Caldes de Malavella, entre la Selva i el Gironès

Els moviments diaris de persones i productes entre les diferents localitats són un fet evident i fàcilment palpable dins el nostre context social actual. Caldes de Malavella, municipi d'uns 3.000 habitants situat al sud-est de la comarca de la Selva, limitant amb la del Girones, és una d'aquestes poblacions que sobresurt especialmenl perquè genera bon nombre de fluxos de moviment, ja sigui de persones o de productes, amb l'entorn territorial més proper. Sens dubte, el fet de tenir a l'abast tot un ampli ventall de vies de comunicació de notable importància, com la Nacional II, l'autopista A-17, la línia de ferrocarril Barcelona-Franga o el mateix aeroport Girona-Costa Brava, ha estat el principal factor que ha propiciat aquests fluxos de moviment

Participació de les aigües subterrànies en la gènesi d'ambients palustres continentals: el cas dels prats de Sant Sebastià (Caldes de Malavella, Girona)

The area known as 'prats de Sant Sebastià' is in Caldes de Malavella. It is part of the wetlands located in the south-eastern end of the Selva Basin. Several areas with unusually high conductivity (EC up to 24,500 uS/cm) have been identified in this place. This fact allows highly specialised and comparatively rare botanical species to grow in this area. These saline soils follow a north-south line-up. The geophysical data, obtained with a field conductivemeter (EM 31), show that this superficial line-up continues in the subsoil. In addition to this, the conductivity cartography, made for an electromagnetic exploration depth of 6 meters, shows that the width of the region where these salinity anomalies take place increases in depth. When included in the hidrogeological context of this sector of the Selva Basin, these data bring new elements for the study of the genesis and working of these marshy environments. The model that future research will have to confirm, maintains that the groundwater discharges coming from the underlying hydrogeothermal aquifer are a conditioning factor of the aforementioned phenomenon. This ascending flow of highly mineralised waters (TDS of about 3,500 mg/l) can produce and keep stable the soil salinity

Ambientalitació del camp de golf PGA Catalunya

Estudi del camp de golf PGA Catalunya de Caldes de Malavella, l’aigua de reg, ús de models nòrdics poc adequats al clima mediterrani, tipus de gespa i integració del camp al medi. Es proposen una sèrie de mesures per tal de millorar l’eficiència dels diferents processos i obtenir així un benefici ambiental i econòmic

Població i territori al Pla de l'Estany

El Pla de l'Estany comprèn 11 municipis agrupats al voltant d'una petita ciutat, Banyoles, on viu actualment el 60% de la població comarcal (13.000 habitants). La resta d'estanyencs, uns 8.000, estan heterogèniament repartits en la desena de municipis restants que -si exceptuem Porqueres i Cornellà de Terri- en cap cas superens els 800 vilatans

Una traducció important per a la geografia catalana [Ressenya del llibre El paisatge humà de la Costa Brava, d'Yvette Barbaza]

Ressenya del llibre El paisatge humà de la Costa Brava. L’obra es presenta en dos volums. El primer l’ocupen dos blocs: “El medi i els homes” i “L’elaboració del paisatge humà i dels gèneres de vida”; el segon és un bloc referit a l’impacte territorial i socio-econòmic del turisme. Es tracta d’una obra que resulta útil per saber per què la Costa Brava és avui com és

Recuperant la història d'un estany recuperat [Ressenya del llibre Notes històriques i geogràfiques de l’antic estany de Sils: límits,termes i hidrònims, de Gabriel Mercadal i Corominas]

Ressenya del llibre del botànic Gabriel Mercadal i Corominas, 'Notes històriques i geogràfiques de l’antic estany de Sils: límits,termes i hidrònims', publicat per l' Ajuntament de Sils, l'any 2006. La primera gran aportació del llibre és la delimitació cartogràfica dels límits de l’estany a partir de diversa documentació cartogràfica antiga i el recull d’hidrònims originals dels cursos fluvials de l’estany

