The Prut River is an important hydrological artery for Romania and the Republic of Moldova. Until the 1970s, the hydrotechnical arrangements were not generalized at the level of the entire riverbed, but after the floods starting in 1979, many hydrotechnical works were designed and executed, including in the hydrographic basins of the tributaries, which culminated in the construction of the Stanca-Costești Lake, for the regularization of the flow of the Prut River. While these regularizations had the expected effect, and the effects of some historical floods in 2008 and 2010 were greatly diminished, the controlled overflows during the floods and the rupture of some dams created damage. From the point of view of risk, vulnerability and risk, these structural measures have an obvious positive effect, but there is an unusual variability in the social and political context of Romania and the Republic of Moldova. In order to study this variability, we inventoried the hydrotechnical facilities with the role of protection against floods at the level of the major and minor riverbeds of the Prut River, but also the effects induced by historical floods. The analysis confirms the existence of differences in planning, which have effects in terms of vulnerability and risk. In the absence of modelling that considers data on both sides of the river basin and the riverbed, the identification of undeveloped areas is an approach that can help reduce vulnerabilities through information measures.

Location theory addresses problems of locating points in two-dimensional space, i.e., facilities whose dimensions are negligible compared to the dimensions of the space in which locations are selected (e.g., city or regional territory). As such, it directly or indirectly underpins several doctrines of regional economics, development, and planning and is fundamentally oriented toward formulating location problems and creating models to solve them.

As the optimal spatial distribution of various facilities and the organization of their functionality are becoming increasingly significant issues in planning, theorists and practitioners have developed numerous location models. However, this topic largely remains within the realm of scientific research, often excluded from the processes of creating and implementing spatial plans, which are public documents essential for defining and planning the spatial organization of service systems within specific territorial units.

As a subgroup of location models, location-allocation models are characterized by the aim to optimally locate one or (most commonly) several facilities under clearly defined objectives and constraints, while their allocation component assigns appropriate users to these facilities. Given that maximizing accessibility (minimizing total and thus average spatial or temporal distances between users and facilities) is a fundamental criterion, the p-median location-allocation model was applied to plan the development of the existing network of primary healthcare facilities in the territory of the City of Zaječar. Population projections by settlement, derived using an extrapolation method particularly suited for smaller territorial units and relatively short periods, were directly integrated into the modelling process. This method requires minimal data, typically relying on population data available from national censuses.

An analysis of three main scenarios was conducted, in line with the planning horizon of the existing spatial plan for the City of Zaječar: the baseline scenario (maintaining current capacities), the positive scenario (opening a certain number of new facilities), and the negative scenario (closing a certain number of existing facilities). The results provided spatially determined solutions optimized for maximizing accessibility to these facilities. Comparisons with spatial organizations involving randomly selected locations for opening or closing facilities demonstrated clear optimisation benefits, including time and cost savings and reduced negative environmental impacts of transportation.

In the Netherlands in 1941, under German occupation, a new centralized legal regime was instituted that mandated spatial planning on the local, regional, and national level. In the ensuing years, this legal foundation evolved in such a way that “survey before plan” became a core ingredient of spatial planning. The resulting demand for socio-spatial research across government layers was largely captured by young, new university graduates (primarily of human geography and sociology). They obtained employment in governmental and para-governmental spatial planning institutions in the post-war Netherlands. This generation institutionalized the new field of planology as the Dutch translation of spatial planning, eventually culminating in the first planology university chair in 1962. Drawing on theoretical ideas on institutional entrepreneurship and the sociology of the professions, this paper explores how and why academia and policy co-produced planology as a professional field in the Netherlands between 1945 and 1962. The paper builds on extensive historical research in archives of Dutch universities, governmental institutions and professional organisations. Practically, it thereby shows how socio-spatial research became a centrepiece of the globally heralded Dutch spatial planning tradition. On a more abstract level, the paper offers an exemplary case of the professionalization of a research tradition and the development of multi-scalar knowledge networks and interactions between academia and policy.

Reaffirming the role of geography in the field of the organisation of institutional structures is a necessary operation to return to the creation of alternative political and geographical imaginaries (Dematteis, 2021).

This seems to suggest that geographers should support criticism with an activity of synthesis and proposal that combines territorial and institutional reflection at all scales. In a certain way, it is necessary to respond to the call for civil and political responsibility urged by Massey (2004; 2008). Numerous contributions have highlighted the need to reaffirm the role of geographic discipline in the exploration and definition, especially in the context of the European continent, of grand regional narratives and visionary geographies (Loriaux 2008; Murphy 2013; McConnell et al. 2017; van Meeteren 2020; Bachmann 2022).

Building on the recent reflections of Wills (2019), Jeffrey and Dyson (2021), and Bachmann (2022), and in light of the recent developments of Italian federalist thought (Montani 2022; Majocchi 2023; Saputo 2023), which moves from the European dimension toward the global one, without neglecting local levels, this contribution aims to address the issue of relations between society, territory, and institutions through the political-institutional vision and action of federalists. However, the intention is not to develop a critical analysis of the geographical reflections conducted on the European Union and its various components and dimensions, but rather to identify and highlight the potential links between the two areas of research.

