Villages In Poland Research Articles

Co-crafting the Meaning of Potter’s Craft

The article is based on ethnography and the autoethnography of making. It presents an anthropological reflection on pottery craft as a way of life in a 21st-century village in Poland. The individual case of a village pottery shop in the region of Masuria is in focus, a place located in the north of the country. The exchange of knowledge and a participatory mode characterised the ethnographic enterprise. The author’s approach combines critical reflections on the social construction of folk art and craft in Poland with discursive renderings of craft-related bodily knowledge and the embodied recognition of materials and their affordances. Highlighting the alienating potential of the folk representation of the rural, it follows the meanings of pottery craft having been accommodated in the lifeworld of a modern village potter. The pottery workshop is presented both as an environment where skills and techniques are mastered as well as where experimentation happens and knowledge is built. The author focuses on recognising features of the world that are only made available through practicing the potter’s craft. The craft is also a way of establishing meaningful links with the local environment of the potter.

Tacit knowledge of places. Experiences from the post-agrarian countryside

This article is framed by a broader discussion on the new meanings conferred by rural areas, and the construction of rurality recently undertaken by human geographers. The aim of the research presented here has been to identify perceptions of the countryside in Poland, at a time when a fundamental transition from agrarian to post-agrarian communities has already taken place. After a briefreview of the literature and a presentation of the contemporary conditions of rural development in Poland, the paper presents the results of the study conducted in 22 pre-selected villages in Poland. The social research involved semi-structured interviews and freehand sketches exemplifying tacit knowledge about these places, i.e. the symbolic meaning attributed by people to their living spaces. Results of this research show that uncovering this knowledge generates a variety of information useful in interpreting contemporary rurality as shaped by dynamic change in Poland’s economy and social life.

Wykorzystanie elementów dziedzictwa kulturowego i tożsamości lokalnej a jakość przestrzeni publicznej na obszarach wiejskich w Polsce

Celem pracy jest wskazanie powiązań między wykorzystaniem elementów dziedzictwa kulturowego i tożsamości lokalnej a jakością projektów przestrzeni publicznych realizowanych na terenach wiejskich. Badanie, przeprowadzone przez autorkę na próbie 231 inwestycji, które zostały dofinansowane ze środków Unii Europejskiej na operację pod nazwą „Kształtowanie przestrzeni publicznej”, w ramach działania „Podstawowe usługi i odnowa wsi na obszarach wiejskich” objętego Programem Rozwoju Obszarów Wiejskich na lata 2014–2020, wykazało, że polska wieś jest miejscem rozwoju ogólnodostępnych funkcji sportowych i rekreacyjnych, jednak przeważnie w przestrzeniach o niskim stopniu innowacyjności, schematycznych oraz niewykorzystujących swoich lokalnych potencjałów i tradycji. Jednocześnie analiza projektów zrealizowanych w ramach Programu potwierdziła, że podkreślenie tożsamości lokalnej i historii danego miejsca jest związane z innowacyjnym podejściem do projektowania ruralistycznego, a w efekcie może oddziaływać na holistyczną ocenę i walory danej inwestycji. Wykorzystanie elementu genius loci stanowi czynnik, który w istotnym stopniu wpływa na wartość przestrzeni publicznej, pozwala na zachowanie odrębności oraz wspiera rozwój poszczególnych miejscowości w Polsce. Wyniki badania sugerują, że odwołanie do elementów dziedzictwa kulturowego i tożsamości lokalnej może przyczynić się do odwrócenia negatywnych zjawisk obserwowanych w fizjonomii obszarów wiejskich w ostatnich latach, takich jak typizacja form architektonicznych narzucająca powszechną unifikację, a także odcięcie od lokalnych zwyczajów i tożsamości miejsca.

