Retreat from socialism at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s conditioned significant social, economic and environmental changes for former socialist countries. Transformation from the centrally planned economy under the authoritative regime to market economy and democratic system re-structured also economies of rural areas. As a result, the conversion to capitalism constructed successful rural localities enjoying growing wealth whereas, on the other hand, other rural localities struggle with high unemployment, low incomes and following emigration of qualified people. This paper, on the example of rural space in Czechia, analyses time spatial development of number of jobs on local level and reveals main factors which have been constructing economically successful and unsuccessful rural localities in the post-socialist period. Based on this, six model responses to post-socialist economic rural restructuring are identified: globally integrated service-oriented, entrepreneurial, industrialised, post-productivist, deindustrialised and post-mining and energy-producing rural localities.

Abstrakt: Despite the decreasing importance of farming for rural economies, diversification of farming activities is still perceived by the EU as one of the sources of new jobs in rural areas. However, as authors argue, there are more efficient ways for new job generation associated with entrepreneurial rural in-migration. Such migration movement brings new entrepreneurial skills, knowledge, and creativity to rural areas. By presenting the results of our interview survey with urban newcomers to peripheral rural areas of Czechia, we would like to draw attention to this alternative and under-researched way of rural development, especially in the Central and Eastern Europe. This article analyses the contribution of entrepreneurial in-migrants to local economies and examines new ways for better incorporation of rural entrepreneurial in-migration into rural development planning.

The arrival of amenity migrants has significant impacts for many rural areas in economic, environmental and social terms. While the causes of relocation from cities to remote rural localities can be generally understood as attempts to change the way of life, the consequences of this phenomenon are relatively diverse. Perception of rural space from the migrant´s point of view stems partly from the so-called rural idyll, which shapes the image of the countryside across society, especially through media, tourism and recreation. This study aims to discover links between rural idyll and motivational factors of the Czech amenity migrants. Semi-structured interviews with the Czech amenity migrants have been used in order to uncover the social dimension of the phenomenon of rural idyll. Emphasis has been put both on the genesis of their relationship to the rural environment, but also on the consistency and differences between expectations and the reality of rural life. I identify the key role of tourism and recreation in shaping the initial perception of rural space, whereas the role of media is rather implicit. In the perception of amenity migrants, the initial image of rural space differed only slightly when the physical environment of rural space is considered but a mismatch is found between initial ideas about rural communities and their real experience after moving there.

AbstractSocio-ecological hazards are processes that − depending on the vulnerability of societal systems − may have profound adverse impacts. For this reason, the current discourse in disaster risk reduction (DRR) has been experiencing a shift toward a vulnerability-led paradigm, raising new questions about how to address (i) the complexity of vulnerabilities to multiple hazards, (ii) their cultural, dynamic, and subjective character, and (iii) the effectiveness and legitimacy of vulnerability assessments as decision-support tools. In this paper, we present a review of 707 vulnerability studies (derived from the Clarivate WoS database; 1988−2018) with a particular focus on urban settings and spatially explicit assessments in order to evaluate current efforts to meet the aforementioned issues. The reviewed studies assessed vulnerabilities to 35 hazard types that were predominantly (n=603, 85%) analysed as single hazards (mostly seismic, flood, and groundwater contamination hazards, as well as climate change), whereas only 15% (n=104) of studies focused on multiple hazards (mostly atmospheric hazards). Within the spatially explicit vulnerability studies, almost 60% used data collected by the study itself (mostly seismic hazards), while statistical and combined data were both employed in 20% of cases (mostly floods, climate change, and social and political hazards). Statistical data were found to have only limited transferability, often being generalised to be applicable in small-scale studies, while reducing the role of cultural and contextual factors. Field research data provided high-resolution information, but their acquisition is time-consuming, and therefore fixed at a local scale and single temporal stage. Underlying hazard types and suitable data sources resulting in other differences found a preference towards the specific coverage and resolution of vulnerability maps that appeared in 44% of all reviewed studies. Altogether, the differences we found indicated a division of spatially explicit vulnerability research in two major directions: (i) geological and geomorphological studies focusing on physical vulnerability, using their own data surveys at a detailed scale and lacking links to other hazards, and (ii) other studies (mostly atmospheric hazards and socialpolitical hazards) focusing on social or combined vulnerabilities, using primarily statistical or combined data at a municipal, regional, and country scale with occasional efforts to integrate multiple hazards. Finally, although cartographic representations have become a frequent component of vulnerability studies, our review found only vague rationalisations for the presentation of maps, and a lack of guidelines for the interpretation of uncertainties and the use of maps as decision-support tools.

Abstract:In Czechia, especially in the last decade, there has been an unusual expansion of regional labelling of products, experience, and services. This trend confirms the paradigmatic change in the approach to rural development, as well as the growing popularity of alternative food networks and forms of consumption. The boom of regional labelling, however, can threaten the future perspectives of regional products. Too many regional or supra-regional labels (and subsequently too many regional products) can reduce the presented uniqueness of these products and increase the danger of them becoming mainstream. The aim of this paper is to assess regional products' relational intensity to a particular region. For this purpose, a specific method for the assessment of regional products of the Ústí Region (Czechia) has been developed and applied. The resulting "regionality degree" should express the rate of traditionality of each regional product. Based on the application of this methodological approach, the paper confirms the concern of the expansion of regional labelling, even on those products whose embeddedness in the region is relatively weak. The reason for this might also be the specific economic history of the region influencing the degree of regionality of given products or, more precisely, their existence, to some extent.Key words: regional products, regional labels, regionality, Ústí Region, CzechiaAbstrakt: V Česku především v posledním desetiletí dochází k nebývalému rozmachu značení produktů, zážitků a služeb nejrůznějšími regionálními certifikáty. Celý tento trend potvrzuje paradigmatickou změnu v přístupu k rozvoji venkovských regionů, a také rostoucí popularitu alternativních potravinových sítí. Výše zmíněný trend však má i svá negativa -jenom v Česku vznikla celá řada regionálních či nadregionálních značení a s tímto kvantitativním nárůstem pozvolna zaniká prezentovaná unikátnost jednotlivých produktů a dochází k jejich mainstreamingu. Cílem tohoto článku je posouzení intenzity vazby daného produktu k regionu a jeho tradicionalitu. Pro tento účel byla vyvinuta metodika pro hodnocení regionálních produktů Ústeckého kraje, jejíž výsledkem je index regionality vyjadřující míru tradicionality regionálního produktu. Na základě aplikace navržené metodiky článek potvrzuje obavy z rozšíření regionálního značení i na ty produkty, jejichž vazba k území je relativně slabá. Důvodem pro to může být i specifická ekonomická historie kraje, která do značné míry ovlivňuje míru regionality daných produktů, resp. jejich existenci.