It is in this perspective that we believe we can advance the hypothesis that the ‘geographical sensibility’ of federalism in its militant form is not limited to overcoming the primacy of the nation-state but concerns the question of overcoming the processes of centralisation of states in favour of communities and territories. The aim of this paper is therefore to contribute to the understanding of how this form of federalism rests on a profound, but little investigated, ‘geographical sensibility’.

From the early 1960s, the Netherlands had a growing societal and policy field focusing on development cooperation. Around this time, we can also signal a shift in Dutch geography academia. In the context of (expected) decolonisation, a transformed geographical specialisation emerged. It was named Human Geography of Developing Countries, or in short, development geography. When geographers in the Netherlands started development geography in the late 1960s, they did not yet have a clear synthesis of what distinguished this newfound specialisation as a geographical one theoretically. Jozef Hanrath was the first professor obtaining a chair on the so-called ‘geography of non-Western countries’ in 1965. Strongly emphasising geography’s practical aspects in his inaugural speech, he underlined geographers’ societal relevance in an era of increasing attention to development cooperation. The theoretical ‘how’ of this was yet unclear amongst involved geographers. It seems that Harnath’s inaugural lecture preluded an era of figuring out how to formulate a geographical synthesis. By the end of the 1970s, the four universities in the Netherlands that did development geography shared a geographical perspective on what researching ‘development’ meant. This perspective necessitated a warning against grand theory and plead for a nuanced middle-ground and multi-perspectivity. This raises the question of how the process towards a geographical synthesis unfolded in this decade. What did geographical thinking on ‘development’ come to mean and where did this thinking originate from? What were the changes and continuities in geographical thinking? Who voiced what and for whom? How was academic thinking affected by development practice and policy and vice versa? Using a mobilities of knowledge approach, this paper aims to research the travel and settling of ideas in the science-policy and science-society interfaces of the late 1960s and in the 1970s. It promises insights into how human geographers worked on theory formation, how this related to societal and political landscapes, and what roles theorists from abroad and students played in spreading ideas. Using archival research methods and oral history methods, it takes historical approach on how thinking about ‘development’ in Dutch geography became what it is today.

Given the unpredictable and destructive nature of droughts and floods, especially in farming-dependent countries, the importance of effective risk mitigation strategies cannot be understated. As a part of the transboundary research project “Exploring the paths to cope with hydro-climatic risks in transboundary rural areas along the Prut Valley. A multi-criteria analysis”, this article aims to explore the impacts of opposite hydrological hazard (i.e., droughts and floods) events 1920–1939 in the Prut River Valley (at the border of Romania and the Republic of Moldova), highlighting responses to these water crises. The methodological approach relies on newspaper reports as data sources, as these include details on the mitigation measures implemented by local authorities. The digital archive of newspapers Arcanum (Romania), which include newspapers from the last century, such as “Agriculture of Moldova,” “Basarabia Agriculture” and “Buletinul Agricol” (in the Republic of Moldova), was investigated and the information about hydrological hazards was extracted and aggregated into a database containing more than 200 entries. Each hazard event is documented in terms of date, location, impact, mitigation actions, and data source. A comparison with the available scientific literature was performed in order to validate the database entries. Additionally, GIS tools allowed us to spatialize all the extracted events and the cartographic outputs emphasize spatial clusters of water stress from opposite hydrological hazards in the study area. This study demonstrates the potential that analysis of historical sources holds when it comes to enhancing the understanding of current hydrological risk mitigation.

Born within seven months of each other, the two Edwards, Ackerman (1911-1973) and Ullman (1912-1976), were often reckoned the smartest, most capable American geographers of their cohort. Their conception of geography, their projects, their successes and disappointments, shed critical light on the development of US geography during the key transition to a post-War American 'high-modern' society. Drawing on sizable archival holdings, particularly the life-time correspondence between the two men, the purpose of the paper is to use the lives of Ackerman and Ullman to exemplify and to understand the mid-century professionalization of American geography. Their lives, and the geographical discipline to which they contributed, were drawn into an expanded interventionist modernist US state that valued scientific expertise, instrumental reason, problem solving, collective inquiry, and credentialism. These were tasks to which the two Edwards initially devoted themselves. The results were in the end mixed, but they set the stage for the quantitative revolution and later various anxieties within American geography that continued for the rest of the century. The paper will review the life of the two Edwards in conjunction with developments in American geography and society from the mid-1930s when they were students. It becomes clear that they were exponents of the drive to professionalize and modernize the antiquated discipline of American geography. The lives of the two Edwards were thus profoundly inscribed within the history of the 20th century US geography and its transformations. The personal was professional.