Study on the Level of Social Potential of Rural Areas on the Example of Selected Villages in Poland

Study on the Level of Social Potential of Rural Areas on the Example of Selected Villages in Poland

Depopulation Villages in Poland—Current Status and Possible Transition Scenarios

Depopulation Villages in Poland—Current Status and Possible Transition Scenarios

“The Village as a Place of…”. Anchoring the Territorial Identity of the Countryside. Examples from Poland

The aim of this paper is to discuss how inhabitants of selected villages in Poland perceive their living space, what meanings they assign to it and what is important for them in their nearest neighbourhoods. The presented research is set within the cultural approach in rural geography, in which the notion of experienced and imagined rural spaces is central. We answer the question whether there are any general patterns referring to the process of transforming the space into a “place”, defined by the individual understanding of rurality, strengthening local identity and place attachment. Research was based on guided individual in-depth interviews in order to extract inhabitants’ narratives about the selected villages. Individual stories collected along the study reveal an image of the countryside as significant, often beloved, and close place, marked with a special meaning and value for interviewees, shaping their sense of self and place attachment. The interpretation of these narratives is structured into four categories of “anchors” and “magnets” focused on: 1) the village as a place of generational continuity, attachment, and rootedness; 2) the village as a place of cultivating local customs and remembrance of important historical events; 3) the village as an important, close, and familiar place; 4) the village as an attractive place to live and referred to the person-process-place framework of place attachment.

Visual Capacity Assessment of the Open Landscape in Terms of Protection and Shaping: Case Study of a Village in Poland

This article describes the methodology and results of research on landscape visual capacity. The aim of the project was to develop a tool that would support planning and design decisions at the level of communal management in rural areas in Poland through systematic application of visual criteria. Their importance in the protection, management and shaping of space is underlined by the document produced at the European Landscape Convention of 2000 (ELC). To date, ELC recommendations have not been fully implemented in Poland. The author of the study used the methods of the Krakow School of Landscape Architecture in assessing cultural landscapes and referred to the assumptions of the British Landscape Character Assessment (LCA). The analysis was based on the results of a landscape identification conducted in a part of the Cekcyn commune. The assessment of visual capacity was conducted for the village of Nowy Sumin, located in that commune. The effect of the study is the classification of open landscapes with respect to the assessment of visual changes resulting from potential residential development. The results obtained prompt the conclusion that the applied method can effectively support local spatial planning as it takes national conditions into account.

Disappearing Villages in Poland – Selected Socioeconomic Processes and Spatial Phenomena

Abstract The work was to diagnose rural settlements that have been disappearing gradually since the end of World War II as a result of a marked process of depopulation. The authors focused on the disappearance phenomenon itself, seeking to identify and assess selected socioeconomic and spatial processes ongoing in the areas concerned. Through analysis of the set of 41,466 statistical localities in rural areas of Poland, it was found that 62% of these villages reported a decline in the number of inhabitants over the 1950–2011 period. Throughout the post-War period, it is small villages of fewer than 100 people that have experienced the most marked demographic regress. The smallest settlements of all – with 50 people or less – have suffered the most-marked loss of population, at around 28% on average. To be noted, among the factors behind disappearances of villages are limited attractiveness arising out of low standards of living, natural conditions unsuited to farming, limited incomes earned from agricultural activity and poor outfitting in social and technical infrastructure.

Scenariusze rozwoju starzejących się wsi = Development scenarios for aging villages

Rural settlements are subject to changes under the influence of various factors. One of them is the change of population structures and the progressive aging of rural population. Growing share of elderly inhabitants is an unprecedented phenomenon. The author examines and evaluates changes in demographic structures at the level of statistical villages in Poland for the period of 1960‑2011. The research attempted to indicate possible scenarios of development for demographically ageing villages.

Economic and functional changes in the largest villages in Poland at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century

AbstractThe article deals with selected aspects of the economic structure and functions of the largest villages in Poland. The main aim of the study is to investigate the diversity and changes that can be observed to have happened since before the fall of Communism in Poland. Large villages with populations exceeding 5,000 inhabitants are located in the same part of the rural–urban continuum as small towns, including many poviat (1) seats. For this reason, they are an interesting comparative category of settlement units. The study was based on a source database from the end of the last century and on contemporary public data from the REGON database. The comparison is based not only on various data, but also uses various research methodologies.

