Community Participation in Tourism Planning at Majete Wildlife Reserve, Malawi

This research assessed the local community's participation in protected area-based tourism planning at Majete Wildlife Reserve in Malawi. The assessment was based on the participatory planning elements from the community participation framework for protected area-based tourism planning. A qualitative research approach was applied, and both secondary and primary data sources were used. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. Results show that the reserve has a system that allows continuous local community participation in the planning process, with financial resources committed to support the process. Local people are represented by independent community-based organisations and traditional leaders during the planning processes. But the local communities have limited access to tourism information and tourism planning experts. The reserve also lacks an appropriate decision-making structure that can facilitate efficient flow of management decisions to local communities. There is need to empower local people and regard them as partners in the tourism planning processes so that they can influence decisions.

Proposals of European Citizens for Reviving the Future of Shrinking Areas

Shrinkage, depopulation and the related structural decline threaten development trajectories of more than a quarter of European territories from the present until 2050. In April 2021, the European Commission has launched the Conference on the Future of Europe to involve citizens and players beyond the traditional actors in shaping future policy agendas. The initiative consists of a wide-scale citizen engagement policy offering them a digital framework to actively contribute to the most relevant debates from April to December 2021. Given that shrinkage is a neglected theme in traditional policy arenas, this article examines the proposals of European citizens for reviving the future of shrinking areas. Through content analysis, the article highlights a limited relative presence of shrinkage in the Conference debate. Nevertheless, the results offer insights into the thematic concentration and the affinity of shrinkage with the most popular policy debates. The article also discusses the content of citizens’ ideas for the future of shrinking areas, thus offering concrete proposals that may fuel the definition of future policy agendas.

Emergence of Socio-economic Geography and Spatial Management as a Scientific Discipline in the New Classification of Science in Poland1

The aim of the article is to present the chronology of activities that led to the emergence of the discipline ‘socio-economic geography and spatial management’ in the new classification of science in Poland which has been in force since 2018. The path of emergence of the discussed discipline is analysed from the standpoint of one of the participants of this process. The article also presents positive and negative consequences of implementing this classification in the context of two different structural models of geography as a science. Among positive consequences one can mention (1) preservation of the name ‘geography’ on the list of scientific disciplines, and (2) a favourable formal and legal ‘empowerment’ of socio-economic geography in the system of the organisation and evaluation of science in Poland. Among the greatest threats one can see (1) a reduction in the importance of socio-economic geography in favour of spatial management, and (2) the organisational disintegration of some geographical communities, institutions and research units. However, there are also attempts at the reintegration of geography around two of its basic segments, i.e. physical geography and human geography. In the author's opinion, future activities should focus on the means to strengthen realistically (and not only declaratively) the position of the new discipline and its constituent subdisciplines against other scientific disciplines.

Paradigms and Paradoxes in the Metamorphosis of Ecotourism

In 2020 and 2021, the entire evolution of human society is under the sign of a paradox, of the adversity of events, coming in avalanche. The tourist evolutions themselves suffer the imprint of the paradox. These paradoxes urgently require new paradigms, the famous ‘paradigm shifts’, mentality, optics, action. The purpose of this research is to outline the main aspects of the research problem and diagnose the situation, with focus on identifying hypotheses for future descriptive or causal research as well as to explore the reasons, attitudes and values of the paradigm and paradox, which differentiate the two notions approached: testing new concepts of forecasting, a product specific to the destination under analysis and in identifying other viable, sustainable alternatives and their analysis in parallel with modelling and promoting new ideas of tourism products or services, respectively improving the existing ones. This article aims to capitalise on the paradox, already successfully applied in economics by the author of the method and in shaping and delimiting ecotourism (in particular the ecotourism from the destination Ţara Haţegului – Retezat), emphasising the role of self-contradiction of the field, through a specific type of economic reasoning, in which the rapid evolution of tourism risks are becoming its own cause of its disappearance, knowing that too much tourism kills tourism. Responsibility and the mesological spirit are the only ways to counteract the paradox phenomenon, even a paradigm in the metamorphosis of ecotourism.

