The diploma thesis describes the role of Montessori schools in a small town. In large cities, the range of educational opportunities is more varied; in a small town, Montessori schools are often the only alternative to regular primary schools. For the purpose of the research, the qualitative design of the multi-case study was chosen. Two schools participated in the research. Through in-depth interviews with five parents, four teachers and two school founders, initial expectations and their fulfillment were identified from the perspective of all groups of respondents. Parents expect a friendly and safe environment, an individual approach, and respect for the child, a cooperative environment, a stimulating way of teaching, support for the children's internal motivation, freedom and responsibility at the same time. Teachers' expectations consisted in the possibility of applying alternative ways of teaching with regard to the individuality of the pupil, respecting the approach and cooperating team. The founders wanted to create a friendly school based on the principles of Maria Montessori, which will be affordable for ordinary families and will be able to provide quality education to a wide range of children, including those with special needs. The expectations of all three groups of respondents were...

Цель исследования: выявить и проанализировать существующие стратегии продвижения города Сухой Лог и оценить их перспективность. Для её достижения были поставлены задачи: провести анализ и определение понятий продвижения территории, рассмотреть существующие направления стратегии продвижения города, провести поиск и анализ перспективных направлений стратегического развития города Сухой Лог, а также ресурсный анализ и анализ информационного пространства города. Далее, предстояла разработка критериев перспективности стратегии продвижения города, а, на основе данной оценки, разработка примерной стратегии продвижения города Сухой Лог. / The purpose of the study: to identify and analyze existing strategies for promoting the city of Sukhoi Log and evaluate their prospects. To achieve it, the tasks were set: to analyze and define the concepts of promoting the territory, to consider the existing directions of the city’s promotion strategy, to search and analyze the perspective directions of the strategic development of the city of Sukhoi Log, as well as the resource analysis and analysis of the city’s information space. Further, the development of promising criteria for the strategy of promoting the city was to be developed, and, based on this assessment, the development of an approximate strategy for promoting the city of Sukhoi Log.

Mitt projekt bemöter ett småstadstorg där flera av förutsättningarna byggts bort eller med tiden inte underhållits, och där platsen och de gamla butikerna samtidigt har svårt att hitta en ny roll i ett allt mer urbaniserat land. Torgets kvaliteter finns i olika skalor och dimensioner, därför har jag valt att hantera projektet på tre nivåer: stad, torg och byggnad. Platsen är det sk. Skvallertorget i Kisa, Östergötland, med omgivande befintliga hus och butiker från tiden 1890-1910, varav många idag är delvis stängda eller med eftersatt underhåll. Utgångspunkten är att återuppväcka den gamla torg-platsen och byggnaderna som ramar in det. Projektet handlar om att genom hänsynsfulla förändringar och tillägg kunna väcka de kvaliteter som glömts bort, och skapa nya i samma spår genom restaurering och referenser i den egna staden. Jag vill också med detta projekt väcka frågor kring omsorg, kvalitet och identitet och hur detta finns med i vår hantering av befintliga och nya byggnader. / My project deals with a small town square where many of the qualities and requirements have been deconstructed or not maintained over time, and where the square and the old stores have trouble finding its place in an increasingly urbanized country. The qualities of a town square are found in different scales and dimensions, and I have therefore decided to approach the project on three levels: town, square and building. The site is the so called Skvallertorget in Kisa, Östergötland, with its surrounding existing houses and stores from the time 1890-1910, out of which many are now partly closed and neglected. To revitalize the old town square and the buildings surrounding it was my starting point, and the project is about awakening the forgotten qualities with careful alterations and additions, and to create new in the same style through restoration and references in the town. With this project I also want to ask questions about care, quality and identity and how this is part of our way of dealing with existing and new environments and buildings.

The objective of the thesis is to verify the method of community based approach to strategic regional planning as an instrument of local development. The emphasis is put on the public participation and the consequences that result from this approach. The methodology of the thesis is based on the critical analysis of particular steps during the preparation of one particular plan - Strategic regional plan of Vodňany. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threads of community based strategic regional planning are formulated. The main hypothesis is confirmed - the community based approach to strategic planning is the proper method for designing a strategic plan in a small town, on the assumption that the political representation has a positive approach to the concept and the public is also involved and interested in the process. It is also confirmed that the strategic regional plan designed using the community based approach has greater chance to be implemented than the strategic plan designed using the expert method. Last but not least it is validated that while working out the participation project some new relations and connections are formed bewteen the participants which might cause establishing the social network that strenghten a formation of a social capital in the locality. KEY WORDS...

