Urbanization and Socio-Urban Developments in Prishtina in Post-Conflict period

At the beginning of the XXI century, the life started to be very dynamic in Kosovo with emphasis on large urban centers. Ruined houses started to be reconstructed, new houses were built, and small and medium enterprises were established, as well as new institutions. Thus, the migration of population simultaneously occurred from small urban centers and rural areas to large urban centers, and developments were particularly focused in Prishtina. The growth of urban population in Prishtina happened for many reasons, but I will mention the most important ones such as: Establishment of the entire central administration, public/private universities and health institutions, as well as international headquarters, the concentration of economic business, etc., which enabled better chances for education and employment. Given such a whole urban population in Prishtina, many institutions were unprepared - without urban conditions to cope with the influx of population

Socio-Economic Situation of Kosovan Migrants before and after Migration

In the 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st century, Kosovan society faced numerous social, economic, and political problems. These problems became the main cause of the high rate of migration. Many citizens, especially young people, were forced to migrate to European countries and beyond in the absence of prospects in Kosovo. Unemployed and employed people migrated in search of a better life. Migration from Kosovo continues to be high to this day. Countries like Germany began issuing work visas to Kosovans after 2005, leading many young people to migrate to Germany.To understand the situation of Kosovan migrants before and after migration, the study (N = 350) aimed to investigate the situation of unemployment, employment, and satisfaction with pre - and post-migration earnings. The results show that around 75% of Kosovan migrants were unemployed before migrating and about 50% of those who were employed had low monthly incomes (up to 200 euros), while in the host society this situation has changed positively. The results indicate that, after the migration to the host society, about 85 % of Kosovan migrants are employed, over 50% have high incomes (around 2000 euros), and about one-third have changed their post-migration occupation

COVID-19 and Quarantine: The Role and Impact of Media in Kosovo's Society

The outbreak of COVID-19 and the quarantine affected Kosovo society by highlighting the media's role and importance in informing and raising citizen's citizens in a pandemic situation. At a time like this, besides the information and citizen's awareness, this situation was accompanied by a lot of fake news, complicating the social and psychological problems of the audience/citizens, leading to fear, anxiety, and social insecurity. Many media were driven by the desire of material interests, especially the online portals, social networks, etc., offering fake or false news to the public for the sole purpose of their material gain. This study aims to research the Kosovar media's role and impact during the pandemic and quarantine time. For this research, we have used the online questionnaire (Google Form) during July and August 2020. The target group was the population over 15 (N=908) in Kosovo's entire territory. T-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and other methods were used to analyze the data. The study results show that 51% of Kosovar citizens informed about Covid-19 during the pandemic and quarantine had used social networks. More than 63.7% of citizens were heavily influenced and, on average, by fake news. Fake news and misinformation from the media in Kosovo society hurt specific society categories, especially those with lower levels of education and social and economic problems, causing fear, social anxiety, and social insecurity

Covid-19 and Quarantine: Indicators of Domestic Violence in Kosovo

Like many other countries in the world, Kosovo has faced a severe public health situation as a result of COVID-19. Kosovar society has been quarantined to protect it from the spread of Covid-19. Putting the community into quarantine has had a positive effect on stopping the spread of COVID-19; however, it has harmed domestic violence in Kosovar society, increasing the number of cases. This study aims to show the extent of violence and the causes of domestic violence in Kosovar society. The survey results show that domestic violence in Kosovo has increased (by 19.75 %) during the Covid-19 pandemic compared with the same months in the previous year (2019). The leading causes of domestic violence are stress (18.9 %), socio-economic insecurity (11.4 %), and a lack of physical space in the house/apartment (4.4 %)

SOCIOECONOMIC AND CULTURAL INTEGRATION OF KOSOVAR IMMIGRANTS IN AUSTRIA

Over the last two decades, immigration rates have increased on a global level. They have also increased in Austria, where a considerable number of immigrants are of Kosovar origin. This paper investigates the degree of their socioeconomic and cultural integration into Austrian society. The main thesis of the research was that the systemic integration of Kosovar immigrants, including participation in the labor market, housing situation, is relatively high and will be better than their social integration, such as interactions with Austrians, inclusion in social activities and associations. Specific hypotheses were developed: (1) that system integration will be higher than social integration; (2) that people with the following characteristics: (2a) differences by gender, (2b) immigrants with higher education, (2c) family situation (married immigrants with children), (2d) immigrants with a strong attachment to the religion of their native country who mostly have conservative social attitudes, will have greater difficulty integrating into Austrian society, (2e) place of living - people living in larger cities, will be better integrated, and (3) immigrants from Kosovo will be quite satisfied with their life in Austria. Two sets of empirical data are used to test these hypotheses. One was a socio-demographic description of all Kosovars living in Austria using data from official statistics. The other source is our empirical study conducted in Austria during the period August-October 2018. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 150 Kosovar immigrants aged over 15 years. The findings confirm the aforementioned hypotheses. They also show that the immigrants from Kosovo are quite satisfied with their situation in Austria; surprisingly, as much as two-thirds seem to be fully integrated in systemic terms