As part of a wider petition calling for anglophone geographers to rally more resolutely behind a dedicated normative project, in this article I make the case for dusting down and giving new life to Richard L. Morrill’s presidential address delivered at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers (AAG) in Denver in 1983 and titled ‘The responsibility of Geography’. Notwithstanding endlessly proselytizing same, anglophone geographers lack a common understanding of to what it means to prosecute a responsible geography. Indeed, haunted by past misdeeds, they have come see virtue in historicising, provincializing and pluralising the practice of taking responsibility and to commend responsibilising geography from multiple heartlands and indeed multiple peripheries. Whilst meritorious such polyvocality also comes with jeopardy for a small discipline with limited resources and no collectively agreed public mission cannot impact and influence this world. Drawing upon Antionio Gramsci and Nancy Frasers idea of ‘interregnum’, I argue that engulfed in a twenty first century polycrisis, it is incumbent upon anglophone geographers to swarm more purposively around a shared statement of social purpose and agenda for social transformation. My contention is that fashioned as it was during the early days of an interregnum, Richard L Morrill’s science based radical social democratic manifesto for a responsible geography

The armed conflict in Ukraine had immediate consequences on population movement from the country to many European Union members.

In March 2020, Italy started medical evacuation through the European Civil Protection Mechanism to guarantee support to patients who could not receive appropriate care from the Ukrainian hospital. At the same time, on a bilateral basis, Italy started hosting refugees who arrived in the country through NGOs or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The general coordination of the refugee's arrival was managed by the Italian Civil Protection Department (ICPD), the institution that manages natural and man-made emergencies in Italy.

Considering its geographical location inside Europe, it was a different and unexpected emergency, so the ICPD created a specific Reception and Assistance Plan and established new procedures to adapt national legislation to the event.

Ukrainian refugees could receive two distinct forms of support: independent accommodation and subsistence allowance. These procedures, already applied to Italian citizens in case of emergency, have supported more than 175,000 refugees.

The financial contribution given directly to refugees and the hosting accommodation structures had an economic impact on Italy, and social integration became an immediate urgency for the labour market, school access and healthcare.

This contribution aims to analyse how Italy reacted to the arrival and presence of such a large number of refugees and what policies best contributed to their integration into Italian society.

This paper explores experiences and subjective perceptions of Ukrainian female protection holders vis-à-vis national and local welfare policies and institutions in Berlin and Munich (Germany). Cities play a key role in providing basic social services to newcomers, and the local material conditions, such as availability of housing or childcare, significantly shape their integration trajectories. We use data from repeated in-depth interviews with Ukrainian women conducted in the two cities between September 2022 and March 2024 to address how individual agency embedded into structural and institutional conditions shape the agentic possibilities of the protection-holders in interactions with welfare institutions. Specifically, we explore how the bespoke Ukrainian forced migrants mobilise various resources when seeking to satisfy their basic social needs upon arrival. The bricolage framework (Phillimore 2019) allows us to understand how, within the particular institutional setting, Ukrainians exploit opportunities to access welfare in the respective cities and cope with insecurities related to their legal status and the war in Ukraine.

This contribution report on integration of Ukrainian migrants/refugees/protection holders in Czechia in recent years, with a special focus on period after the year of 2022. First, we provide a short overview of development of Ukrainian minority in Czechia and its geography - as it is critical for explanation and for understanding of current situation. Second, we review the key changes and policy developments after 2022 that shaped presence of Ukrainian minority in Czechia. Especially the application of EU directive on temporary protection of war refugees and its local application in various policy domains. Third, we present a case study on education / school integration of Ukrainians as an example, where we illustrate the intersections between labour market position of migrants, their healthcare and housing status. In sum, our contribution aspire to provide both an overall picture of immigrant integration and a specific case study, where a particular dimension of integration is explored in detail.

Hungary has been a traditional destination country of labour and educational migration for the ethnic Hungarians living in Transcarpathia, the westernmost region of Ukraine. This mobility process was boosted by Hungary's kin-state politics, especially by the non-residential citizenship available since 2011. Geopolitical events in Ukraine in 2014 and the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022 instigated further dramatic population movements. Tens of thousands of Hungarians have left Transcarpathia, most of whom resettled in Hungary as Hungarian citizens.

In the meantime, the Hungarian government introduced a number of measures since 2017 to lure foreign labour. As a consequence, Ukrainian citizens represent a significant number among foreign employees in Hungary, mainly as blue-collar workers. Furthermore, over 46,000 Ukrainian citizens (arrived after 2022) live in Hungary with temporary protected status.

This paper aims to outline how the above macrostructural context affected the mobility trends from Ukraine to Hungary, including its ethnic and spatial dimensions.

The analysis of quantitative and qualitative data shows significant differences between the mobility trends of Hungarians from Transcarpathia and the Ukrainians arriving to Hungary. Ukrainian labour migrants arrived and found employment in Hungary in significant numbers after 2017, staying in the country as EU third country nationals. The vast majority of Ukrainian refugees also employed in Hungary. They typically reside in the capital and in the major industrial centres. Due to various social and political reasons, their mobility to Hungary might be temporary and spatially concentrated.

In contrast, Transcarpathian Hungarians live in Hungary as Hungarian citizens, which grants them full access to state services, and their integration is in general, smooth. Besides living in the urban centres (similarly to Ukrainians), they also settle in the region close to the Ukrainian-Hungarian border. We argue that this can be explained by the migration based living strategies developed after 2014, which allows extraordinary cross-border mobility and a transborder life style.

