Journal articles on the topic 'International Visegrad Fund'

Abstract The 7th International Conference on the Conservation of the Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca) was held on October 2-5, 2013 at the Barónka Hotel in Bratislava, Slovakia, organised by Raptor Protection of Slovakia (RPS) in cooperation with the Czech Society for Ornithology and MME/BirdLife Hungary, under the auspices of the Ministry for Environment of the Slovak Republic, supported by the International Visegrad Fund. Results of research by 43 experts from ten countries, including three countries of the Visegrad region - Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary - were presented in 20 lectures and five posters. The conference featured several accompanying events, such as an excursion to imperial eagle breeding sites in the surroundings of the conference venue, a demonstration ofwork by a dog specially trained in Hungary for seeking poisoned bait and birds, and an exhibition of drawings and paintings by children from the Visegrad region focusing on birds of prey. During the conference a workshop was held to start the process ofupdating the present International Action Plan for the species from 1996. Furthermore, the action plan for improving the conservation status ofpopulations of the eastern imperial eagle in the Visegrad countries was agreed by the experts from those countries.

Abstract VII. International Conference on the Conservation of the Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca) was held on October 2-5, 201 3 in Barónka hotel in Bratislava, Slovakia and it was organised by Raptor Protection of Slovakia (RPS) in cooperation with the Czech Society for Ornithology and MME/BirdLife Hungary, under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment, supported by the International Visegrad Fund. Results of 43 experts from ten countries, including three countries of Visegrad region (Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary) were presented in 20 presentations and five posters. Six contributions are published in Slovak Raptor Journal volume 8, issue 1 (2014) as full papers, further twelve contributions are published here as conference abstracts.

In the article we describe the fundamental problems of disabled persons in public transport in the light of results of research conducted in Poland. This article has arisen in framework of grant nr 11420036 “Rights of Passenger with Reduced Mobility in V4 Countries” supported by International Visegrad Fund, 2014 – 2015. In the next article we shall describe the same problem in the Czech Republic.

In the article we describe the fundamental problems of disabled persons in public transport in the light of results of research conducted in the Czech Republic. This article has arisen in framework of grant nr 11420036 “Rights of Passenger with Reduced Mobility in V4 Countries” supported by International Visegrad Fund, 2014-2015. This article correspond to the previous text in Przegląd Komunikacyjny nr **describing fundamental problems of PRM in Poland.

The paper is a result of comparative study conducted over the period 2017–2018 within the International Visegrad Fund project No. 21720008. Four countries are included in the project, namely Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovak Republic. The opinions of university teachers and students on the competences of academic teachers are investigated and compared within the study. The specifcs of Slovak view and legislation of professional competences are presented in the paper. Moreover, the analysis of data obtained in Slovak universities based on comparison of teachers’ and students’ opinions on academic teachers’ competences are described.

The DISCUSsion on Information Society Building Issues Platform (established within a project supported by the International Visegrad Fund in 2015) represents an excellent opportunity for relevant stakeholders from Moldova to approach the information society aspects, from the European model perspective and experience of V4 countries in the field. The platform allowed the communication among different actors involved in the information society development process and facilitated an effective experience exchange between Visegrad countries and Moldova. DISCUS is focused especially on local public authorities from Moldova that lag behind compared to the central level, in terms of electronic public services. Ranges of events were organized in Chisinau in order to bring together both local and central levels, plus other relevant sectors and with participation of V4 experts. Important aspects and good practices of e-government (at local level) were presented by V4 experts, development partners, government, central authorities and academia representatives. The Research Studies that followed each project event emphasize the achieved results, including relevant conclusions and recommendations, as well as research on issues that emerged during the discussions. The article briefly presents the project impact with an accent on situational analysis, lessons learnt, good practices applicable for Moldova and the next steps.

The article deals with the social-personal competences of a modern academic staff, the content of which varies in the conditions of the modern world’s transformations. The peculiarities of such teacher competences are characterized as socio-cultural, professional and personal responsibility, leadership, and civil. The results of such formations for the academic staff of 4 countries (Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia) who are participants of the international project “High school teacher competence in change" No. 21720008 were presented. The project was carried out in 2018 with the financial support of the Visegrad Fund and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. The problem of developing socio-personal competences of academic staff’s is connected with their ability to solve complex issues in various spheres independently and other spheres of activity on the basis of the creative usage of their own, social experience, solving cognitive, philosophical, moral, and communicative tasks. The article gives recommendations for improving the socio-personal dominant activity of academic staff.