Recerca versus docència en una experiència d'internalització dels estudis de Geografia a la Universitat de Girona: The faces of landscape, Catalonia and North Karelia = Research versus teaching in one experience of internationalization of the Geography degree studies in the University of Girona: The faces of landscape, Catalonia and North Karelia

Un dels reptes cabdals de la Universitat és enllaçar l’experiència de recerca amb la docència, així com promoure la internacionalització dels estudis, especialment a escala europea, tenint present que ambdues poden actuar com a catalitzadores de la millora de la qualitat docent. Una de les fórmules d’internacionalització és la realització d’assignatures compartides entre universitats de diferents països, fet que suposa l’oportunitat d’implementar noves metodologies docents. En aquesta comunicació es presenta una experiència en aquesta línia desenvolupada entre la Universitat de Girona i la Universitat de Joensuu (Finlàndia) en el marc dels estudis de Geografia amb la realització de l’assignatura 'The faces of landscape: Catalonia and North Karelia'. Aquesta es desenvolupa al llarg de dues setmanes intensives, una en cadascuna de les Universitats. L’objectiu és presentar i analitzar diferents significats del concepte paisatge aportant també metodologies d’estudi tant dels aspectes físics i ecològics com culturals que s’hi poden vincular i que són les que empren els grups de recerca dels professors responsables de l’assignatura. Aquesta part teòrica es completa amb una presentació de les característiques i dinàmiques pròpies dels paisatges finlandesos i catalans i una sortida de camp. Per a la part pràctica es constitueixen grups d’estudi multinacionals que treballen a escala local algun dels aspectes en els dos països, es comparen i es realitza una presentació i defensa davant del conjunt d’estudiants i professorat. La llengua vehicular de l’assignatura és l’anglès

Creative clusters and universities : the cluster concept in economics and geography

This paper considers the history of the cluster concept in urban economic geography, and its relationship to recent debates about creative cities. It then looks at the role that universities can play in the development of a creative cluster, as well as some of the potential pitfalls.

The emotional geography of a mine closure: a study of the Ravensthorpe nickel mine in Western Australia

This paper engages with the literature on emotional geographies to report on a case study of the emotions surrounding the closure of a nickel mine in the shire of Ravensthorpe in the south-west of Western Australia in January 2009. Two themes from the affect-infused narratives of pre- and post-mine community members are outlined. The first, which challenges constructions of the closure as a purely industrial and economic concern, focuses on the intense feelings the shut-down invoked amongst participants. The second theme explores the way in which the owner of the mine, BHP Billiton, worked to suppress and regulate affective reactions to the closure and thus reveals the highly political nature of emotions.

Settlement geography of African refugee communities in Southeast Queensland : an analysis of residential distribution and secondary migration

Before 2001, most Africans immigrating to Australia were white South Africans and Zimbabweans who arrived as economic and family-reunion migrants (Cox, Cooper & Adepoju, 1999). Black African communities are a more recent addition to the Australian landscape, with most entering Australia as refugees after 2001. African refugees are a particularly disadvantaged immigrant group, which the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (in the Community Relations Commission of New South Wales, 2006) suggests require high levels of settlement support (p.23). Decision makers and settlement service providers need to have settlement data on the communities so that they can be effective in planning, budgeting and delivering support where it is most needed. Settlement data are also useful for determining the challenges that these communities face in trying to establish themselves in resettlement. There has been no verification of existing secondary data sources, however, or previous formal study of African refugee settlement geography in Southeast Queensland. This research addresses the knowledge gap by using a mixed-method approach to identify and describe the distribution and population size of eight African communities in Southeast Queensland, examine secondary migration patterns in these communities and assess the relationship between these geographic features and housing, a critical factor in successful settlement. Significant discrepancies exist between the primary data gathered in the study and existing secondary data relating to population size and distribution of the communities. Results also reveal a tension between the socio-cultural forces and the housing and economic imperatives driving secondary migration in the communities, and a general lack of engagement by African refugees with structured support networks. These findings have a wide range of implications for policy and for groups that provide settlement support to these communities.

