Field adjustments in transition economies : social transfers and the efficiency of public spending - a comparison with OECD countries

Despite a dramatic shift away from subsidies in the early years of transition, the countries of Central Europe still show signs of unsuccessful fiscal adjustment, insufficient deficit reduction, and loose spending policy. High social transfers and low efficiency of government spending remain two challenges of fiscal adjustment and long-term sustainability of budgetary policy choices. A cross-country regression analysis shows that the problems with high social-security outlays are largely the result of loose eligibility criteria (many pensions go to early retirees) under current state pay-as-you-go pension systems - and not so much to old populations or high replacement rates. The authors suggest that transition economies should strive for a real social consensus on the reform of future pension rights. The transition to a funded pension system could be financed by a combination of: government debt; proceeds from privatization; and efficiency gains from lowering and/or restructuring government spending in favor of infrastructure, retraining, and market-oriented tertiary education.Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,National Governance

Kulturna baština i uloga volonterskih udruga u procesima postizanja održivog razvoja u ruralnim zajednicama (Sažetak)

Activities relating to the discovery of local history, revival of rituals, and modification of traditional knowledge that are undertaken in local communities or associations have placed the reflection on the role and significance of heritage practices in contemporary society under scrutiny. We are becoming increasingly aware that heritage activities play an important role in the development of an innovative local economy, a creative community, and the achievement of sustainable development, but this is something that the local community must recognize. The purpose of this article is to describe the informal ways of raising awareness on the development potential of heritage activities and their uses for a higher quality of life through an analysis of the operation of associations in Slovenia that are involved in modifying traditional knowledge to create new products.Aktivnosti povezane s otkrivanjem lokalne povijesti, oživljavanjem rituala i prilagodbom tradicionalnih znanja koje provode lokalne zajednice ili udruge stavljaju pod povećalo promišljanje o ulozi i značenju baštinskih praksi u suvremenom društvu. Sve smo svjesniji kako aktivnosti kulturnog naslijeđa imaju važnu ulogu u razvoju inovativnoga lokalnog gospodarstva, kreativne zajednice i postizanju održivog razvoja, ali to je nešto što lokalna zajednica mora prepoznati. Cilj ovog rada jest opisati neformalne načine osvještavanja ljudi o razvojnom potencijalu aktivnosti kulturnog naslijeđa te njihova korištenja za postizanje bolje kvalitete života kroz analizu rada udruga u Sloveniji koje se bave prilagodbom tradicionalnih znanja u svrhu izrade novih proizvoda

Istrski begunci: Gradivo in raziskovalni nastavki

Avtorici v prispevku obravnavata v slovenski etnologiji manj raziskane istrske begunce. V prvem delu poiščeta vzroke za povojne migracije prebivalstva iz slovenske Istre, predstavita glavne naselitvene valove in pojasnita rabo termina »istrski begunci«. V nadaljevanju opišeta naseljevanje v barakarska naselja, graditev begunskih naselij v tržaškem zaledju in življenje v njih. Nato pa se osredotočita na odzive lokalnega prebivalstva ob naselitvi istrskih beguncev in na to, kako se v vsakdanjem ravnanju kaže njihova (ne)sprejetost. *** Refugees from Istria have not been frequently examined by Slovenian ethnologists. Discussed are the reasons for their emigration after the Second World War, principal waves of emigration, and the origin of the term »Istrian refugees«. The authors examine the refugees’ barrack camps, the building of refugee settlements in the hinterland of Trieste, the life in these settlements, and the reactions of the local population to the newcomers

Employing visualisation techniques and tools for educational purposes in textile studies

Modern textile and clothing manufacturers can today use the entire range of conventional CAD/CAM systems together with new computer graphics and Internet-based technologies in order to strengthen their position on the market, building a completely new electronic-business offer. Graphical presentation of textile products and processing, or visualisation, presents a promising technology that can be treated as a potential enrichment of conventional computer aided technologies used today by the majority of advanced producers of textile fabrics, clothing, and other textile products. The article presents the results of research on designing computer software for visualising the fabric dyeing process. The program package produced enables the effective visualisation of two fabric dyeing processes: a Pad-Batch machine line for dyeing flat textiles in open-width state, and an HT overflow dyeing machine for fabric dyeing in rope form. Graphical applications of both dyeing processes can be used for both industrial and educational purposes. In this article, we focus more on presenting the program structure and functionalities for using the software to support the education of textile students