The stage of selecting creative ideas that have the prospect of further commercial use and can be used to create new products, services, or startups is one of the most complex and important stages of the innovation process. It is essential to take into account expert opinions and evaluations, often vague and ambiguous. The study aims to develop a methodological approach to measure the commercial potential of new product ideas based on fuzzy set theory and fuzzy logic. To this end, three calculation schemes are developed: the first two are based on fuzzy multicriteria analysis using Fuzzy SAW and Fuzzy TOPSIS methods, respectively; the third is based on building a logical-linguistic model with fuzzy expert knowledge bases and applying fuzzy inference using the Mamdani algorithm. Fuzzy numbers in triangular form with triangular membership functions are used to present linguistic estimates of experts and fuzzy data; the CoA (Center of Area) method is used to dephase the obtained values. For practical application of the proposed algorithm, the model is used as an Excel framework containing a general set of input expert information in the form of linguistic estimates and fuzzy data, a set of calculations using three schemes, and a set of defuzzification of the obtained results. The framework allows for simulation modeling depending on the modification of the list of defined evaluation criteria and their partial criteria, and adjustments to expert opinions. The developed methodological approach is suggested for the initial stages of the innovation process to facilitate the assessment of creative ideas and improve their implementation. AcknowledgmentThis scientific paper is published with the support of the International Visegrad Fund.

The year 2020, despite the pandemic and quarantine, saw a wide range of important events of domestic and international significance for the Visegrad countries. Each of them, no matter how different they may seem, fit into an interesting mosaic of the revival of a new Central European identity. The fight against the coronavirus pandemic has revealed the inner core of the Visegrad countries, their understanding of the real hierarchy of priorities, in which no one has abolished the national level. The Visegrad solidarity and mutual support of Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic proved to be a very significant help in defending their rights in Brussels in allocating budget funds to help national economies to overcome the crisis. However, a number of other international developments have shown the flexibility of B4 as a regional factor. The Visegrad group, both from a practical and theoretical point of view, can be considered as a new form of regional European interaction that deserves the attention of other interstate associations for its experience and ability to find answers to current challenges quickly.

Tax incentives are a tool of regional policy. When providing investment incentives, conditions for their provision must be clearly defined. It is necessary to coordinate investment incentives at the state level with redistribution of EU funds. The criteria for the provision of investment incentives must correspond with the main objectives of regional policy.The aim of this contribution is to analyze the tax incentives in tax system in the countries of the Visegrad Four (V4). The introductory part is the theoretical definition of tax and tax incentives. The analytical part is devoted to the analysis of tax incentives in the form of investment incentives provided in the Slovak Republic in the period 2002-2016.The results of the contribution constructed on the basis of the comparison detail the conditions for the granting of tax incentives for research and development in the V4 countries depending on the individual requirements and conditions of the countries themselves, systems, valid legislation, etc., which differentiate each other and at the same time compete in a certain way, compete with the funds of foreign investors.

Purpose: This paper intends to provide a comparative analysis of the Czech, the Hungarian, the Polish and the Slovak railway development strategies in light of the evolution of transport needs, travel habits, freight volumes, and regional business relations. By offering a general SWOT analysis through real-life examples, the paper shall contribute to the better understanding of railway development trends in the Visegrád states. Design/methodology/approach: The research’s scope is to identify the real motives and triggers of railway modernization and construction policies in the Visegrád Four countries (the Czech Republic – “Czechia”, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic – “Slovakia”). Through the quantitative research of international, national and corporate transport databases and surveys, as well as the analysis of EU strategies and V4 presidency programs, the paper concludes that the regional rail transport market has clear advantages with constantly growing traffic and every time more actively trading companies. Findings: The study found that the V4 railway integration is in major part powered by the EU’s development funds and communitarian regulations support the competitiveness of rail services in the region. However, the efficiency of train services ranks below the communitarian medium level in most of the V4 states. Therefore, if Visegrád countries wish to close up with their western neighbors, the frequency, the speed and the quality of train services must improve. Research limitations/implications: As this study provides a general insight to Visegrád railway development strategies from a market perspective, future researches might focus on the political motivations of such infrastructure projects. Further papers might also investigate the possible impacts of railway developments on the employment, cultural and business relations, travel habits, tourism, and environmental protection in the Visegrád area. Originality/value: By offering a general SWOT analysis through real-life examples (dated from these countries’ EU accession), the paper shall contribute to the better understanding of railway development trends in the Visegrád states. The research primarily focuses on the relationship, causal mechanisms, interactions, and dynamics between infrastructure investments and the concrete needs of the transport sectors of these states. The analysis has multiple levels including that of state actors, sub-state regional entities, railway undertakings, and transport corridors. In order to provide a global European view on the evolution of rail transportation, V4 statistical data is compared to European average numbers all through this study.