In the migration process from Ukraine to Hungary we highlight the ethnically different mobility, and we stress the importance of Hungary’s kin-state politics, in particular granting citizenship to transborder Hungarians, that plays a crucial role in the migration strategies of Hungarians from Ukraine.

Disability mobility studies generally refer to qualitative, individual-oriented assessments of the barriers endured by a predetermined segment of the population. More recently, city-scale, mainly quantitative studies arose, measuring accessibility for various impaired publics. These last contributions allow standardizing, comparing, and locating accessibility inequalities. Yet, they generally focus on legal standards or norms, and lived experiences are set aside. Moreover, only a small part of the impaired population, mostly wheelchair users, is usually considered. However, in cities like Strasbourg, where the underground-free Public Transport (PT) network backbone is the 1994 tramway, built according to the People with Reduced Mobility (PRM) standards, PT accessibility is still not the same for everyone. Physical, social, and cognitive barriers still challenge i) the inclusiveness of PT stations and rolling stocks, and ii) the pedestrian path, which is often a forgotten part of a PT trip. Not only the usually labeled PRM are impacted, but a wide range of what Global Health studies generally name “fragile populations”.

Consequently, the two aforementioned methods, scopes, and assumptions must be combined to genuinely measure accessibility gaps for several fragile publics. Following a people-centered approach to the concept of accessibility, we consider the different natures of accessibility barriers, framed in an inaccessibility iceberg.

The proposed method then consists of using Face-to-Face interviews, Go-along interviews, and Focus Group Discussions with fragile populations (four target groups consisting of the physically disabled, the visually impaired/blind, the elderly, and the economically disadvantaged) to set the parameters for intra-urban accessibility measuring. Then, the modeling and routing steps are carried out thanks to OpenTripPlanner, linked with GIS mapping tools. The pedestrian routing is enriched by a specific database taking into account street obstacles, narrow sidewalks, stairs, etc. Several quantitative accessibility indicators are provided and displayed in a digital atlas.

The resulting accessibility gaps regarding intra-urban mobility to a selected set of Points of Interest in Strasbourg will be analyzed. Furthermore, the virtues, challenges, and limitations of this mixed-method approach in terms of data availability, context-sensitivity, representativeness, and justice perspectives will be discussed.

In recent years, a variety of intelligent transportation solutions have emerged, designed to address issues of social exclusion and transportation inequities. Notably, Mobility as a Service (MaaS) represents a promising platform within the realm of smart mobility, with the potential to engage a diverse range of user groups. However, much of the existing research on MaaS has not adequately compared the accessibility and affordability of next-generation transportation options across different groups facing mobility challenges. Of particular concern is the potential for MaaS to further marginalize persons with reduced mobility due to misperceptions about their unique attitudes and needs in transportation services. To address this critical issue that is often overlooked, this study leverages the concept of "transport poverty" and employs questionnaires alongside open-access data to quantitatively evaluate the accessibility and affordability of smart transportation options for individuals with limited mobility in Tokyo and Osaka. The study commences by categorizing various types and levels of individuals with reduced mobility and evaluating their willingness to engage with the information, vehicles, payment systems, and related services of MaaS. Subsequently, it analyzes the impact of MaaS on users’ travel patterns and assess the changes in transport poverty levels experienced by users after using with MaaS. Ultimately, the study investigates the relationship between transport poverty and geographical location. By mapping the spatial distribution of respondents alongside their mobility patterns, this study elucidates the spatial characteristics of transport poverty among individuals with mobility challenges. In contrast to Europe, Japan has not yet undertaken much research on the travel patterns of vulnerable groups within the framework of emerging transport models. Consequently, this study aims to serve as a valuable reference for enhancing the understanding of travel behaviors among individuals with diverse mobility challenges and their experiences of transport poverty in future Asian cities.

The design of a public transport (PT) networks - e.g. long routes from one city edge to another city vs. short routes from the city edge to a trunk line - influences whether PT users would experience direct or indirect routing (i.e. without/with transfer(s), respectively). Transfers can add time to journeys. They are also known to be painful to a certain extent, depending on the concrete conditions (e.g. stop design, horizontal and vertical distance between stops, PT frequency, etc.) and the characteristics of travellers (age, physical condition, etc.). In other words, transfers induce "disutility", which can be estimated (typically through revealed or stated preferences) and ultimately translated into so-called perceived travel time (as opposed to real or theoretical travel time). It is also known that of all the barriers that prevent disabled people from using public transport, transfers are key, as they cause even more inconvenience and create more risks of not being able to board or disembark. The design of PT networks is thus far from neutral for PT users.

In this context, this research proposes an investigation using Brussels as a case study. PT routes will be estimated between 724 districts to about 20 points of interest spread over the city. This will be done thanks to 5R software fed by GTFS files (PT network and timetables) and OpenStreetMap for walking in public spaces. The estimated itineraries will make it possible to correlate travel time with the number of transfers. Travel times will then be analysed from three perspectives:

1) Real or theoretical travel times

2) Perceived travel times (based on parameters provided by the regional administration)

3) Extrapolation of perceived travel times to disabled people with physical impairments (through interviews with their representatives).