Możliwości powstania nowych uzdrowisk na obszarach wiejskich. Kontekst krajowy i regionalny

<p>Kilkanaście miejscowości w Polsce od kilku lat czyni starania o uzyskanie statusu uzdrowiska. Wiąże się to nie tylko z ograniczeniami w prowadzeniu działalności gospodarczej, wynikającymi z konieczności zachowania wysokiej jakości środowiska, lecz także przynosi gminie określone korzyści materialne i pozamaterialne. To właśnie ze względu na korzyści status uzdrowiska coraz częściej staje się statusem pożądanym przez wiele gmin mających walory uzdrowiskowe. Celem badań, których wyniki przedstawiono w niniejszym artykule, było rozpoznanie stanu i możliwości rozwoju funkcji uzdrowiskowej na obszarach wiejskich w Polsce. W szczególności zwrócono uwagę na przykład województwa lubelskiego, będącego peryferyjnym regionem Unii Europejskiej. W tym celu przeanalizowano wybrane dokumenty planistyczno-strategiczne gmin typowanych jako potencjalne uzdrowiska w Planie Zagospodarowania Przestrzennego Województwa Lubelskiego. Ważną rolę odegrało studium przypadków na tle prezentacji kontekstu rozwoju uzdrowisk w Polsce, oparte na literaturze, aktach prawnych i danych GUS.</p>

Hourly Profiles of Air Pollution Variation in Selected Cities, Towns and Villages in Poland

Concentration of air pollution in urbanized and agricultural areas is related to the activity of various economy sectors (the so-called SNAP categories). Therefore, the change in the emission of pollutants by an anthropogenic source should result in a change in the air pollution level in the selected area. To better understand the nature of changes in air pollution concentration in urban and agricultural areas, an analysis of data of five-year (2012-2016) air quality measurements, carried out at selected automatic air quality monitoring stations in Poland, Europe. The data came from stations located in 5 regions (Lower Silesia, Greater Poland, Lodz, Masovia and Lublin) in central Poland. The average hourly concentrations in selected areas in cities, towns and villages were compared with the hourly emission factors of power generation sector (SNAP1), residential and commercial combustion sector (SNAP2) and road transport sector (SNAP7). The hourly profiles of air pollution level were expressed by means of the “imission factor”, as analogous to the hourly profiles of the “emission factor” that is being used in the LOTOS-EUROS and the CHIMERE chemistry-transport models.

Daily variability of air pollution in locations of different population density

The air quality levels vary during a day, especially in inhabited areas. Therefore, it seems reasonable to observe and analyze the occurrence of daily maximum and minimum level of air pollution. In this article, data obtained from automatic air quality monitoring stations located in 5 large, 5 small and medium cities and 5 villages in Poland was analyzed in 2012−2016. Those locations vary, inter alia, depending on number of inhabitants and population density, and for this reason also due to the presence of air contaminants. As an indicator of daily variability air pollution it was determined the ratio of maximum to minimum concentrations of selected air pollutants (NO2 and NOx, and O3, SO2, CO, PM10 and PM2.5, and benzene) in urban and agricultural areas. In winter, the daily changes were bigger in cities than in villages. While in summer, the level of daily variability was similar, irrespective of size of the settlement unit. The biggest daily changes concerned nitrogen oxides, the lowest − sulfur dioxide and dusts.

