlement of the urban middle class in rural areas. The paper identifies (based on literature and earlier own research) the features of rural gentrification in Poland. Based on them, the level of gentrification of rural communities was indicated, and in turn, the spatial extent of the rural gentrification process in Poland was defined.
]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Tourism-based development opportunities for rural areas. Example of an underdeveloped region (Siklós district)]]></title>
            <link>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2022.005</link>
            <guid>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2022.005</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 11 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[

The study aims to answer the question of how effectively cities of an underdeveloped rural area (Siklós district in Hungary) can involve the surrounding settlements in the tourism economy, thereby promoting the development of rural areas. Besides local governments and tourism organisations, our important goal is to understand the ideas of service providers and their guests related to rural development, as well as the spatial use characteristics of the latter group. The key method is the questionnaire survey, targeted at the mayors of all settlements in the district, as well as the guests of the accommodations belonging to the different product types. The primary sources are based on two further series of interviews, which explore the opinions of service providers and professional organisations. Empirical experience shows that thematic trips can play a prominent role in the development of less frequented small settlements. The essence of this is to connect by a bike route the places offering traditional crafts and local products.
]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Commemorative conference for the Golden Jubilee of the Institute of Rural and Agricultural Development of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IRWiR PAN)]]></title>
            <link>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2022.008</link>
            <guid>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2022.008</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 11 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Fifty years of rural and agricultural research. The Institute of Rural and Agricultural Development at the Polish Academy of Sciences (1971–2022)]]></title>
            <link>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2022.007</link>
            <guid>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2022.007</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 11 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[The impact of EU development policy on the governance capability of peripheral regions]]></title>
            <link>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2022.002</link>
            <guid>https://sciendo.com/article/10.12775/eec.2022.002</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 11 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[

The internal resource-based development of peripheral regions – which are still to be defined precisely and accepted universally – is a constant challenge for the European Union and the Member States, which is difficult to address in the form of a schematic recipe. An important aspect of this complex issue is the existence and success of local governance, which, based on its own internal characteristics alone, can mobilise a community, without which the chances of making further progress are bleak. Governance and the issue of peripheral regions together, at least at the EU level, are reflected in the EU’s development policy. This paper, based on the analysis of EU documents and the Hungarian local and regional experience, aims to investigate whether the European Union is able to assist peripheral regions to catch up, and if so, in what form and through what mechanisms, and what conditions and requirements-related to governance – may be necessary for successful catching up, which may at the same time lead to the success or failure of EU objectives.
]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
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