S4C Winter school 2022

S4C Interdisciplinary Winter School 2022

Sustainable development in hot spots of nature and tourism in the Carpathians

Science for the Carpathians is organising a Winter School 2022. The aim of the School is to discuss the topics of sustainable development of the mountain areas in relation to the tourism-related hot spots. In the Carpathians, as in many other mountain areas, high biodiversity meets with outstanding landscape values. This triggers high pressure from humans, mainly from tourism-related activities. How do the Carpathian regions deal with that in times of climate change and biodiversity loss? Are the solutions implemented in one Carpathian region transferrable to others? And what can we learn from similar examples in other mountain areas, e.g. the Alps or Caucasus?  – These are some of the questions we will pose and discuss together with the Winter School participants.

When?

01-04.02.2022

Where?

Kraków-Zakopane, Poland (with additional online lectures)

Who?

Students and PhD students

Requirements

  • Motivation letter + 1-page short CV
  • Status of BA, MS or PhD student
  • Basic knowledge of human-related pressure on protected, mountain areas
  • Valid COVID vaccination certificate.

Costs

The organisers will cover the costs of stay, meals and transportation during the winters school. The costs of travel to and from Poland (Krakow) may be supported upon request, based on the available funds.  

Deadline

The motivation letter + CV should be sent no later than 16.01.2022 to  joanna.zawiejska@up.krakow.pl, Joanna Zawiejska, Pedagogical University of Krakow

COVID prevention and safety measures:

Only vaccinated participants will be accepted to attend in person. All participants coming to Krakow for the S4C School will be requested to present a valid Covid19-Vaccination certificate. Additionally, to ensure safety for all, participants will be asked to get tested before arriving to Krakow and bring valid test certificates on the first day of the Winter School.

COVID-related changes:

The organisers will follow all the Polish official COVID-related regulations, thus, changes to the format and other organizational aspects of the Winter School are possible. The potential participants will be informed about the planned changes as soon as possible.



The event is co-financed by the Governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.

Participation of the Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention is supported by the project Carpathian ESD: Strengthening the ESD network in the Carpathian Convention via science-policy-practice interface, funded by the German Federal Environment Ministry’s Advisory Assistance Programme (AAP) for environmental protection in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia and other countries neighbouring the European Union and supervised by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and by the German Environment Agency. 

Carpathian data

In this section, we present the freely available datasets covering various aspects of sustainable mountain development in the Carpathians.

If you would like to add your dataset to the list, please contact us via contact@carpathianscience.org.

Biodiversity

A novel dataset of permanent plots in extremely species-rich temperate grasslands

Climate

CARPATCLIM – Climate of the Carpathian region

Land use

Dataset on forest disturbance in the Tatra Mountains (2003-2014)

Enhanced land use datasets and future scenarios of land change for Slovakia

Forest cover mask from historical topographic maps based on image processing (the Polish Carpathians)

Historical land use dataset of the Carpathian region (1819–1980)

Other

Mid-19th century road network dataset for Galicia and Austrian Silesia, Habsburg Empire

Railway network of Galicia and Austrian Silesia (1847-1914)

Mid-19th-century building structure locations in Galicia and Austrian Silesia under the Habsburg Monarchy

Online Gambling From Smartphones and Computers

Online casinos have increased their reach to a wider audience through mobile gaming. These mobile devices have enabled people to play online casino games at their leisure, from wherever they are. They can play while commuting to work, on the bus, or from the comfort of their own homes.

Benefits

In recent years, new technologies have made it possible for people to gamble in a whole new way. The advent of the internet has made it possible to gamble from anywhere, including your mobile phone, find more information about Best Smartphones and Computers for Online Gambling in a useful review. However, there are certain risks associated with this new form of gambling. These risks must be understood so that health care and policy makers can determine what they should do about them.

The lack of empirical research on gambling from smartphones and computers raises concerns about the risks associated with such an activity. While there is little literature, there are several factors that may affect the risk involved. Accessibility and involvement are key factors. However, these factors alone may not explain why some people may experience problem gambling.

Disadvantages

Research has shown that mobile gambling may not have the same benefits as online gambling from a computer or a smartphone. In particular, people who gamble with their phones are more likely to engage in intermittent behavior and be more persistent than people who gamble on a computer or a smartphone. The study also found that mobile gamblers’ latencies between gambling sessions were correlated with the magnitude of reinforcement. Moreover, those who took longer breaks between gaming sessions were more likely to terminate their gambling sessions earlier.

Gambling and financial transactions can be performed more easily on mobile devices. Unlike a computer, mobile devices allow you to sync with other applications and files. You can also reduce the time spent switching pages and verifying transactions.

Connection speed

Internet connection speed is important to gaming on smartphones and computers. The minimum download speed recommended by game manufacturers is three to six megabits per second (Mbps). The upload speed is the speed of data transfer. Most internet packages have a lower upload speed than download speed. However, a minimum upload speed of one Mbps is needed for online gambling.

The Internet connection speed can make or break a game’s performance. If you experience lag or slowness while playing an online game, you will have a difficult time competing with others. So, you should determine how much bandwidth is needed for optimum gaming.

Safety protocols

Safety protocols for online gambling from computers and smartphones are important to ensure a secure gaming experience. Online gambling is an exciting and profitable industry, but it should never compromise on safety. Cyber criminals, fraudsters and hackers are attracted to this lucrative market, so you need to take necessary precautions to stay safe and have fun at the same time.

First of all, do not use public WiFi to conduct financial transactions. Many public WiFis do not have adequate security protocols and can be hacked by unscrupulous individuals. WiFi broadcasts data to everyone in its range, and it is easy for hackers to spoof a network and steal sensitive information from unsuspecting victims.