Recent theories from the field of industrial geography contend that region-specific, 'untraded interdependencies', including networking, conventions and rules within the business community, are important assets in enabling small, innovative firms to learn about technological and organisational development. The 'learning region' has since been adopted as a slogan for economic development and renewal, despite limited empirical analysis on the spatial dimensions of actual learning processes. The purpose of this study is to analyse how innovative firms combine sources of information in a spatial setting. Analysis from the empirical findings reveals that small, innovative firms in the case study example of the instrumentation and control sector located in the outer area of the London Metropolitan Region (LMR), predominantly rely on a few key sources of information, recombined with knowledge of information from past employment. These key sources are usually linkages with other firms, particularly customers, that transcend regional and national boundaries. The spatial dimensions of information acquisition depend on the type of information. Sources that are more important at the regional level are relatively more important to more generalised aspects of information acquisition. Underpinning these observations is the significance of the relationship between the spatial dimensions of information flows and the nature of the firms' innovation characteristics. The specific information required for technological development is spatially dispersed from the firms' home region, whereas more generalised types of information diffuse more easily from region to region. The location behaviour of the firms is nevertheless explained by the need to co-ordinate information flows. This is because transport links are important in enabling the firms to access specific information beyond the region. The availability of various sources of more generalised information in the London Metropolitan Region is still regarded as a vital support mechanism for small-scale innovation in the IC sector. The policy implications of this analysis are addressed.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Kent State University, 2006. / Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed June 19, 2007). Advisor: James A Tyner. Keywords: involuntary migration, space, gender, discourse analysis, Sardar Sarovar project, tribals. Includes bibliographical references (p. 157-171).

The study deals with application of related variety concept and other evolutionary economic geography approaches in the economic landscape of postsocialist states of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The goal was to define different types of variety and explore the relationship between these varieties and economic development in CEE countries between 1993 and 2009. The analysis is based on the theoretical and analytical framework presented in studies realized in the most developed countries of Western Europe. The important finding is that this kind of research allow to conclude that different types of variety influence the economic development, but some of the results are different from those in prior studies. The porfolio effect of unrelated variety was not confirmed. However, the results show strong evidence that related variety stimulates employment growth and usually contributes to GDP growth of CEE countries. The results also indicate, that high variety of related sectors could be crucial for future development of new industries (especially in Central Europe). Keywords: evolutionary economic geography, related and unrelated variety, economic development, Central and Eastern Europe

This paper examines the ethical aspects of teaching geography in high school. Attention is focused on valuation, which is an integral part of both teaching geography and ethics. The thesis explains the concepts of character and conscience and presents the theory of moral development of pupils according to Lawrence Kohlberg and developmental psychology. It also provides amethodology for dealing with values in geography teaching according to Lambert and Balderstone. It is divided into five main access routes. First, values inculcation, secondly, values analysis, third, moral reasoning, fourth, values clarification, and fifth, action learning. In the third chapter this thesis presents an analysis of the values contained in the School Act, the White Book, and above all in the RVP G, which is the values that are binding for secondary school education. In the chapter four, a questionnaire examines geographic topics that teachers consider ethically sensitive. The highest ethical sensitivity was found in the racial issue, migration, religion, the political order in the world, and the cutting down of tropical rainforests. Differences in the assessment of ethical sensitivity between men and women, and between teachers and students have been identified. The fifth chapter designs four geography lessons. Their...

Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-68).

Pour devenir une importante destination touristique internationale et pas seulement subsaharienne, le Kenya a besoin de lieux et de produits touristiques renouvelés offerts de manière croissante par les sites mémoriels et les musées régionaux situés dans l’ensemble du pays, mis en tourisme récemment en direction des touristes domestiques. Cette nouvelle tendance permettra de décongestionner les sites et les régions touristiques phares (parcs de Masaï Mara, de Amboseli, lac Nakuru et la côte swahili), saturés dans leur fréquentation double, à la fois celle des touristes internationaux, mais aussi celle croissante, des touristes intérieurs. Grâce à l’approche multidisciplinaire (géographie du tourisme, celle du développement et celle de la culture), appuyée par les données obtenues à travers les entretiens semi-directifs, les questionnaires, les tables rondes, l’analyse documentaire et l’observation sur le terrain, notre recherche tente de démontrer comment le patrimoine matériel et immatériel des groupes ethno-culturel du Kenya occidental peut être mis en tourisme. Notre investigation traite de la région du lac Victoria et de Bungoma, principalement sur les sites d’Abasuba Rock Art Paintings, de Kit Mikayi et de Namakanda. Les populations locales autour de ces sites développent des stratégies différenciées en fonction de leur appartenance ethnique, que nous appréhendons du point de vue de la stratégie d’acteurs et des projets de développement touristiques. / To become an important international tourism destination and not only in Subsaharan, Kenya needs renewed tourism places and products majorly consisting of memorial sites and regional museums spread throughout the country, recently developed for domestic tourists. This new initiative will decongest the major tourist sites and regions (reserve of Masai Mara, parks of Amboseli, lake Nakuru and Swahili coast), saturated due to double visitation (international and domestic tourists) Through a multidisciplinary approach (geography of tourism, cultural geography and geography of development), supported by data collected through semi-direct interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, field observation and analysis of existing literature, our research attempts show how the material and immaterial cultural heritage of the ethno-cultural groups of Western Kenya can be developed for tourism. Our investigation examines the regions of lake Victoria and Bungoma, particularly the sites of Abasuba Rock Art Paintings, Kit Mikayi and Namakanda. The host communities of these sites are developing strategies informed by their ethnic affiliation, that we study from the point of view of stakeholders’ strategy and development of tourism projects.