This master thesis is a contribution to the knowledge concerning settlement structures and appearances of villages in the eastern hinterland of medieval Prague. The work focuses on the microregion situated in the basin of the Rokytka stream. Based on archaeological and written sources, contemporary settlement network is reconstructed, inclusive of its transformations taking place between the 12th and 16th centuries. The core section of the thesis includes processes and interpretation of the results revealed during the rescue archaeological excavation in the territory of the deserted medieval village Babice. Considering the microregion within its wider context of Prague hinterland allows evaluating its economic potential and its relation to the High Middle Ages city.

Today over 80 million Egyptians and the majority of the country’s agricultural land are squeezed into an area the size of Stockholm county. This doesn’t have to be the case since Egypt also has an area about twice the size of Sweden covered by unutilized desert land. We have investigated how Egypt could use the endless resources of the sun and the sea water to colonize its own desert and give its citizens a chance to build a better future. Desertopia covers eight different scales, from the global (1:15 000 000) to the building construction (1:25) and uses architecture and urban design to deal with the issues of climate change, desertification, poverty and unemployment. Desertopia combines traditional vernacular building techniques with the latest climate technology to create a structure that can be used by common Egyptians to take charge of their own future. / Idag är över 80 miljoner egyptier och majoriteten av landets jordbruksmark ihopklämda på en yta motsvarande Stockholms län. Det skulle dock inte behöva vara så eftersom Egyptens landyta är dubbelt så stor som hela Sverige. En yta som dock är täckt av öken. Vi har undersökt hur Egypten skulle kunna använda de ändlösa resurserna solen och havsvattnet för att kolonisera sin egen öken och ge sina invånare chansen att bygga sig en bättre framtid. Desertopia täcker åtta olika skalor, från den globala (1:15 000 000) till den enskilda byggnadens konstruktion (1:25) och använder arkitektur och stadsbyggnad för att hantera klimatförändringen, ökenspridningen, fattigdomen och arbetslösheten. Desertopia kombinerar ökenklimatets traditionella byggnadstekniker med den senaste klimatteknologin för att skapa en struktur som kan användas av vanliga egyptier för att ta makten över sin egen framtid.

With a grant from Sida I went to Odisha, to learn about women’s local conditions and try to find out how a building could somehow ameliorate it. Through Architects Sans Frontières I got in touch with Urban and Development Resource Centre, working with upgrading slum areas. They had a budget for a new Community Centre in Nayapalli in Bhubaneswar, but no architect. The Community Centre includes a playschool, a medical centre and community meeting spaces. The building permit for this is currently with the municipality of Bhubaneswar. Today alcoholism is a major problem among the Nayapalli men. Most of them are unemployed and the young men lack alternatives. The women are the main providers for their families, working as house maids. My second proposal is a merely theoretical addition – a Launderette. It will not cure alcoholism, but it will employ a few people and give them possibility to support their families. It will relief some women from time-consuming hand wash and give them time to do something they find more interesting.  And maybe it can give some repute to the area, and make its community proud of it. / Med ett stipendium från Sida åkte jag till Odisha för att studera kvinnors situation och försöka komma på hur den kunde förbättras genom en byggnad. Genom Arkitekter utan gränser kom jag i kontakt med Urban and Development Resource Centre som arbetar med uppgradering av slumområden. De hade en budget för ett nytt Community center i Nayapalli i Bhubaneswar, men ingen arkitekt. Community centret innehåller förskola, medicinsk mottagning och möteslokaler, och bygglovet behandlas nu av kommunen. Idag är alkoholism utbrett bland männen i Nayapalli. De flesta är dessutom arbetslösa och de unga saknar alternativ. Kvinnorna försörjer familjerna. Mitt andra förslag är ett rent teoretiskt tillägg – ett tvätteri. Det kommer inte att bota alkoholism, men det kommer att kunna anställa några personer och ge dem möjlighet att försörja sina familjer. Det kommer att befria åtminstone några kvinnor från mödosam och tidskrävande handtvätt och ge dem tid att göra något de hellre vill. Och kanske kan det göra området mer känt och dess invånare stolta över det.