Factors Behind Tourists’ Travel Motivation: The Case of the Gilan Region, Iran

This research aims to identify the pull and push factors that are effective for tourists travelling to Gilan province and classifying their motivations into key factors. Data were collected using a questionnaire. A total of 20 motives, including 11 push factors and 9 pull factors, were investigated. The sample size of the study was 390 people. For data analysis, single-sample t-test and factor analysis were used. The results showed that the average total pull motive was greater than the push motive. Motives were divided into three main factors: ‘nature-based tourism and spiritual regeneration’, ‘place dependency and the purchase of agricultural products’ and ‘lifestyle’. It should be noted that the ‘nature-based tourism and spiritual regeneration’ was found to be the most important factor for travelling to Gilan province.

Urban Shrinkage and Socio-Economic Segregation in Medium-Sized Cities: The Case of Schwerin (Germany)

Although past studies have found that processes of urban shrinkage may act as a catalyst for socio-economic segregation, these relationships remain underexplored outside the context of large cities and capitals. Moreover, cities at lower-tiers of the urban hierarchy in post-socialist Europe have been doubly excluded from the critical discourse on the socio-spatial effects of shrinkage. Hence, this article examines how shrinkage affects socio-economic segregation in the medium-sized post-socialist city of Schwerin, employing segregation indices to assess levels of spatial unevenness and location quotients to map intra-urban patterns of vulnerable population groups over time. Results indicate processes of shrinkage may exacerbate socio-economic segregation in medium-sized cities and that the spatial heterogeneity of shrinkage intersects with uneven distributions of affluence and poverty. However, suggesting that legacies of state socialism shape contemporary socio-spatial change, segregation in Schwerin is strongly conditioned by its socialist-era housing estates, which are generally characterised by the highest rates of population decline, vacancy, and vulnerable groups.

Geopolitical View of Ukraine: History of Development and Specifics of its Current Transformation

The main task of the research was to investigate and differentiate the historical stages of the formation of Ukraine's geopolitical view, based on the Ukrainian statehood history and works of key researches, which had been directly influenced by the evolution of its geopolitical consciousness and thinking. In the article, three main historical stages of Ukraine's geopolitical view formation were differentiated and the reason why the state's geopolitical view gradually transformed into the state's geopolitical interest after Ukraine attained independence was substantiated. The article includes a SWOT analysis of Ukraine's geopolitical location, based on which the state's geopolitical interests of local, regional and global levels were represented. As Ukraine is in the field of geopolitical orientation of many countries not only in Europe but also around the world, the study of the state's geopolitical view formation and current transformation is topical and can be useful for foreign researchers.

Territorial Differences in Living Standards in Uzbekistan

The concepts of ‘standard of living’, ‘quality of life’ and ‘lifestyle’ are analysed in a comparative manner. The author has made a rating assessment of the regions of the Republic in terms of living standards based on a set of 10 statistical indicators. As a result, regions of Uzbekistan with a relatively high and relatively low standard of living were identified.

Socio-Environmental Vulnerability of Water in the Estuary of the Metropolitan Region of Santos (Brazil)

Santos and São Vicente Estuarine Complex (SSEC) is a densely populated coastal area that houses the main port in Latin America and the most prominent Brazilian industrial complex. Irregular occupations in preservation areas result in a disorderly increase in population, with negative social and environmental impacts. We evaluated the average annual growth of 74 slums occurring in this area and variations in water quality from 2005 to 2018. We monitor the growth of the occupied areas and estimate their respective populations. The average annual population growth was over 6% per year (p.a.). Invasions of new areas and verticalisation of already occupied areas represent 85% of the growth seen. The monthly polluting loads exceeded 450 tonnes or 2,086,000 m3, compromising the waters and local and regional public health. We strongly recommend re-urbanising the area using the resource savings caused by water loss to reduce the risks of ecosystem degradation, damage to health and disease spread.