Challenges of Spatial Planning in Kosovo in Transition Time

Spatial planning refers to the methods used by the public sector to influence the distribution of people and items in the area, always having balanced development in space. Spatial planning for people, land, homes, where we live, learn, heal, work, have fun, public service, and all items have their place. Today, many scientific disciplines are closely related to spatial planning, and through the three main components (social, economic and environmental). In the postmodern time, spatial planning takes place at the local, regional, national, transnational level and often results in the creation of a spatial plan within the state/s. System and spatial planning practices, though vary from one place to another, they have their similarities in content, however, distinguishes the approach and techniques used. Until 2000, spatial planning in Kosovo is developed at a modest scale, concentrated only in urban areas (cities) and master plans (some regions of the country), in postmodern period (after 2000), the system and practices of spatial planning have made progress in general and especially in drafting national spatial strategies and local development strategies and urban however, there are also disadvantages. In this period, spatial planning, despite the progress, there are still many challenges that face every day and particularly local institutions and thus hinder the lives of citizens. In addition, the lack of human capacity, financial and unwillingness of policy-making and decision-making to address this issue so seriously, in the design and implementation of spatial plans, made uncontrolled developments, take shape across municipalities, causing loss of agricultural land, unplanned development, imbalance, degradation of natural and cultural values, rapid population migrations from the countryside to the city, creating urban chaos and making the citizens\u27 lives more difficult

Iseljavanje s Kosova: uzroci, šteta i korist

Migrations of population have been an integral part of the society throughout history. Countries with low levels of economic development like Kosovo are emigration countries, while immigration countries are those countries that have developed economies and social and political stability. Kosovar emigration until the beginning of the second half of the 20th century was individual migration (male workforce) headed to major industrial centres of the former Yugoslavia, whereas after the 1970s, it spread to European countries. Unfavourable economic and political situation is one of the main causes of Kosovar emigration. According to the population census (2011), approximately 30% of the general population of Kosovo live abroad. Remittances from emigration play an important role in the development of Kosovo. However, there are also negative aspects of emigration such as the loss of young population, the loss of skilled population, gender and age disbalance in the country of origin etc. By analyzing the statistical data and various studies, using analytical, historical, comparative and demographic methods, this paper aims to investigate the time periods of emigration, socio-demographic features of Kosovar emigration, emigration according to the municipalities of Kosovo, destinations of emigration, motives, losses and benefits of emigration.Povijesno gledano, migracije stanovništva su integralni dio svakog društva. Ekonomski slabo razvijene zemlje poput Kosova su zemlje iz kojih se odlazi. Zemlje jakih ekonomija te društvene i političke stabilnosti su zemlje u koje se odlazi. U prvoj polovini 20. stoljeća s Kosova je uglavnom odlazilo muško stanovništvo u potrazi za poslom i to u pravcu velikih industrijskih centara bivše Jugoslavije (individualna migracija). Nakon sedamdesetih godina prošlog stoljeća emigracija se proširila na europske zemlje. Glavni uzroci iseljavanja s Kosova ležali su u nepovoljnoj ekonomskoj i političkoj situaciji. Prema podacima popisa stanovništva iz 2011. oko 30% ukupnog stanovništva Kosova živi u inozemstvu. Novčane pošiljke emigranata igraju važnu ulogu u razvoju Kosova. Postoje, međutim, i negativni aspekti emigracije kao što su gubitak mladog stanovništva, gubitak obrazovanog stanovništva, rodni i dobni disbalans u zemlji porijekla itd. Analizom statističkih podataka i raznih studija, koristeći analitičke, povijesne, komparativne i demografske metode, ovaj rad proučava vremenske periode i socio-demografske karakteristike emigracije, iseljavanje po općinama na Kosovu, odredišta, motive, štetu i dobrobit emigracije

The challenges of conducting online inquiry-based learning among tertiary level education

Online learning has become important approach in education nowadays, that requires practical changes at all levels of education. These educational changes can be best noticed through students who have experienced three phases on learning in higher education: Pandemic era-the isolated learning from homes, hybrid learning-home combined with in-class learning, and the recent/traditional phase: all-in-class learning. As such, 159 students/future teachers participated in the study in order to see the differences regarding online learning and their attitudes towards inquiry-based learning (IBL) in English classes. The results reveal that future teachers did not have any previous experience in online learning before Covid-19 and they are not eager to learn online, however, if they have to, then inquiry is their best learning as it triggers their critical thinking and self-paced learning, especially focused in the ‘Exploration Phase’. The study concludes that inquiry-based learning via online is considered very powerful, however, teachers need to effortlessly embrace novice, ‘ad-hoc’ practical educational changes, as these current development practices require pedagogical training practices for online teaching, in line with substantive application of the online teaching toolsPeer Reviewe