This study is a participatory action research (PAR) project, which means that the study is conducted with participants as co-researchers who shape the process, instead of ‘study objects’. The project revolves around sustainability in a rural setting in central Germany, but the focus of this thesis is on the process rather than the content. While PAR literature is sensitive of participants’ perspectives and power dynamics, and tends to be self-reflective, there are only few studies that focus on the researcher’s perspective. On the other hand, literature presents the need for individual and real stories of researchers, that are not ‘beautified’ by the usual way of presentation in academic research. This study was conducted in the municipality of Bad Emstal by initiating a project on rural sustainability. The methods include semi-structured interviews (with 11 actors)and unstructured interviews, as well as the analysis of secondary data, two focus groups and a researcher diary. All data was analysed through a thematic analysis, and reflected on through feedback loops with participants. The analysis shows that due to many shared experiences, the perspectives of the researcher, participants and politicians overlap a lot in the rural context. Two themes influenced the role of the researcher in this study significantly: Age and the past, as well as the rural setting. Several learnings for researchers in similar contexts are formulated based on the data gathered throughout the project. They can be summarised in three responsibilities the researcher can take over to improve their work in PAR:1. Creating a space that is open for (re-)connecting with others and trying out new structures and topics.2. Setting boundaries for themselves and facilitating a clear definition and communication of boundaries for the project.3. Supporting the community in making their efforts visible and setting realistic goals that can be reached and celebrated.Thus, it is concluded that the researcher - while having an agenda themselves - can enact their role as a change agent by being in a position of support to the community they work in.

Thesis (M. A. (Criminology and Criminal Justice)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / The rise of crime committed by young offenders in South Africa has become a major concern (Pelser 2008:1). The Mentz community – a small township situated in GaMamabolo - likewise experiences high levels of crime and violence, much of which is committed by young, unemployed offenders. Although the findings in this research are not necessarily applicable to other places in South Africa, it is the researcher’s opinion that the situation in Mentz Village is representative of many other places in this country, especially in rural areas. This study investigated crime among the youth in Mentz Village and focused on factors that contribute to crime among the youth. Qualitative methodology had been employed in this study and case studies, together with semi-structured interviews, were used to obtain information. Keywords: Youth crime, Mentz Village, unemployment, fatherlessness, quiting school, alcohol and drug abuse, police corruption, peer influence, Self confessed criminals.

Thesis (MPAM.) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / The aim of the study was to assess the implementation of accessibility of social welfare services of the Department of Social Development in Shakung Village, Limpopo province. The objectives of the study were to examine the effectiveness of the implementation on the accessibility of social welfare services by the Department of Social Development, investigate challenges of the implementation on the accessibility of social welfare services by the Department of Social Development and assess the access level that beneficiaries have on social welfare services in the Shakung Village in Limpopo province, South Africa. The study was qualitative and the researcher used a case study research design. The data was collected through the semi-structured face-to-face interview from fourteen (14) beneficiaries of social welfare services and five (05) Social workers working for the Department of Social Development at Moroke Social work Office and analysed following Creswell (1998)’s steps of analysis. The study sample size was nineteen (19) respondents which were reached through purposive sampling with non-probability used as a sub-type. The study findings indicate that the implementation on the accessibility of social welfare services is beneficial and improves their social lives of beneficiaries of social welfare services; the level of satisfaction is good concerning the response to the experiences that beneficiaries of social welfare have on the implementation of accessibility of social welfare services, the role of the Department of Social Development when addressing challenges faced by beneficiaries concerning the implementation on the accessibility of social welfare services is not fully prominent, beneficiaries travel a long distance to Moroke office approximately 20 km to access social welfare services; beneficiaries of social welfare services have no support systems while facing the challenges and social workers have limited resources while facilitating the implementation on the accessibility of social welfare services.

Thesis (M. A. (Social Work)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / The phenomenon of absent fathers continues to be one of the major social problems which affect families globally. This study has examined the experiences of adolescent boys who grow up without fathers in single-mother families in Bakenberg village in Limpopo Province. The objectives of this study were to establish the experiences of adolescent boys with absent fathers, to describe the challenges faced by adolescent boys in growing up without a father and to determine their understanding of the role and value of having a father. A qualitative approach was used for this study. This approach was complemented by the use of a descriptive phenomenological research design for its focus on lived human experiences and the meanings participants assigned to those experiences. A purposive sampling technique was used to collect data from 18 adolescent boys through face-to-face interviews and as well as focus group discussions. The data collected was analysed using the thematic analysis method. The findings of this study showed that participants regarded fathers as an important figure in their lives and their families and his absence brought about financial challenges, poor academic progress, indulgence in alcohol and smoking brought about by negative outside influences as well as lack of immediate gender role model. The study also revealed that in the absence of fathers, these boys end up being compelled to play the role of the man in their families. For the participants in this study, other male figures such as uncles and grandfathers played a vital role in as far as gender specific roles and identity development is concerned. The study encourages more research into issues that impact negatively the children in one-parent families. The study also draws attention to the necessity to discover the reasons for the disintegration of the family structure, thereby highlighting a serious national and global problem which needs to be addressed for the health and well-being of our people because families form the foundation of a country‟s citizenry.

