The thesis deals with economic and social cohesion of the European Union. It describes historical development and current programming period including operational programmes, their goals and priorities. The main objective of the thesis is, based on the analysis of strategic documents of cohesion regions of Central Bohemia and Central Moravia, to evaluace the capability of drawing financial means from EU structural funds.

The aim of the diploma thesis is to analyse European policy of economic and social cohesion in the southern states of the European Union. The import of regional policy consists in the strengthening of cohesion through the diminution of existing differences in socioeconomic level between EU member states and theirs regions. Significantly high budget item assigned to the regional policy on the European level affirms its importance. States of the southern Europe (Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece) gained long-standing experience in the implementation of the cohesion policy, therefore they are suitable for the evaluation of the effectiveness. The thesis seeks to deliver potential recommendations for the effectiveness improvement on the national as well as on the European level.

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Previous research highlights social cohesion and task cohesion, the individual attraction to the group and group interaction is widely debated. Much of the previous research is quantitative and conducted in mens sport. The purpose of the study is to gather information about young female team athletes and their attitude towards cohesion. The purpose is to explore the experiences of cohesion and also search which factors that the individuals experience as crucial to social cohesion and task cohesion in female team sports. The underlying theoretical framework of this study is based on a conceptual model developed by Carron et al. (1985). The study was based on eight interviews done on participants between 18 and 30 years. The interviews were conducted using a self-designed instrument that was created with inspiration from the validated Group Environment Questionnaire. The collected material was analyzed with a content analysis. The result reveals that female team athletes perceived cohesion as an important factor. A lot of attention was aimed at social cohesion and the participants need of inherency. But the participants emphasize that without task cohesion will group goals and purpose be absent. / Tidigare forskning belyser social sammanhållning och uppgiftsorienterad sammanhållning, där individens attraktion till gruppen och gruppinteraktion är omdebatterat. Mycket av den tidigare forskningen är kvantitativ och utförd inom herridrotten. Syftet med studien är att samla information kring unga damlags-idrottares upplevelser till sammanhållning samt undersöka faktorer som individen upplever avgörande för social sammanhållning och uppgiftsorienterad sammanhållning i lagidrott. Det teoretiska ramverk som ligger till grund för arbetet är en begreppsmodell utvecklad av Carron et al. (1985). Under studien genomfördes åtta intervjuer där deltagarna var mellan 18 och 30 år. Intervjuerna utfördes med hjälp av ett egendesignat frågeformulär som skapades med inspiration från mätinstrument Group Environment Questionnaire. Det insamlade materialet analyserades utifrån en innehållsanalys. I resultatet framkommer det att damlags-idrottare upplever sammanhållning som en viktig faktor. Mycket uppmärksamhet riktades mot social sammanhållning och deltagarnas behov av tillhörighet. Deltagarna poängterar dock att utan uppgiftsorienterad sammanhållning saknar gruppen mål och syfte.

The thesis presents a brand new concept of recurrent real estate tax in the Czech Republic. The object of the tax is designed to be exclusively land and apartments and non-residential premises. Buildings or any other aboveground or underground structures are not the object of taxation. Unlike buildings, land and apartments and non-residential premises can be appraised with sufficient accuracy only considering their quantity and location, hence by simply multiplying their areas and unit prices common in a given place and time. Consequently, the real estate tax can be designed on an ad valorem basis in order to differentiate between the tax liability of most lucrative, less lucrative and least lucrative property owners. As a result, tax collection can be substantially increased and a still marginal local tax can become a significant source of funds to the state treasury. At the same time, the increased recurrent tax on immovable property allows to abolish the economically questionable one-off tax in the Czech Republic, which is nowadays levied on the transfer of immovable property. The land tax is imposed on all land in the territory of the Country, with the exception of land built by apartment buildings and land used exclusively with them. The tax on apartments and non- residential premises falls on the...

The process of residential suburbanization, frequently in form of urban sprawl, takes place in the developed countries since mid 18th century. On the other hand, in the Czech Republic it is relatively new phenomenon, heavily appearing since 90s of the 20th century. Although many previous studies were focused on newly built suburbs, all of them took place in the surroundings of the biggest Czech cities. In the first part of the thesis the author sums up historical development of suburbanization's forms (by analyzing the available documents) and focuses especially on modern suburbanization processes in the Great Britain, USA and the Czech Republic, consequences of suburbanization in form of urban sprawl and effect on existence and function of communities in new suburbs. The author then uses a case study approach to study Velebov village (which is the target of suburbanization from Karlovy Vary) and, while using methods of analysis of the documents, qualitative and quantitative interviewing of residents, focuses on composition of inhabitants, social contacts and overall social cohesion within the village. Research findings mostly support results of previous studies and thus imply universality of suburbanization process within the Czech Republic. Composition of new inhabitants is quite different from...

