TITLE: CURRENT LABOUR MIGRATION TO THE CZECH REPUBLIC: THE SYNTHETIC STUDY OF INTEGRATION MODELS OF THE THIRD COUNTRY NATIONALS The aim of the thesis is to describe a process of an integration of eight groups of third country nationals in Czech society by using findings of several researches conducted in Czechia since the late nineties of the 20th century. The information about immigrants from Russia, Ukraine, China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Arabic countries and about immigrants from countries of Sub-Saharan Africa are structured in accordance with a concept of integration as a multidimensional process, suggested by Friedrich Heckmann and Wolfgang Bosswick. The work reveals a high internal diversity of researched groups in terms of a type of a residence permit which individuals possess, socioeconomic attributes, phase in a life cycle of individual, relationship of individual to the country of origin and his or her future plans about settlement in Czechia. These diversities are reflected in a number of different patterns and levels of integration of compatriots in a spatial, structural, cultural, interactive and identification dimension of integration. There is a research perspective change in the closing part of the thesis. This change is done in order to highlight those kinds of migrants'...

Role of culturally important places in reproduction of territorial identities: an example of pilgrimage sites The thesis deals with the discussion of existing effects and meanings selected pilgrimage sites in Czechia (Stara Boleslav, Svaty Kopecek u Olomouce and Filipov) in terms of shaping identity of the region, depending on the different historical development and social and cultural conditions in different areas representing two dichotomies (borderland vs. inland region, Bohemia and Moravia region). Further, a position pilgrimage sites in terms of the major pilgrimages and pilgrimage sites in the consciousness of believers and non-believers population. It was found that people can be identified with pilgrimage sites, but it's a long process which is related to the historical and socio-cultural development of the region. In the dichotomy borderland vs. inland was observed different meanings of pilgrimage sites which are reflected in identification with the territory, while in the dichotomy Bohemia vs. Moravia those meanings are not significantly different. Keywords: pilgrimage sites; regional identity; cultural heritage; Czechia

The thesis deals with the topic of corporate social responsibility emphasizing especially its spatial aspects and the impact on regional development. It aims to discover the spatial pattern of the so-called socially responsible firm activities in Czechia including the motivations for choosing this pattern, and to assess the importance of these activities for regional development. Particularly, it aims to present the concept of corporate social responsibility from a geographical point of view. The empirical research using the case of Czechia is structured into two phases. The first phase, based on an extensive research of internet-based sources and a questionnaire survey among selected corporations, explores the institutional context of corporate social responsibility in Czechia and follows the activities of particular firms including their spatial strategies. The second phase, using intensive research in two Czech micro- regions (Broumovsko and Červenokostelecko), particularly in-depth interviews with representatives of selected firms, provides deeper insight into the topic, reveals the motivations of firm behavior regarding social responsibility and sheds light upon the importance of these activities for development of the respective region. The thesis proved direct connection between geography and...

This thesis deals with the assessment of the effectiveness of selected bilateral projects of Czech official development assistance. Main purpose is to assess how well were the projects prepared and what were their results and eventual impacts. On the basis of aid effectiveness literature and manuals and handbooks for project management some main recommended principles and components of the ideal project design were specified. These principles and components were confronted with the reality of selected Czech development projects, the way these projects were design and with results they brought. These information were gathered by undertaking an own survey among projects leaders and through analysis of existing evaluation reports. In general, the design of considered projects has not been found sufficiently coherent with the recommended principles. Projects' results have not been as good as was expected. Although many of the considered principles had already been well known a long time before the evaluated projects were implemented, it has to be noted that there were no common standards formally declared in the Czechia in the time when these projects were formulated and implemented. Key words: development cooperation, aid effectiveness, project cycle management, Czechia

The thesis deals with diversification of the activities of agricultural holdings. The purpose of diversification is to keep and also create new jobs in the rural areas, keep or even increase farm income and contribute to the recovery of the villages/rural communities. It may lead to the stabilization of the rural population, increase in quality of their lives and the competitiveness of agricultural holdings. Its main objective is to analyze extend and importance of diversification in the whole Czechia and also in the model area of ORP Kralovice. It also aims to determine the influence of diversification on the rural development and employment in the rural areas. Then it intends to evaluate the importance of diversification for concrete agricultural holdings in the model area and to find out which are the most common/frequent diversification activities. At first thesis defines the concept of diversification, its typology, motives for diversification and factors, which it affects. It describes the development of minor/affiliated production and diversification activities before and after 1989 in the specific environment of Czechia. The thesis also deals with the analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of non- agricultural activities. Finally the concept of diversification is...