研究の目的 : 多変量解析とGISを用いて、乳幼児を対象とする日本の予防接種率の地域差の実態を把握し、その要因を検討する。研究の背景 : 公衆衛生上の課題である予防接種率の地域差の特定と改善を目的として、多様な地域スケールからその要因を分析する研究が行われている。しかしながら、日本における既往研究では個人を対象とした研究が多く、接種率の地域差の検討や関連要因を用いた生態学的研究もほとんど行われてこなかった。研究手法 : 日本の1737の市区町村における7種類19回の予防接種を対象として、重回帰分析と市区町村―都道府県間の階層を用いたマルチレベル分析を行った。被説明変数には推計した2013年から2018年までの予防接種率を、説明変数には9つの個人要因と4つの環境要因を用いた。これらの変数の作成には国勢調査などの政府統計を用いた。予防接種率の分布図と予測モデルの残差プロットを用いて、地理的な関連要因を探索した。結果 : 一人当たり課税所得と乳幼児健診受診率は市区町村レベルで、世帯の児童数は都道府県レベルで全般的に有意な関連を示した。その他の変数は予防接種の種類や接種時期(回数)によって関連の有無が異なった。接種率は西日本で低く、大都市圏で高い傾向がみられた。残差は内陸部と接種率の偏差が大きい地域に多く見られた。考察 : 市区町村の所得格差と都道府県の世帯あたり児童数の差が、地域の接種率の格差に関連すると示唆された。また、人口減少と高齢化が進む小規模地域には接種率に関連する固有の因子が存在する可能性がある。結論 : 接種率の向上には、その地域の社会経済的状況や人口構造、地域の文脈、予防接種の種類、それらの要因の影響するスケールを踏まえた施策が求められる。 / Objective: Examining geographical variation and the factors of infant immunization coverage in Japan. Background: Incomplete vaccination coverage is one of the largest public health threats. Many interdisciplinary studies have investigated factors that might increase immunization rates or cause Vaccine Hesitancy. However, most studies in Japan have focused on individuals and few studies have considered regional disparities of vaccination coverage. Methods: We conducted a multiple regression analysis and a multilevel analysis (municipality-prefecture hierarchy) for 19 vaccinations in 1737 municipalities in Japan, during 2013-2018. The dependent variable was the estimated vaccination rate, and nine individual factors and four environmental factors were used as explanatory variables. Data were collected from publicly available sources. We used distribution maps of vaccination rates and residuals of the predictive models to explore geographical factors. Results: In general, per capita taxable income and infant health checkup rate showed generally significant positive associations at the municipal level, and the number of children in the household negative association at the prefectural level. Other factors showed various associations depending on the type and the timing of vaccines. Vaccination rates were likely to be lower in western Japan and higher in metropolitan areas. Residuals were found mostly in inland areas and areas with large deviations in vaccination rates. Discussion: These results suggested that vaccination rates were associated with regional differences in municipal income inequality and in the number of children per household in prefectures. Smaller villages with declining and aging populations might have unique factors. Conclusions: To increase vaccination coverage among infants, it requires to consider the effect size at various spatial scales, in addition to compositional and contextual effects as the socioeconomic status, demographic structure, the local contexts, and the type of vaccination. / 京都大学 / 修士 / 修士(文学) / Kyoto University / TFtmp

Evidence of large earthquakes occurring along the Pacific Northwest coast is reflected in coastal stratigraphy from Oregon to British Columbia, where there also exists an extensive archaeological record of Native American occupation. Tse-whit-zen, a large Native American village dating between 1824 and 54 cal B.P. located on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State, was excavated with exceptionally fine stratigraphic control allowing for precise comparison of natural and cultural records. Here I report on the >10,000 fish remains from one 2x2 m excavation block; this assemblage spans one earthquake event, allowing study of changes in relative taxonomic abundance through time that may coincide with earthquakes or other environmental changes. Results indicate use of a wide range of marine fish taxa including various sculpins (Cottidae), flatfish (Pleuronectiformes), herring (Clupea pallasii) and salmon (Oncorhynchusspp.). This illustrates a highly diverse diet throughout occupation, though relative abundances of more offshore taxa decrease through time in favor of some nearshore taxa, possibly indicating the presence of a coseismic event. This thesis serves as part of a pilot study for a collaborative project that is underway. This larger project addresses human response to both gradual and abrupt environmental change through the analysis of all classes of Tse-whit-zen faunal remains, which provide a link to impacts on animal populations and in turn human subsistence.

The diploma thesis deals with village settlements in the Czech Republic. First, the term village and other related terms are defined. The village is perceived from the point of view of legislation and spatial planning. The introductory part also includes a description of the historical development and structure of the villages and mentions folk architecture. The main part of the work is focused on the current state of Czech villages. There is a general analysis covering areas such as public space, public amenities, green, transport, monuments, or new development. The analysis was applied to villages located in the administrative district of the municipality with extended powers of Kroměříž and to the municipality of Rataje. Based on the findings, it evaluates villages and outlines the possibilities for their future development.