This book provides the first comprehensive assessment of ecosystem services (ES) for the territory of the Slovak Republic. Although the ES approach is widely used for the evaluation of the benefits of natural capital and biodiversity for people, this book has a unique character. It provides an assessment of 18 individual ES, which are divided into three main groups - provisioning, regulatory/supporting and cultural ES. For each of ES, a brief theoretical and methodological overview is given, followed by spatial assessment based on own original methodology and dataset of 40 map layers. Besides, an evaluation of main ES groups and overall ES assessment is realized. This book emphasizes the key role of nature protection areas, large areas of forest ecosystems and mountain and sub-mountain areas, for the preservation of the various functions of the healthy landscape and ecosystems. The complexity of the book guarantees its usefulness - not only as the knowledge base for the territory of Slovakia but also as the methodological tool for worldwide researchers.

This book analyses the circular migration of care workers in Central Europe using the example of Slovak carers in 24-hour care provision for the elderly in Austria. Challenging analyses that focus primarily on care drain and care regimes, Bahna and Sekulová supplement quantitative methodology with qualitative fieldwork to demonstrate the importance of the sending country's economic context. The authors discuss the dynamics of economic differences between Austria and its post-communist neighbors as preconditions of the crossborder care provision, bridging analyses of policy and legal frameworks with approaches from labor migration study. Even as they scrutinize the relevance of care drain-based analyses, Bahna and Sekulová bring to the fore the interplay of economic differences, social policies, gender and migration regimes with geographic proximity to study long-term impacts of care work, including an analysis of employment after care work.

This book addresses the comparative history of economic thought in Central European countries where there is a notable common historic heritage and political traits. The author explores issues of Central European identity, Habsburgian and Soviet influence, and nationalistic traditions, and reveals commonalities between Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Slovak economic thought: such similarities proceed to explain aspects of contemporary economic and social policies in these countries. This book aims to highlight connections among Central European economists and will be of interest to economists, economic historians, sociologists and historians.

This book analyses the impact of participatory governance on cultural development, explaining why cultural participatory practices can lead to positive sustainable effects or to unexpected and controversial ones. It focuses on four projects realized in the two European Capitals of Culture of 2013 - Marseille-Provence (France) and Kosice (Slovakia) - within the Programme 'Quartiers Créatifs' and the SPOTs Programme. By combining different strands of the Democratic Theory and applying the process tracing methodology, the book argues that participation produces cultural developmental processes only when a certain intensity of trust is reached among the various stakeholders. In the presence of fully-fledged trust, participation activates a reinforcing chain of capacity-building and social capital that nurture long-term cultural networks. On the contrary, in the absence of fully-fledged trust, participation can generate contestation movements or isolated cultural production. Uniquely, the book challenges the 'optimistic aura' of participatory governance of culture, showing its conflicting but always productive nature.

This volume presents up-to-date information on the status and assessment of water resources in Slovakia and methods for their development. The major themes include key facts about Slovakian water resources, their assessment and development; water supply and demand; irrigation water; groundwater; water and sediment quality with a focus on mining water; wastewater management in Slovakia; and rainwater management. The book closes with general conclusions and recommendations for future research. It is a valuable resource for graduate students and researchers as well as for decision makers involved in sustainable development.

This book offers up-to-date information on the impact of climate change on water resources in Slovakia, the occurrence of drought and floods, hazards and protection methods. The topics covered include hydrological extremes, such as droughts and flood, in Slovakia; risk assessment and protection; sustainable management; and water management in buildings. The closing chapter provides general conclusions and recommendations for future research. It appeals to graduate students and researchers as well as to decision makers involved in planning future water resources in Slovakia.