When analysing disabled mobilities, a central focus is given to the lack of accessibility of the built environment, as with unavoidable stairs or wide open spaces with no tactile markings on the floor. This allows one to look at the missing, inaccessible or unreachable parts of the network, and is applicable whether one considers public transportation systems or road networks. Often enough, this reveals a large difference between disabled and abled mobilities, but this analysis can be pushed much further. Indeed, a central although discreet aspect of many such network are their redundancies (or fault-tolerance). Construction work on a single metro line in a major city disturbs mobilities but does not prevent them altogether, nor does a crowd in any given street fully prevent pedestrian flow around it. Following Kaufmann's interpretation of motility, it seems instead that many users have a level of competence which allows them to compensate for unforeseen obstacles and detours to reach their destination.

For disabled users, the situation is quite different, as the set of potential obstacles which can impede circulation increases, varying with the specific impairments. We propose here to look at how both the real fragility of the network and the perception of said fragility can affect the disabled users' competence. First, users need an additonal form of competence, corresponding to the need to navigate not only the transport network but also the assistance services. This includes both competence in getting needed usual assistance, knowledge of backup systems, and potentially familiarity with the corresponding policing of disabled bodies. Second, the increased risks and costs reduce the extent to which users can safely explore the network, which limits competence building. Finally, the more fragile a network is, the more knowledge is required to safely traverse it, which means that the required level of competence increases.

Quality data and comprehensive information are essential for effective policymaking, particularly in rural areas where shaping socio-economic transition depends on an accurate understanding of local dynamics. This presentation will showcase a data experiment conducted in the Living Lab Nockregion-Oberkärnten (Austria) as part of the Horizon-Europe project RUSTIK, with a particular focus on the methods and data, and their opportunities, and challenges. The experiment focused on enhancing the visibility of Small Rural Businesses (SRBs) in regional development processes, as they are seen as relevant contributors to regional resilience and development. Therefore, spatial data on business locations was collected, business and employment statistics analysed, and SRB needs and challenges assessed through an online survey – to provide a comprehensive overview of the SRB landscape. Austria lacks comprehensive, up-to-date and freely accessible spatial business data, an initial solution involved using crowdsourced data from Google Maps and OpenStreetMap. The verification revealed that the completeness was not sufficient for a representation of the economic activities in the region. This led to an adaptation and an iterative multi-method approach, integrating spatial data from multiple sources. For overcoming data challenges like inconsistencies, gaps and differing classifications, a complex consolidation process was implemented and complemented by a series of mapping workshops with local decision makers. These mapping workshops were central to the consolidation process, serving as a participatory data validation and enrichment mechanism. The workshops provided critical local insights, ensuring the relevance and accuracy of the dataset while fostering trust and engagement among stakeholders. Despite these efforts, challenges remain: the data represents only a snapshot in time, requiring ongoing efforts for long-term benefits. The experiment also showed that data generation alone is insufficient – a supportive policy framework is needed to turn insights into action. The final output includes a detailed database and an interactive Leaflet-map of businesses, an accessible tool for regional decision-makers to support evidence-based policymaking. Beyond improving data accuracy, the participatory approach also raised awareness of SRBs’ importance for regional development. This iterative process illustrates how data can serve as a catalyst for building collaborative frameworks and consistent decision-making processes tailored to local needs.

The Osrednjeslovenska Living Lab’s (LL) goal is to improve the well-being of marginalized populations in rural areas, while addressing the challenge of food loss and waste (FLW). The research aims to answer how different approaches to food redistribution and donation impact subjective well-being, assess costs and benefits of redistribution, and explore the integration of quantitative and qualitative data for informed policymaking. Utilizing a heuristic approach guided by the Theory of Change framework, the LL seeks to provide a data tool that supports initiatives aiming to enhance social inclusion while simultaneously reducing FLW.

The data experiment utilized Etri, a social cooperative, as the primary data source and proof of concept. Etri's operations include redistributing surplus food to vulnerable groups in a canteen, while maintaining employment opportunities for marginalized individuals. The living lab approach integrates social metrics research and data-driven innovation. Through surveys, direct observations, and the analysis of logistics data, we gathered comprehensive insights into the operational dynamics and societal impact of this initiative. With the data gathered, we are designing a system dynamics economic model that combines quantitative data on surplus food and processing logistics with insights gathered through surveys. In this way, the model will serve to make a connection between the costs and social impact associated with donated meals. The model's robustness was preliminarily confirmed through iterative validation against real-world historic data, though the range of its applicability remains constrained by data availability.

Next steps include refining the model with additional data, applying it to different regions and approaches to redistribution, and scaling up through policy integration. The aim of the LL is to offer this model as a tool for enabling policymakers and social entrepreneurs to evaluate the feasibility and funding needs for new initiatives that would adopt this kind of framework. The specific approach to food redistribution was shown to improve recipients' well-being and foster community cohesion. Moreover, the case study initiative demonstrated the potential to contribute to broader policy goals, including circular economy practices and the European Green Deal, by mitigating the environmental impact of food production through reducing FLW.