Résumé Our thesis deals with topic a space of a small town in Czech literature. Why the authors of various generations write about a small town, what is changing in a small / provincial town, what remains the same - these are the basic questions to answer. When creating our contribution we have used language and literature publications, dictionaries, anthologies and works of selected authors Jan Neruda, Karel Poláček, Jan Drda, Bohumil Hrabal. We have found that historical factors affect both the choice of subject and method of writing and readers' perception. In difficult periods of life writers and readers return to certainties, even idealized, which childhood time brings. The small town is presented as a space where everything has its own order, there are typical and similar characters (leaders, figurines, individuals). We can discover two faces of a small town society. The atmosphere of a small town in a specific period is made of spoken language, speech and dialogues of characters too. In our work we mentioned films based on stories of our selected authors. This thesis could be beneficial for students of secondary schools or reading audience that finds pleasure in literature with small / provincial town theme.

The title of the essay is “I associate Stockholm with career focused, that you want to become something. That you’re not satisfied with the predetermined way of life that we are in Skellefteå” and is written by Erika Lundström and Josefin Möller. The purpose of this essay is to examine how the place of residence affects the individuals identity. The study is based on ten qualitative interviews with individuals residing and growing up in two different communities called Skellefteå kommun and Stockholms kommun in Sweden. A number of theories within identity creation, from for example Bauman (2004) and Pripp (2001), are used to understand the phenomena. The results demonstrate that the respondents experience a pride in living in each community. The respondents attitudes are reflected by their place of residence and how they experiences expectations to live by the community valuations to fit in. The respondents from Stockholms kommun experienced an expectation to have an education and a growing career while the respondents from Skellefteå kommun experienced an expectation to start a family and have a stable job. Their own identity is strengthened when the respondents talks about themselves in a relation to the other community which creates a kind of power imbalance between the communities. / Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur individens identitet och självbild påverkas av bostadsorten. Studiens empiri har samlats in genom kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med tio individer uppväxta och bosatta i Stockholms kommun samt Skellefteå kommun. Ett flertal teorier om identitetsskapande, från exempelvis Bauman (2004) och Pripp (2001), har använts för att förstå fenomenet. Resultatet av studien visar hur intervjupersonerna upplever en stolthet över att bo i respektive kommun, samt att individens identitetsskapande påverkas av förväntningarna som är kopplade till platsen. Intervjupersonerna från Stockholms kommun upplevde en förväntning på att ha en utbildning och en växande karriär, medan intervjupersonerna från Skellefteå kommun upplevde en förväntning på att bilda familj tidigt samt ha ett stabilt arbete. Den egna identiteten stärktes när intervjupersonerna talade om sig själva i relation till den andra gruppen, vilket skapar en slags maktobalans mellan de två kommunerna.

<p>There are many good reasons to ponder about what it is that makes life worth living. To observe and reflect on what it is that gives a person a good quality of life is arguably the essential core of social-work. The aim of this research was to investigate how 15-year old youths interpret quality of life. The key areas that we explored in order to meet the research aims were: what did the youths interpret as a good quality of life for a 15-year old and for an adult, how did they view their own quality of life, and did they think that the regional context (i.e. if one lives in a big city or in a small town) affects how one interpret quality of life.</p><p>The studywas based on interviews with four boys and four girls. Half of the respondents lived in a suburb of Stockholm and the other half lived in a small country town. A qualitative method was used to interview the respondents individually. The results were analysed by using Brülde´s theories on quality of life. The results show that to a large extent the youths in both areas shared each others values – a loving and supportive family was deemed to be the most important factor for a good quality of life, followed by friendships and recreational-time for young people and job satisfaction for adults. However, the two groups differed in two ways.</p><p>The suburban youths declared that they experienced a lot of school-stress which the small-town youths did not experience. Also, the Stockholm respondents identified several aspects that could make their lives better. In the contrast none of the small town respondents could identify ways to improve their lives. Explanations for these differing responses are explored in the study.</p>

There are many good reasons to ponder about what it is that makes life worth living. To observe and reflect on what it is that gives a person a good quality of life is arguably the essential core of social-work. The aim of this research was to investigate how 15-year old youths interpret quality of life. The key areas that we explored in order to meet the research aims were: what did the youths interpret as a good quality of life for a 15-year old and for an adult, how did they view their own quality of life, and did they think that the regional context (i.e. if one lives in a big city or in a small town) affects how one interpret quality of life. The studywas based on interviews with four boys and four girls. Half of the respondents lived in a suburb of Stockholm and the other half lived in a small country town. A qualitative method was used to interview the respondents individually. The results were analysed by using Brülde´s theories on quality of life. The results show that to a large extent the youths in both areas shared each others values – a loving and supportive family was deemed to be the most important factor for a good quality of life, followed by friendships and recreational-time for young people and job satisfaction for adults. However, the two groups differed in two ways. The suburban youths declared that they experienced a lot of school-stress which the small-town youths did not experience. Also, the Stockholm respondents identified several aspects that could make their lives better. In the contrast none of the small town respondents could identify ways to improve their lives. Explanations for these differing responses are explored in the study.