The paper presents research findings with 56 Roma children from Macedonia and Serbia between the ages of 3-6 years. The children’s knowledge of Romani as their mother tongue was assessed with a specially designed test. The test measures the children’s comprehension and production of different types of grammatical knowledge such as wh–questions, wh-complements, passive verbs, possessives, tense, aspect, the ability of the children to learn new nouns and new adjectives, and repetition of sentences. In addition, two pictured narratives about Theory of Mind were given to the children. The hypothesis of the authors was that knowledge of the complex grammatical categories by children will help them to understand better the Theory of Mind stories. The results show that Roma children by the age of 5 know most of the grammatical categories in their mother tongue and most of them understand Theory of Mind. References Bakalar, P. (2004). The IQ of Gypsies in Central Europe. 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Application of the Aarhus Convention in practice of its parties (including the European Communities) has been reflected recently by several representative studies. In spite of their partial differences, these studies come to similar conclusions with regard to the chief insufficiencies in implementation of requirements concerning access to justice in environmental matters according to Art. 9 of the Convention. This article discusses several specific topics from this field, which can be considered crucial for legal protection of the environment in practice. More concretely: definition of terms for access to justice by individual members of public (“standing conditions”); scope of the court review of act and omissions, related to the environment; effectiveness of a court review, particularly its timeliness. Next to the above mentioned studies, the article also refers to the contributions and discussions presented at the „International conference on the implementation of the Aarhus Convention in practice” (hereinafter “the Conference”), which was organised in April 2009 in Brno, the Czech Republic, within the scope of the Czech EU presidency. A few more general but related aspects are touched upon, namely the position of the Convention in the legal system of its parties and its relation to the EC law. The article is based namely on the outcomes of the projects concerning the NGO experience with using the Aarhus Convention in practice, sponsored by International Visegrad Fund and Ministry for Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment of the Netherlands.

Business environment is considered to be an important factor that affects the competitiveness of the country or region. The assessment of business environment is subject to analysis realized by many national as well as internationally accepted institutions, whose outputs have usually form of composite indices reflecting the quality of the business environment. The aim of the article is to investigate the relationship between different indices of the quality of business environment on one side and selected macroeconomic indicators and country's credit rating on the other side. The analysis concentrates on the countries of Visegrad four region (V4) – Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. The following indices are analyzed: Ease of Doing Business created by the World Bank Group , Global Competitiveness Index, Index of Economic Freedom, rating from The World Competitiveness Yearbook and Fragile State Index. We use the real gross domestic product, unemployment rate and inflation rate as the macroeconomic indicators and the results of the country's credit rating evaluated by Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings. The analysis is based on the country level data for the 2005 – 2014 period derived from the official statistical reports of World Bank, World Economic Forum, Institute for Management Development, The Heritage Foundation, Fund for Peace and Eurostat. The analysis is performed through correlation analysis using Pearson as well as Spearman correlation coefficients. The results of our analysis indicate that relationship between different indices of the quality of business environment and selected macroeconomic indicators or country's credit rating is country specific.

The concept of modern world ideology accepts that sustainable development goals couldn’t be achieved without green restructure and gender equality. That is the base of the new green economy focused on the social welfare of living and future generations due to increasing the eco-efficiency. This paper summarizes the arguments and counterarguments within the scientific discussion on gender stereotypes in society and green banking. Systematization of scientific sources and approaches concerning the investigated issues showed that only several international financial funds and organizations established in response to climate change focus on the gender aspects towards empowering women with more opportunities to participate in green projects. The primary purpose of the research is to determine how finance and gender determinants influence the carbon-free economic transformation. To gain the research goal, this study applied the modified Cobb-Douglas function that utilizes cross-sectional data on green finance and gender determinants. The methodological tool of this research is the method of least squares. The research object is Ukraine and the Visegrad countries (Poland, Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, and Hungary). The empirical results showed that the women employed in services, GDP, the share of female population, and level of female unemployment have statistically significant impacts on carbon-free economic development. In contrast, foreign direct investment and women in national parliaments are insignificant. Therefore, the research empirically confirmed and theoretically proved that gender equality impacts carbon-free economic development. The main research limitation is the lack of open-access data to monitor the green financial activity under gender equality consideration.