On the basis of practical experience gathered in the project entitled Rural Sustainability Transitions through Integration of Knowledge for improved policy processes (RUSTIK), the authors of this article posed the question of what challenges accompany the implementation of the living lab approach to rural studies, and what new opportunities it provides. The information it yields is based on the practical knowledge of the residents, entrepreneurs and various institutions operating in the study area, which is a feature of most social surveys. However, the novelty of the aforementioned approach lies in the inclusion of the participants in the study (‘bottom-up’ information) already at the stage of problem identification, their active contribution to the research questions, which corresponds to the needs of the area in question to the greatest extent possible. The approach has been previously applied in urban areas and is more widely known as Urban Living Labs. Its application in rural areas, specific for instance due to the greater role of informal relationships and tacit knowledge, is currently a sort of methodological experiment.

In an attempt to answer the question posed, the authors took a deeper insight into the process of collecting information in the aforementioned project by implementing the living labs approach within one of 14 so-called Pilot Regions that correspond to broadly defined Functional Rural Areas (FRAs) dispersed across 10 countries. The selected case is part of the so-called inner-peripheries of Poland, a socially problematic area, one that has been struggling with the consequences of economic restructuring since the beginning of the transition period. This example will be used to present a systematic approach to information gathering within the Living Lab, based on:

• a preliminary study of the scientific literature as well as the planning and strategic documents relating to the development of the study area;
• qualitative data on the development problem of the FRA under study and its potential solution, provided directly by all Living Lab participants;
• qualitative, quantitative and spatial data on the scale of the problem and the conditions for implementing the proposed solutions, obtained via the methods of social studies, carried out using various networks of local informal relations, ;
• data processed to obtain synthetic information, using statistical methods and a cartographic method of research.

In the paper, the authors address, inter alia, the difference between the terms of data, information and knowledge, the concept of methodological triangulation and, the definition of FRA.

Living Lab Zaječar District aims to contribute to the socio-economic transition of the region by promoting short food supply chains (SFSCs) that connect local farmers with the growing demand for food in the tourism sector. This policy experiment is driven by the recognition that, despite the rapid growth in food consumption fueled by tourism, local food producers remain underrepresented in the offerings of local restaurants and accommodation facilities due to a fragmented and poorly organized supply chain.

The policy experiment seeks to provide empirical evidence for designing and implementing place-based, cross-sectoral strategies for the municipalities involved and beyond. By doing so, it aims to build local partnerships, create new employment opportunities across sectors such as agriculture, logistics, retail, and manufacturing, and foster the development of innovative tourism offerings. This initiative will enhance the region’s visibility on the tourism map, allowing local farmers to benefit from the process.

The research approach combines web scraping with survey data collected from restaurant operators (hotels, restaurants, and households offering bed-and-breakfast services), farmers, and small and medium enterprises in food processing via the Maptionnaire platform, as well as Social Network Analysis (SNA). Each questionnaire contained a consistent set of questions, enabling cross-group comparisons of attitudes among food chain actors regarding cooperation drivers, challenges, and needs. This multifaceted approach enables an in-depth understanding of key SFSC features, such as the spatial distribution of producers and suppliers, product flows, and the interconnections among actors. SNA was used to identify key nodes - actors most integrated into the local food system and critical to facilitating interactions between sellers and buyers.

The results suggest that with its adaptable framework, this approach can extend beyond the food sector, offering a valuable model for analyzing supply chains in other industries. It has the potential to be further enriched with additional variables, such as sustainability metrics, seasonal demand patterns, or consumer feedback mechanisms. Incorporating these elements would provide municipalities with deeper, more comprehensive insights across various economic sectors, enabling them to design nuanced, sector-specific interventions.

In the context of a doctoral research on “spaces of exception” (Agmaben, 2002), spaces of marginalization to which modern society decides to relegate Homo Sacer, i.e., the sacrificable human being, I considered two neighborhoods as case studies: Al Hussein palestinian refugee camp in the city of Amman, a Middle Eastern metropolis, and Borgo Marina, a neighborhood considered “marginalized” and “dangerous” in the city of Rimini, a middle European city. This dual choice questions the production of spaces of sacrifice that transcend the official camp form (Katz, Martín, & Minca, 2018) to creep into Middle Eastern as well as European cities, within neighborhoods informally considered as marginalized, peripheral, and dangerous spaces in which the discourse of “space of exception” is repurposed.

The research focuses on the study of these two different “exception” neighborhoods analyzed from the perspective of the children who inhabit them and who within them construct geographies of their own and could demonstrate forms of political protagonism and participation. This particular perspective is focused on using the mosaic approach (Clark & Moss, 2011) a methodology that, by favoring nonverbal tools such as photography, interactive map making and guided tours, allows children to actively participate in the research as co-researchers who are experts in the space in which they live.