Water is precious, particularly in South Australia, the driest State in Australia, with over 80% of its land area receiving less than 250mm of rainfall per year. Security of water supply has always played a critical role in the economic and social development of South Australia, and will continue to do so while dependency on water from the River Murray is so high and there is competition over this from states and for different uses – municipal, irrigation, industry, and the environment. The drive towards sustainable development has evolved to attenuate overconsumption of the world’s natural resources of which water is a key element. Provision of reliable water supplies to regional South Australia has always presented challenges, given the vast distances involved and the limited number of natural water sources. Despite these, a majority of South Australians enjoy the benefit of a reliable and safe water supply, adequate waste disposal system, good community health and high standard of living. A challenge remains to determine the sustainability of current major water pipe transfer systems from remote resources to small communities. There may be scope for managing existing water supplies more effectively and further developing local water harvesting and reuse solutions to minimise the need for more significant infrastructure investment. This study investigates the challenges and opportunities for extending development of non-potable (secondary) water supply schemes in South Australian towns. These schemes will conserve the State’s freshwater resources. The primary focus of this study is harnessing stormwater runoff and treated effluent generated by normal township development to supplement higher quality public water for uses such as irrigation of public areas and sporting fields in country areas. Water harvesting and reuse is not likely to occur due to some technological breakthrough but through application of known technology and the adoption of water conscious ethics by society. However, it is a sensible reality for the South Australian climate, particularly when coupled with appropriate conservation and suitable landscaping practices. Thus, the major theme of this study is information sharing since if people are familiar with and understand the concepts then more communities may be encouraged to develop their resources. Water reuse has proven to be a beneficial strategy for addressing stormwater runoff and wastewater disposal problems and alleviating localised water supply problems for several South Australian towns and communities. The existing projects demonstrate both the strong community-based and innovative approach to water resources management in this state. They are inherently simple in form, and can often be assembled with readily available materials by people with a basic understanding of plumbing and construction skills (locally available). The potential for localised water harvesting and reuse in South Australian towns is generally limited to single purpose communal non-potable systems. Further, it is likely to only be sustainable in rural communities willing to make a commitment to its long term, proper operation and maintenance, or they could endanger public health. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1283773 / Thesis (M.Eng.Sc.) - University of Adelaide, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2007

This work s purpose is to understand the spatial organization and dynamics of Frutal (MG), a small town that has been going through great economic dynamism throughout the last years and, therefore, socio-spatial changes. At first, Brazil s urbanization process is approached as well as the importance of small cities and the transformations, above all, within the ambit of centrality, that is to say, concerning the influence of the power of polarization and/or leadership from defined spaces due to their concentration of specific elements. Historically, it is presented Frutal s genesis, its development in the economic, demographic and socio-spatial areas and its insertion into regional context. At last, some analysis variables are taken into consideration, such as the county s economic activities, specially those related to agribusiness, which allowed us to understand the connection between their development and Frutal s urban and consequently, interurban dynamics. Finally, this paper helps us to understand the role of social agents in this county s socio-spatial transformations, of which reflections are also noticeable in the urban range. From this work, some tendencies are indicated to Frutal s county and its micro-region. / Este trabalho tem como objetivo compreender a organização espacial e a dinâmica de Frutal (MG), município que, nos últimos anos, tem passado por grande dinamismo econômico e, portanto, transformações socioespaciais. Inicialmente, aborda-se o processo de urbanização brasileiro, a importância das pequenas cidades e as transformações, sobretudo, no âmbito da centralidade, ou seja, da influência do poder de polarização e/ou comando de determinados espaços em função da concentração de certos elementos. É apresentada historicamente a gênese e o desenvolvimento econômico, demográfico e socioespacial de Frutal e sua inserção no contexto regional. Por fim, são consideradas algumas variáveis de análise, como as atividades econômicas do município, principalmente aquelas relacionadas ao agronegócio, que possibilitaram entender a relação entre o crescimento destas com a dinâmica do espaço urbano e, consequentemente, do espaço interurbano de Frutal. Portanto, o estudo permite entender o papel dos agentes sociais na transformação socioespacial deste município, cujos reflexos também são verificados em sua rede urbana. A partir deste trabalho são apontadas algumas tendências para o município de Frutal, bem como para a sua microrregião. / Mestre em Geografia