The effect of pretreatment on the environment and dyeing properties of a selected cotton knitted fabric

The current preparation of cotton knitted fabric prior to dyeing mainly involves a combined process consisting of scouring and peroxide bleaching. In this research two pre-treatment procedures, i.e. combined alkaline scouring/bleaching and enzymatic scouring/bleaching, were compared and their effects evaluated regarding environmental impact, whiteness and dyeing properties. Different pre-treated samples of cotton knitted fabrics were subsequently dyed with a chosen set of bifunctional reactive Cibacron LS dyes.The results obtained indicate that combined pre-treatment by enzymatic scouring/bleaching can be regarded as a good alternative to alkaline scouring/bleaching since it results in lower pollution of waste-water, lower SAK value after dyeing, washing and soaping, and consequently lower hydrolysation of dyestuff. Furthermore, added advantages are that it produces similar whiteness, similar dye exhaustion and, with the exception of black dyestuff, comparable dyeing results

Luxury food tour: Perspectives and dilemmas on the "luxurification" of local culture in tourism product

This paper focuses on the Kras/Carso Food Tour to present the challenges of developing a luxury tourism product. The tour's design followed the current strategy of the Slovenian Tourist Board, which defines specific criteria for a luxury experience. Contextualized by the experiential trends in tourism, the paper juxtaposes the bottom-up and top-down perspectives on luxury experiences. The authors argue that mediation by experts familiar with academic discourses and local culture is beneficial for the development of a successful tourism product. The study contributes to the debates on luxury tourism, which have neglected bottom-up perceptions in tourist discourse and overlooked the dilemmas people face when "luxurifying" their traditions and heritage practices

Remote deformation measurement

The thesis presents the project of a deformation measurement from a distance of a subway tunnel in Munich. It describes the installation of the equipment in the tunnel itself, the hardware and software that was used, the course of the project and its results. The results are described and there is also an accuracy analysis of the measurements. Also described is the method of the measurement from a distance. And in the end, there are other similar projects which use a similar method briefly described

Skupnosti prakse kot metodologija za razvijanje inovacij v izobraževanju odraslih za trajnostni razvoj

In this article, we present findings on the characteristics of community of practice appearing in sustainable education in reference to preserving natural and cultural heritage. Our research originated in the poststructuralist theory of practice and in concepts of social learning. Freire’s learning theory was the basis for establishing the thesis that critical awareness is necessary for sustainable innovation. The empirical section of our research is based on an ethnographical collection of data in three different environments. We analysed cases of connected learning and activities, based both in local community and participants’ needs. All three cases join learning with innovative practices that develop social and environmental well-being. Our results reveal that innovative practices develop in connection with transformative learning: the dialogical linking of scientific and local behaviour and the identity of participants.Članek prinaša ugotovitve o značilnostih skupnosti prakse pri izobraževanju za trajnostni razvoj v povezavi z ohranjanjem naravne in kulturne dediščine. Raziskava se je opirala na poststrukturalistično teorijo prakse in koncepte socialnega učenja. Izhajajoč iz Freirove teorije učenja, je bila postavljena teza, da je za inovacije v trajnostnem razvoju potrebno kritično ozaveščanje. Empirični del raziskave sloni na etnografskem zbiranju podatkov v treh okoljih. Analizirani so primeri povezovanja učenja in delovanja, ki izhajajo iz lokalne skupnosti in potreb udeležencev. V vseh treh primerih se učenje povezuje z inovativnimi praksami, ki razvijajo družbeno in okoljsko blagostanje. Rezultati kažejo, da se inovativne prakse razvijajo v povezavi s transformativnim učenjem, dialoškim povezovanjem znanstvenega in lokalnega vedenja ter identitete vključenih