In November and December 2024, I completed a project within the L. Ferrari elementary school in Rimini's Borgo Marina neighborhood. On this occasion I was able to work with 42 fifth-grade children within the neighborhood that, protagonist of an important social transformation in the 1990s, is currently home to several migrant communities and is described by a certain part of public opinion as a space of danger and marginalization. With the aim of recognizing a scholarly value to the experience of girls and boys living in these neighborhoods, the research questions the possibility that these geographies of childhood can be carriers of new, transformative solutions.

Agamben, G., & Hiepko, A. (2002). Homo sacer (p. 6). Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.

Clark, A., & Moss, P. (2011). Listening to young children: The mosaic approach. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Katz, I., Martín, D., & Minca, C. (Eds.). (2018). Camps revisited: Multifaceted spatialities of a modern political technology. Rowman & Littlefield.

In today’s European context, the North-South divide and the center/periphery dynamic exert a significant influence on how possible areas come to be viewed as “expendable.” In Italy, the South (Mezzogiorno) offers a paradigmatic example of this process. Here, the “territories in struggle” (Imperatore, 2023) call for a systemic approach capable of integrating the ecological crisis with everyday territorial experiences. From this perspective, the visual arts can serve as a valuable resource for examining local communities’ forms of resistance. Such practices transform “sacrifice zones” into arenas where “emotions, bodies, and spaces interact” (Drozdzewski, Dominey-Howes, 2015, p. 17).
The case of Taranto is especially telling. Long known for its protracted conflict between environmental exploitation and redefinition of public roles, Taranto also fosters a range of “resilient” subcultural expressions—among them comics—through which local citizens challenge hegemonic narratives. These “small histories” question the notion of sacrifice and convey the experiences of those who reject the health–labor blackmail. They locate possibilities for “resistance and radical possibility” (Hooks, 1989, p.20; Sabatini, 2023, p.190) in the margins.
Given this backdrop, the present contribution aims to demonstrate how comics construct and regenerate spaces—both geographic and symbolic—that emerge as genuine horizons of shared meaning. The paper aims to examine, through comparisons, textual analysis and interviews with authors, several works by embedded “cartoonists” (Rinella, Epifani, 2021, p. 193) that depict a condition deeply marked by eco-climatic collapse. Their narratives facilitate a structural analysis of the link between local conflicts and the global socio-ecological crisis. They also underscore that environmental upheaval is far from abrupt: “If Taranto has long been a mirror of the South … today it is a mirror of the whole of Europe” (Leogrande, 2013, p.9). Instead, this upheaval is the dramatic result of deliberate political and territorial decisions implemented in a specific place, heedless of the community’s protests. Consequently, the territory acquires both symbolic and empirical significance, representing the shift from "reflexive impotence" to “collective empowerment” (Fisher, 2009, p.21; Imperatore, 2023). This vision enables the creation of shared vocabularies that connect experiences of suffering in sacrifice zones around the world, without glossing over their distinct features.

References

Drozdzewski D, Dominey-Howes D (2015) Research and trauma: understanding the impact of traumatic content and places on the researcher. Emotion, Space and Society 17: 17–25.

Fisher M (2009) Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? Zero Books, Winchester (UK).

Hooks B (1989) Choosing the margin as a space of radical openness. The Journal of Cinema and Media 20: 15–23.

Imperatore P (2023) Territori in lotta. Capitalismo globale e giustizia ambientale nell’era della crisi climatica. Meltemi, Roma.

Leogrande A (2022) Fumo sulla città. Feltrinelli, Milano.

Rinella A, Epifani F (2021) “Translocal” narration of environmental issues through graphic novels: two Italian case studies. Central European Journal of Geography and Sustainable Development 3(1): 5–20.

Sabatini F (2023) Sicani Telling: storie minute dai margini della Sicilia. In: Documenti geografici, fascicolo 2(2023) “Margini, bordi, periferie,” pp. 45–60.

Within the framework of European Union policy, sustainable prosperity is inextricably linked to enhanced competitiveness, leading to a strategic reorientation toward a circular economy, biodiversity conservation, climate-change adaptation, and social equity. The basic industry sector—subject to a decades-long structural crisis—epitomizes the so-called “sacrifice zones,” wheredecarbonization targets, public-health and social emergencies, and the economic repercussions on local communities intersect in a complex web of contradictions.

At the same time, the energy transition and geopolitical contingencies—from rising trade barriers to international tensions over raw-material supplies—necessitate the construction of new infrastructures and facilities, thereby creating further territories of environmental and social compromise.

From a geographical perspective, sacrifice zones are not merely spatial configurations of environmental and economic compromise, but function as territorial devices in which the rights to health and a safe environment are neglected or subordinated to logics of production and accumulation. These geographies of injustice expose the uneven distribution of environmental and health burdens, raising critical questions about the unequal allocation of environmental rights—specifically, who is truly able to enjoy a healthy and just environment, and who, by contrast, isstructurally deprived of such a condition.

This paper offers a three-part overview of Europe’s “sacrifice zones.” The first part presents a literature review of existing definitions and major interpretive categories; the second examinesmapping and cataloguing efforts applied to both historical and contemporary cases; and the thirdprovides in-depth analyses of selected case studies, highlighting practices of representation and forms of territorial contestation.

