Local Community, Development Management and Transition

The paper deals with development management in a transition country (Croatian case) and focuses on preparation of strategic development documents on regional and local level. Socialist legacy obvious in still existing formal approach to preparation and adoption of development documents is discussed first. Inadequacies of such a practice are observed and analysed including the gap between strategic document production and actual decision making. A participative, goal oriented methodology for preparing development documents is proposed next. Preparation steps are listed on the basis of common methodology required by European Union structural funds. Adjustments necessary to make the methodology applicable in the Croatian socio-economic environment are derived from various case studies. Main steps are described and explained as follows: i) estimation of readiness of potential beneficiaries, ii) kick-off seminar, iii) establishment of development councils and development teams, iv) SWOT analysis, v) participative identification of problems, goals and measures, vi) drafting the programme, vii) harmonisation with political programmes, current development programs and plans and the budget, viii) public hearing, ix) drafting the action plan, x) formal adoption and xi) monitoring and evaluation. Implementation problems are discussed in the remainder. Main observed barriers to a sound programme based local development management are: lack of participation in strategic decision making, lack of institutional considerations in programme preparation, inappropriate management capacity of local governments and, before all, lack of political will to base development management on appropriate documentation. The paper concludes with policy recommendation.

Tracking patterns of body mass index and triceps skinfold thickness from childhood to young adulthood: a 12-year prospective cohort study in Slovenia

OBJECTIVE: To examine tracking patterns of body mass index (BMI), triceps skinfold thickness (TSF), height and weight from childhood to young adulthood in a rapidly developing society.DESIGN: Prospective 12-year cohort study of the Slovenian children, born during 1990-1991.SUBJECTS: A subsample of 4 833 Slovenian children from the 1990-1991 national cohort (n = 21 777) who were included in the SLOFIT monitoring system from 1997 to 2008, with complete data at age 7 and 18 y.MEASUREMENTS: Height, weight and TSF were measured at ages 7, 11, 14 and 18 y. The IOTF BMI cutoff points were used to identify overweight and obesity. RESULTS: Height, weight, and BMI at age 18 y were well predicted from childhood and grew more predictable with age, while TSF was not. Obese and overweight children had the greatest risk of becoming overweight or obese young adults, since tracking of overweight and obesity showed that 53.9% of overweight and 77.7% of obese 7-y old males remained overweight or obese at age 18 y in comparison with 32.1% of overweight and 62% of obese 7-y old females. History of obese 18-y olds showed that 40% of males and 48.6% of females had been obese already at age 7 y. CONCLUSION: The study confirmed the tracking of BMI from childhood to young adulthood. Overweight or obese Slovenian children are very likely to become overweight or obese adolescents and young adults, which calls for the need of early prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity

Small Islands and Large Scale Spatial Development Patterns - Story of the Croatian Island of Unije

The paper deals with impacts of large scale patterns of socio-economic development on small island communities and their economies. The Croatian island of Unije (17 km2, 100 islanders) is chosen as a representative case due to its relatively rich resources and turbulent economic and social history. The paper describes the island's ecosystem, resources, population and built environment and analyses ups and downs that the island experienced in last two centuries. The inability of usual analytical methods to capture features of small economies and communities is observed and discussed. The main external economic factors of changes of the Unije community have been the fishing industry with its dynamic spatial pattern and the tourist industry which has been the main activity on the island in the last 40 years. Other factors have been changes in the geo-political environment and general socialist development policies. Development of both industries and corresponding state policies are discussed in order to reveal the inability of policy makers to take into account insular development specificities. Policy failure to take into account different effects that the same measure may have in different parts of the territory in which it is applied is also discussed. In the remainder, decentralisation of development management and bottom-up top down policy mix are proposed and elaborated as solutions for existing policy failures.

Pro-Active Regional Development Policy - the Croatian Case

The paper deals with existing regional development discrepancies in Croatia and discusses possibilities of initiating dormant development potentials and closing development gaps. Bottom up policy approach is analysed in view of Croatian specific regional features that call for careful design of a specific bottom up ? top down policy. Such a policy requires efficient communication between national and local government levels, coordinated design of regional and structural measures, capacity building of local self-government structures and thorough development programming. Qualitative development factors like institutions, political environment and social capital are attached a particular importance. Almost totally neglected today these factors deserve a special attention in future Croatian development policy formation. Monitoring and evaluation of policy measures appear equally neglected and deserve a special attention as well. At the end, a pro-active regional policy is scoped and particular measures and projects proposed.

The role of salience in newspaper advertisments with a view to their development as a genre

The paper presents an analysis of newspaper advertisements in the Slovene newspapers Edinost (1876-1928) and Slovenski narod (1866-1945) in order to investigate the role of salience in these adverts. The analysis is discussed within the grammar of visual design (Kress & van Leeuwen 2005 [1996]), the theory of culturally popular patterns of text organisation (Hoez 2001), as well as pragmatics and discourse analysis (Kunst Gnamuš 1984, Bešter 1992, Kranjc 1998, Schiffrin 1996 [1987], Verschueren 2000, Cook 2001). It is a detail of a study (Starc 2007) that aims to determine the constants in the development of the adverts\u27 structure, the use of semiotic codes and their functions in the discourse of advertisements through time. The data of the study show two constants: the changing layout of adverts and the organisation of the text, which follow either the Problem-Solution or the Desire Arousal- Fulfilment pattern of the text. In the older adverts, salience is achieved by typography, empty space, pictorial and cohesive sources. It is also concluded that salience has a significant role in the development of adverts as a genrenot only does it help to attract readers\u27 attention, it also construes meaning and affects text structure