Since the beginning of the 1990s, Europe has been confronted with an increase of irregular migration in connexion to the collapse of the communist regimes. Today, it is estimated that there are from about 2 to 4 million irregular migrants living in the European Union. Most of them take part in local informal economies. Besides traditional immigration countries of Western Europe, the southern European countries have also become a destination region of irregular migration. Recently though, the same can be said about some post- communist European countries, namely Czechia. The dissertation focuses on irregular migration in Czechia. More specifically, it deals with irregularly working migrants in the period preceding the global economic crisis. As there is insufficient level of knowledge of the phenomenon in Czechia, the dissertation delivers empirical material regarding forms and reasons of irregular migration and structure, volume and strategies of irregularly working migrants. These characteristics are framed within the European context. Moreover, from the terminological point of view, the dissertation tries to bypass the limitations of the Czech literature and presents own terminology of the given processes and their actors. Finally, the dissertation aims to contribute to current theoretical and...

Analysis of morbidity in Czechia investigating health care provision and take-up in relation to diabetes mellitus Abstract Diabetes mellitus is a life-threatening disease which presents as hyperglycaemia or raised blood glucose. Late detection or a failure to follow treatment guidelines may lead to complications that significantly impact on the sufferer's daily life and require expensive medical treatment. The growing prevalence of this disease, which no longer only affects developed countries, therefore presents enormous risks to health care systems and society as a whole. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the geodemographic characteristics of the current diabetic population in Czechia. Particular attention will be paid to the age of diabetes sufferers, since in Czechia data on this is lacking. In pursuit of this aim the thesis makes use of anonymised data from the largest Czech health insurance company (Czech General Health Insurance). The first part of the thesis looks at diabetes mellitus as a medical condition, concentrating primarily on the basic types of the disease but also considering the potential health complications this disease causes. The theoretical part will discuss the main risk factors of developing the disease, such as genetic predisposition, age, obesity and other potential factors...

Vietnamese food stores are located all over the Czechia and are often the only option for food purchases in non-metropolitan areas. This dissertation is focused on the study of Vietnamese retail in the context of the problems of serviceability of small towns and rural settlements in the Czechia. One of the main goals of this dissertation is to verify whether Vietnamese businesses are one of the ways to save the ever-falling rural service functions. Considering that the issue of rural service provision is an extensive topic, the work only yields partial results that will need to be verified in further studies. The introductory sections analyze the processes of Vietnamese migration into our country and subsequently characterize the development of retail. The next part focuses on the operation of Vietnamese retail where structured interviews conducted within the research serve as a main source of information. The quantitative part of the research focuses on the issue of the distribution of shops, and, in the empirical part, using questionnaire the functioning of the Zásmuky retail trade with a focus on Vietnamese food stores is assessed. The analysis shows that Vietnamese food stores are one of the solutions to maintaining business in rural communities. Due to the efficiency of their operation, which...

International migration has a major impact on the economy of Moldova and its inhabitants. Nevertheless, it belongs to the poorest countries in Europe and its every third economically active inhabitant of this post-Soviet country is working abroad. These migrants send financial remittances, which consist of a part of their income or material goods to their families from target countries including Czechia. The theoretical background of this thesis is the type of remittances, namely the concept of social remittances, which in contrary to financial remittances draws attention to non-financial transfers - ideas, behaviours, identities and social capital flowing from receiving to source country communities. The concept was based on observation of development potential and impacts within the migration-development nexus paradigm. The basic qualitative research in this work examines the concept of social remittances within example of research Moldovan migrants working in Czechia with semi-structured deep interviews. Acquired authentic responses of the informants were processed by inductive analysis of qualitative data. The results have shown the existence of the potential for receiving social remittances by migrants and their transfer to Moldova due to ongoing circular migration. However, neither potential...

The Development of Spatial Differentiation of Unemployment in Czechia through the Lens of Evolutionary Geography The diploma thesis aims to analyze the development of spatial differentiation of unemployment on the municipality level in Czechia between the years 2003 and 2016. The theoretical framework is based on the evolutionary approaches in geography which emphasize the role of heredity, continuity and the local specifics in economic and social regional development. The first, extensive part of the research analyses the development of spatial differentiation of unemployment using statistical and spatial methods and identifies two adjacent localities which underwent significantly different unemployment development, specifically the Karviná and Jablunkov regions. The second, intensive part of the research discusses and evaluates possible causes of these different dynamics of unemployment development. An analysis of historical development, information gathered through semi- structured interviews as well as data confirm that the different unemployment development is caused by different population structure, different local customs, and norms stemming from different historical development. The historical heritage also influences locating of new investors who provide new job opportunities. Key words:...