Cultural economic geography and global media studies : the rise of asian media capitals?

This paper considers the scope to develop an approach to the spatial dimensions of media and culture that is informed by cultural-economic geography. I refer to cultural-economic geography as that strand of research in the field of geography that has been informed on the one hand by the ‘cultural turn’ in both geographical and economic thought, and which focuses on the relationship between, space, knowledge and identity in the spheres of production and consumption, and on the other to work by geographers that has sought to map the scale and significance of the cultural or creative industries as new drivers of the global economy. The paper considers the extent to which this work enables those engaged with urban cultural policy to get beyond some of the impasses that have arisen with the development of “creative cities” policies derived from the work of authors such as Richard Florida as well as the business management literature on clusters. It will frame these debates in the context of recent work by Michael Curtin on media capitals, and the question of whether cities in East Asia can emerge as media capitals from outside of the US-Europe-dominated transnational cultural axis.

Toward a cultural economic geography of creative industries and urban development : introduction to the special issue on creative industries and urban development

The connections between the development of creative industries and the growth of cities was noted by several sources over the 2000s, but explanations relating to the nature of the link have thus far provide to be insufficient. The two dominant ‘scripts’ were those of ‘creative clusters’ and ‘creative/cities/creative class’ theories, but both have proved to be insufficient, not least because they privilege amenities-led, supply-drive accounts of urban development that fail to adequately situate cities in wider global circuits of culture and economic production. It is proposed that the emergent field of cultural economic geography provides some insights into redressing these lacunae, particularly in the possibilities for an original synthesis of cultural and economic geography, cultural studies and new strands of economic theory.

Defending the patch : a labour geography analysis of unions’ construction of and responses to the problem of declining union membership amongst youth

If the trade union movement is to remain an influential force in the industrial, economic and socio/political arenas of industrialised nations it is vital that its recruitment of young members improve dramatically. Australian union membership levels have declined markedly over the last three decades and youth union membership levels have decreased more than any age group. Currently around 10% of young workers aged between 16-24 years are members of unions in Australia compared to 26% of workers aged 45-58 (Oliver, 2008). This decline has occurred throughout the union movement, in all states and in almost all industries and occupations. This research, which consists of interviews with union organisers and union officials, draws on perspectives from the labour geography literature to explore how union personnel located in various places, spaces and scales construct the issue of declining youth union membership. It explores the scale of connections within the labour movement and the extent to which these connections are leveraged to address the problem of youth union membership decline. To offer the reader a sense of context and perspective, the thesis firstly outlines the historical development of the union movement. It also reviews the literature on youth membership decline. Labour geography offers a rich and apposite analytical tool for investigation of this area. The notion of ‘scale’ as a dynamic, interactive, constructed and reconstructed entity (Ellem, 2006) is an appropriate lens for viewing youth-union membership issues. In this non-linear view, scale is a relational element which interplays with space, place and the environment (Howett, in Marston, 2000) rather than being ‘sequential’ and hierarchical. Importantly, the thesis investigates the notion of unions as ‘spaces of dependence’ (Cox, 1998a, p.2), organisations whose space is centred upon realising essential interests. It also considers the quality of unions’ interactions with others – their ‘spaces of engagement‘(Cox, 1998a, p.2), and the impact that this has upon their ability to recruit youth. The findings reveal that most respondents across the spectrum of the union movement attribute the decline in youth membership levels to factors external to the movement itself, such as changes to industrial relations legislation and the impact of globalisation on employment markets. However, participants also attribute responsibility for declining membership levels to the union movement itself, citing factors such as a lack of resourcing and a need to change unions’ perceived identity and methods of operation. The research further determined that networks of connections across the union movement are tenuous and, to date, are not being fully utilised to assist unions to overcome the youth recruitment dilemma. The study concludes that potential connections between unions are hampered by poor resourcing, workload issues and some deeply entrenched attitudes related to unions ‘defending (and maintaining) their patch’.