“THIS CASTLE WAS THE STRONGEST ONE IN RUS SINCE ANCIENT TIMES…”, – BELZ IN MARTIN GRUNEWEG’S TRAVEL NOTES

Part of Martin Gruneweg’s notes dedicated to Belz which was graciously given to the author by the outstanding Ukrainian historian Yaroslav Isaevych is analyzed. Martin Gruneweg (1562 – after 1615), who was born in Gdansk in family of German merchant, serve the Armenian merchants, became a member of the Order of Dominicans and became famous as the author of very interesting travel notes. Page of the Notes, which contains the references to Belz, is in the second part of Gruneweg’s description, where he talks about visit to cities and villages of Poland, Ukraine, Russia, the Balkan countries. A brief description of the city from 1582 is considered in the context of other written and cartographic sources and the results of archaeological studying of Belz. Through information from the Notes data on urban fortifications, authenticity of which is well consistent with written sources older and later than Gruneweg’s description is obtained. It was confirmed that connection between different parts of the city, separated by water flows and swamps, was maintained by wooden dams and platforms, mentioned by Gruneweg and evidenced by results of archaeological researches. This feature of communications was also characteristic for neighboring city of Cherven. On the basis of Gruneweg's reports, date of the first mention of town-hall in Belz, which existed more than a century earlier, was revised. Settlements, listed in the context of the report about Belz, visited by Gruneweg during his travel allow us to partially reconstruct the route of his arrival to Belz, and further way to Lviv. It was established that direction of roads from the northwest from Lublin through Krasnostav, Tishivtsi to Belz and from there through Kulychkiv, Mosty, Kulykiv, Zashkov to Lviv almost did not change from Early Middle Ages till now. Gruneweg's notes about the Częstochowa icon confirm constant historical tradition, which relates one of the main relics of Poland precisely with Belz. Other messages, which also show importance of retrospective analysis of late medieval sources for the studying of Early Medieval cities, are interesting too. Key words: Martin Gruneweg, Belz, written and archaeological sources, planning structure, retrospective analysis.

Smoking among pregnant women in small towns in Poland.

ObjectivesThe aim of the work was to assess among pregnant women from small towns and villages in Poland: the prevalence of smoking, credibility of smoking, and influence of socioeconomic factors on smoking status.MethodsThe data came from 4512 interviews with women in different trimesters of pregnancy. The interviews were collected in 2007 and 2008 year in towns up to 8000 citizens in 12 voivodeships.ResultsPrevalence of smoking in the beginning of pregnancy was confirmed by 34.6 % of women. During the pregnancy 14.7 % of women declared quitting smoking and 19.9 % continued smoking. Cigarette smoking was most frequent in those with a primary education, unemployed, very low incomes in household, and having both smoking parents. In multifactorial analysis, risk of smoking was highest (95 % CI 1.74–6.06) for women that were divorced or not living with a partner compared with married.ConclusionsRates of active smoking among a population of pregnant women living in small towns in Poland are very high. Since the correlates of smoking during pregnancy are a low education level and a low economic status of the pregnant woman, these socioeconomic groups should be first priority targets.

Zasoby przyrodnicze a rozwój lokalny: studium przypadku dwóch bocianich wiosek w Polsce

Jedną z form wykorzystania zasobów przyrodniczych na rzecz zrównoważonego rozwoju jest ekoturystyka, odbywająca się z poszanowaniem środowiska, jednocześnie służąca podnoszeniu świadomości ekologicznej uczestniczących w niej osób. Ekoturystyka stanowi źródło materialnych korzyści dla lokalnych społeczności. Jednak aby zasoby przyrodnicze stały się atrakcją ekoturystyczną, konieczne jest zadbanie o odpowiednią „oprawę”, uwzględniającą zarówno interesy ochrony środowiska, jak i zainteresowanych nimi turystów. Aby zilustrować te zagadnienia, na potrzeby niniejszego artykułu przeprowadzona została analiza potencjału ekoturystycznego dwóch „bocianich wiosek” prowadzonych przez organizacje zajmujące się ochroną przyrody (Kłopot i Żywkowo). Możliwe jest zwiększenie ich atrakcyjności dla turystów z poszanowaniem podstawowych celów ochrony przyrody, jakie przed nimi postawiono. Na potrzeby wskazania najważniejszych działań, które pozwoliłyby na takie wykorzystanie zasobów przyrodniczych, wśród turystów odwiedzających te miejsca przeprowadzono badania ankietowe. Odpowiedzi udzielone przez 700 osób pozwoliły na ocenę dotychczasowego sposobu wykorzystania bocianich wiosek przez turystów, a także możliwości wykorzystania ich w większym stopniu na rzecz lokalnego rozwoju gospodarczego.