Upravljanje razvojem otoka: hrvatski slučaj

Managing Croatian islands development - the subject-matter of this paper- is a highly important issue since 1,246 Croatian islands make the second largest archipelago in the Medite rranean. Not more than 110,000 islanders inhabit not more than 40 islands. The population peak was reached in 1921, and then followed the decades of slow or less slow decrease. Since the 1981 tili the end of the 2oth centwy the Croatian islands population has rapidly decreased. Being based on the natural environment, the island economy is generally simple, its structure apparently primitive compared with the mainland. To the present day there are whole areas of economic activity missing there. It is commonly assumed that the Austro-Hungarian empire was the first to manage the development of the Croatian islands. Eff01ts of that sort were severely reduced in the times of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After 50 socialist years the picture that has emerged features a number of small islands which still have some population but no economy, and several larger ones which seem to be prospering at least judging by the standards devised on the mainland. The islands and their development have been reconsidered since 1995. The newly formed Ministly of Development and Reconstruction put island issue on its agenda and formed an interdisciplinary expert team which produced the Island Development Programme in 1997. the Parliament passed it as the first development document of the State of Croatia that dealt with a particular region. NIDP scoped comparative advantages, detected limitations and deduced that the islands arrived at the development crossroads from which the path of sustainable development should be taken. Its goals, principles and measures favour sustainable development, and »from the bottom<< development management, i.e. starting from the island community. The Island Act was produced and passed as a lex specialis in April 1999.The most important development measu res and tasks prescrihed by the Act are passage and implementation of the 22 island sustainable deve lopment programmes and 19 state infrastructure and superstructure programmes. Eight years after the passage of the first Constitution of the independent Republic of Croatia the institutional framework needed for an efficient island development management is finally built.Autor se u ovom radu bavi upravljanjem razvojem hrvatskih otoka. Taj je predmet vrlo važan, jer Hrvatska sa 1.246 otoka, otočića , grebena i hridi ima drugi arhipelag u Mediteranu po veličini. Međutim, danas je naseljeno tek 40-ak otoka na kojima živi ne više od 110.000 otočana . Stanovništvo hrvatskih otoka bilo je najveće 1921. godine nakon koje su slijedila desetljeća njegovog sporijeg ili bržeg smanjivanja. Od 1981. godine do kraja 20. stoljeća broj hrvatskih otočana naglo se smanjuje. S druge strane, otočna je ekonomija utemeljena na prirodnim uvjetima i u usporedbi s gospodarstvom na kopnu općenito jednostavnija i sigurno primitivnija. Do danas na otocima nisu razvijena ili su napuštena cijela područja gospodarskih aktivnosti. Autor ističe činjenicu kako je Austro-Ugarska imperija prva upravljala razvitkom hrvatskih otoka. Nakon njezinog raspada slijedilo je dugo razdoblje ozbiljnih propusta. Prvo, upravljanje razvojem otoka bilo je bitno reducirano u vrijeme Kraljevine Jugoslavije. Drugo, nakon 50 socijalističkih godina kao posljedica ne primjerenog sustava upravljanja na vidjelo je izašla slika brojnih manjih otoka bez gospodarstva i nekoliko većih otoka za koje se, zaključujući temeljem standarda po kojima se prosuđuje gospodarski napredak na kopnu, činilo da napreduju. Otoci i njihov razvoj propituju se od 1995. godine. Novoosnovano Ministarstvo razvitka i obnove Republike Hrvatske prepoznalo je problem otoka i formirala interdisciplinarni tim koji je 1997. izradio program razvitka otoka. Hrvatski sabor je taj program usvojio kao prvi dokument države Hrvatske koji se posebno odnosi na određenu regiju. Nacionalni program razvitka otoka sagledava komparativne prednosti, utvrđuje razvojna ograničenja i ustanovljuje da su otoci na razvojnom raskršću s kojeg je jedini pravi put održivi razvoj. Ciljevi, principi i mjere ovog Programa favoriziraju održivi razvoj i upravljanje razvojem otoka »Od dna« (polazeći od lokalne otočne jedinice - zajednice). Drugu bitnu sastavnicu upravljanja otocima Republike Hrvatske ć ini Zakon o otocima, koji je kao lex specialis izrađen i donijet u travnju 1999. Najvažnije razvojne mjere i zadaci propisani Zakonom jesu donošenje i primjena 22 programa održivog razvitka otoka i 19 državnih infrastrukturnih i superstrukturnih programa. Tako je osam godina nakon donošenja prvog Ustava suverene Republike Hrvatske konačno izgrađen učinkovit institucionalni okvir upravljanja razvojem otoka

Who Benefits from Medicare Advantage

The Affordable Care Act calls for significant cuts in reimbursements to insurers providing Medicare Advantage (MA) coverage, which has been the most popular alternative to traditional fee-for-service Medicare. Opponents of these cuts argue that they carry serious negative repercussions for seniors, and have lobbied successfully to force their postponement. But research coming out of the Wharton School suggests that cuts to MA reimbursements actually are unlikely to harm consumer welfare.https://repository.upenn.edu/pennwhartonppi/1019/thumbnail.jp