News reports in relation to criminality are often considered a trustworthy and factual source of information. However, media consumers often disregard the discourses within the content they consume as well as the power structures it reproduces. News criminality discourses, in particular, are expressions of power that contextualize and shape identity configurations as well as social relations. It is these discourses that reproduce patterns of inequality in a trickle-down manner. Following a period of mass immigration, the Swedish crime and criminality discourse has blended with the immigration discourse in news articles with ethnonationalist undertones. With the purpose to identify the descriptions of different entities and agents depicted in the crime and criminality discourse and the relationships the press establishes between these groups, this thesis applies elements from Critical Discourse Analysis to analyze 72 newspaper articles (36 from Aftonbladet and 36 from Expressen). This analysis highlights the presence of a spectrum of righteousness by which the press places European identities on the right end of the spectrum opposite to nonwestern immigrant identities. Such discourses elevate European identities and legitimize intolerant attitudes which limit newcomers’ access to resources and opportunities for upward social mobility. Additionally, this analysis relates previous findings to the Swedish context and presents possible implications that the blending of these discourses has had on the integration process and social cohesion overall.

Background: Urban green spaces (UGS) have been shown to benefit both social cohesion and health outcomes. A new framework by Jennings and Bamkole (2019) suggests that social cohesion might act as a social determinant of health mediating the health benefits provided by UGS. Aim: To investigate associations between UGS, social cohesion, and self-rated health (SRH) in Swedish adults. Methods: A cross-sectional survey for adults living in Västerås (n=106) was conducted. Questions about UGS covered type, visit frequency, proximity, time spent, and UGS quality. Social cohesion was measured using a 13-item scale developed by de Vries et al. (2013). SRH was assessed with one Likert-scale item. Results: A t-test showed that forests were associated with higher social cohesion (M=46.44, SD=8.25) compared to parks (M=42.34, SD=6.56; p=.006), while logistic regressions revealed higher social cohesion was associated with better SRH when adjusted for age (OR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.03 - 1.18, p = .008). No relationships between UGS and SRH were identified, and social cohesion did not affect that relationship further. Discussion: The small sample size, convenience sampling, and limited assessment of possible confounders have to be considered. Conclusion: The results from this study partially support Jennings and Bamkole’s (2019) framework, indicating its merits and confirming the need to investigate social cohesion as a central factor in the relationship between UGS and health outcomes further.

This dissertation examines how the chaotic social space of post-civil war England inspired new ideas of the ideal social structure and its ability to create social and political stability. Focusing on three non-fiction prose tracts, Margaret Cavendish’s Worlds Olio (1655), Thomas Traherne’s Christian Ethicks (1675), and Gerrard Winstanley’s Law of Freedom (1652), I use the concept of “space-making,” or “how texts aided readers in producing the space in which they understood humanity to be living” (Sauter 47), to engage three distinct perspectives on social cohesion. I situate my study within the larger context of the scientific revolution, and what Michael Sauter calls the “spatial reformation,” whereby humanist thinkers embraced Euclidean geometry to “make” space in a manner akin to God. I argue that, through their writing, Cavendish, Traherne, and Winstanley structure theoretical space to control, guide, or influence how social beings relate to one another and to the state. In doing so they make social space heterogeneous. The authors create theoretical spaces in which alternatives to England’s social structure are outlined. These alternatives reflect the subjectivity and interests of the space-maker, and while each author wishes to establish social cohesion in post-civil war England, the spaces they create reveal unique perspectives on social responsibility, free will, and self-preservation, leading readers to question the benefits and drawbacks of social cohesion. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This dissertation examines three works of non-fiction prose by Margaret Cavendish, Thomas Traherne, and Gerrard Winstanley, all of whom were seventeenth-century writers. I examine the ways that social structure in post-civil war England in fact rejects the geometric premise popular among canonical natural philosophers that all space (including the spaces we inhabit as human beings) was homogeneous. Instead, I argue that homogeneous space is oppressive in a social context, while also acknowledging that heterogeneous social spaces (spaces that are divided and have distinct "parts") also tended to limit the free will of social actors, particularly those in the lower classes. I examine themes related to free will, self-interest, and subjectivity, specifically with respect to how these themes can both create or detract from social cohesion.

Social sustainability and sustainable communities are strongly linked to the concepts of social cohesion and social capital. Social capital arises through social networks, active citizenship, community volunteerism and taking part in social networks, which may be family, friends or associations. Through a high level of social capital, social cohesion can be fostered in communities. This is the aim of current urban policies, as cities nowadays struggle with high degrees of social segregation, fragmentation and polarisation. In an urban context these problems become visible through deprived neighborhoods, which are physically and socially isolated from the urban core. This phenomenon often goes hand in hand with ethnic segregation. These problems also emerge in Scandinavian cities, like the city of Malmö in southern Sweden. This paper will thus show what kind of policies are undertaken by the municipality to face social exclusion and to support active citizenship in the neighborhoods. This will be demonstrated with the aid of the case of the neighborhoods of Holma and Kroksbäck in the southern fringe of Malmö. In these neighborhoods, dominated by immigrants from the Middle East, former Yugoslavia and Albania, the level of trust is low and social capital is eroded. Ethnic associations thereby play an important role as the voice of local residents in collaboration with the municipality. Some examples of successfully facilitated actions by citizens’ participation in urban development by local residents- and barriers which occur will be analyzed.