Community participation in sustainable rural tourism experience creation: a long-term appraisal and lessons from a thematic villages project in Poland

The paper has twin but related objectives. It examines the origins of the concept of theme villages in creating new rural tourism experiences and explores issues in the implementation of the concept. It also discusses the role of community involvement in theme village development, probing and testing existing models of local participation in tourism development in the context of five thematic villages in Poland. The five-year research project based on participatory action research covered the entire process of forming thematic rural tourist products. Five years later its effectiveness and sustainability was measured by a follow-up study. As a result, a seven-step community-created sustainable rural tourism development model is proposed. Local involvement in creating thematic villages is much more intensive and has such a wide scope that one cannot speak of facilitating or involving a community in the development process, but rather of tourism development creation by local communities. However, the social focus and inward-oriented perspective of community tourism can hamper effective adaptation of local resources to suit market needs and thus prevent the sustainable growth of community linked rural tourism. Expert external assistance may be necessary at key stages, especially by providing professional knowledge of markets and marketing.

The Curative Function of the Village – Infrastructure, Environmental Resources, Curative Materials

The study involves an unusual function of the village, i.e. the curative function present in a small number of towns in Poland. The subject of research includes two Lower-Silesian villages: PrzerzeczynZdroj, Dlugopole-Zdroj and one village from the Świetokrzyskie Province – Solec-Zdroj. As is the case with most highly developed states, the contemporary village in Poland is no longer a settlement inhabited exclusively by farmers. It may serve various functions. A significant number of inhabitants in villages make their living through non-agricultural work performed either in or beyond their place of residence. One of these functions, uncommon for Polish villages, is the curative function found in places having curative potential, especially in the context of environmental conditions (the existence of curative mineral waters or a therapeutic climate) as well as infrastructural conditions.

Obesity and diet awareness among Polish children and adolescents in small towns and villages.

In addition to genetic predispositions and environmental factors, healthy lifestyle education is very important for children and adolescents. The purpose of this research was to estimate the number of overweight and obese children and adolescents from small towns and villages and to find out an association between health awareness in children and the risk of becoming overweight or obese. The research was conducted in 1,515 healthy children aged 6-18 years from small towns and villages in Poland. Overweight was diagnosed when BMI for age and sex was over the 90th percentile; obesity--when it was over the 95th percentile. The study consisted of a lifestyle interview and anthropometrical measurements. The lifestyle interview was conducted with the use of an anonymous questionnaire form and included questions about food frequency, diet habits and physical activity. The research was analysed using the SAS System for Windows, release 8.02. Overweight status was diagnosed in 9.0% and obesity in 5.1% of respondents. Excess body mass was statistically more frequently diagnosed in girls than in boys aged 14-18 years. Girls of this age group significantly more frequently chose wholemeal bread, smoked sausages, meat and poultry as products that are believed to keep them fit. Older children substantially more often indicated that stress, smoking cigarettes, consuming fatty meat, sweets, being obese, and a lack of physical activity are factors that damage health. Boys spent more time in front of a computer or TV than girls; in the older group of children, the phenomenon even intensified. Awareness of healthy lifestyle behaviour is not sufficient to maintain optimal body mass. Knowledge about proper eating habits is better among girls than among boys, especially in the older age groups. However, in older groups, there was less physical activity due to spending more time in front of TV or the computer. High percentage of obese/overweight children and insufficient knowledge of nutrition may consequently result in increased risk of cardio-vascular diseases in adult population.

The economic recreational value of a white stork nesting colony: A case of ‘stork village’ in Poland

In this paper, we estimate the economic value of selected ecosystem services provided by white storks in a Polish ‘stork village’. A stork village is a common name for a village with a white stork breeding colony, often inhabited by more storks than people. Zywkowo, the best known stork village in Poland, receives approximately 2000–5000 tourists annually, many of whom come from abroad. The village has approximately 20–40 white stork nests and several amenities designed to improve its recreational attractiveness. To estimate the economic benefits provided by the stork village, we apply the Travel Cost Method (TCM). This study is the first of this type for a stork village and the first related to the value of birds in Poland. Our results represent a useful contribution to tourism management, indicating that nature has economic value and illustrating how this value can be translated into economic benefits. It also serves as a clear illustration that the degradation of nature may entail economic losses.