The aim of this initial exploratory study is to arrive at a shared EU-wide definition of “sacrificezone,” laying the groundwork for a European model of spatial and environmental justice capable of guiding territorial re-configuration policies and projects based on equity, participation, and sustainability.

The European Union seems to be the geopolitical space that symbolises an international chessboard that the proposers of this session have defined as disordered because it is unstable, fluid, chaotic and now lacks global leadership. The geopolitical weakness of the European Union is accentuated by the second term of Donald Trump, who prefers bilateral relations and seems interested in loosening the historic Euro-Atlantic alliance.

The European Union has provided national responses to the global challenges of international migration. The growing migratory pressure from the southern shores of the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has not prompted European states to promote a robust common migration and security policy. The predominance of nation-state logic does not allow the European Union to respond to and manage the major challenges of this disordered world: migratory flows, Islamist terrorism, energy security, etc. This presents Europe with internal and international geopolitical problems. Internal geopolitics, because the conflict between the national interests of the EU member states has been exacerbated by the internal conflict within public opinion, which has never been so divided and polarised on these issues. International geopolitics, because on a global scale the European Union appears increasingly fragile and irrelevant to the extent that it risks playing no role in the resolution of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The aim of this paper is to trace the European geopolitical horizons, focusing on the causes and consequences of the conflicting management of migratory phenomena, especially with regard to the new electoral geography of Europe.

In addressing the complexities of global relational dynamics, geopolitics increasingly turns to analyses of popular processes to explain the resulting international order. Contemporary times demand a focused reflection on the role of women, who are often victims of objectification and marginalization - issues deeply intertwined with key concepts such as identity, security, and migration. Female objectification is not merely a social issue but a pivotal factor in the construction of geopolitical strategies. Women frequently occupy the center of narratives conveying messages of both hospitality and power, with their representation profoundly shaping state control policies. Migrant women emerge as potential agents of change and carriers of cultural diversity, yet they are also perceived as threats to traditional values, exacerbating political and social tensions as well as misunderstandings in host countries. Embracing these reflections, European geopolitics is increasingly concerned with fostering inclusive perspectives aimed at reducing the gender gap and ensuring universal human rights. By drawing on the feminist studies approach -which highlights the anachronism of separating public action from the domestic sphere- this contribution seeks to address the current status of women as geopolitical subjects. The analysis is framed within two overarching themes: first, a discussion of the challenges surrounding female migration and its connections to the broader geopolitical context; second, a critical examination of the European Union’s interventions aimed at consolidating the values of equity and solidarity upon which it is founded. The analysis consciously avoids the oversimplifications characteristic of occidentalism, instead embracing the critical perspective of scientific research to ensure a nuanced understanding of these interconnected issues.

This contribution intends to enrich the session Geopolitics of Migration and Security in a Changing Europe through an eminently cultural geography reading of the migratory journey. On the basis of a reflection advanced in recent times, we propose a) the idea of the journey as a tripartite scanning device: the stasis, the trigger, the experience, and b) the paradoxical alteration of the paradigm triggered by Europe's securitarian migration policies. Through the methodological references proper to the geographical discourse, which chooses to cross, with heuristic intentions, the literary perspective, an itinerary through myth, the sacred word, literature and experience has thus been proposed in order to trace, highlight and knot within a single cognitive afflatus the paradigmatic tripartition of the journey, a true geographical connector. In order to unveil the alteration of the paradigm consolidated in myth and literary perspective, thanks to Merlau Ponty's insights, we have identified chiasmus as the essential rhetorical figure. The push-backs of migrants and the policies and rhetorics of deterrence, in our view, are unnatural alterations of the chiastic structure: imperfect chiasmus. That of imperfect, incomplete Chiasmus, determined by missed landings, by rejections, by the shipwrecks of migrants, the delay of rhetoric and narratives or, in fact health reasons. It is the ship the chosen semiophor. Thirty years have passed since the Vlora appeared, with twenty thousand Albanian migrants, on the Apulian coast and, even today, ships at anchor tell of trips suspended a few strokes from the quay. The Diciotti blocked in the harbor by the political-media debate; the quarantine ships as the Moby Zazà, moored for the quarantine of migrants south of Porto Empedocle. The Diciotti ship will be our strong example. In a very tough geopolitical context and domestic politics, the paradox of the interrupted Chiasmus occurs in front of the coast of Catania.

Recent economic crises and geopolitics events (including trade wars among the US, China and Europe; Suez; the Ukrainian war; the crisis in the Middle East, COVID and post-COVID, and others) have posed serious threats to global supply chains’ ability to ensure uninterrupted end-to-end flows, from raw materials to end customers. Current geographical configurations of logistics networks seem to be outdated and “fragile” to face uncertainty coming from geopolitics and economic developments – including security risks. Global supply chains’ disruptions (actual or potential) and crises seem to be become the new normal in the global economy. The only certainty when designing global networks seems to be uncertainty. What should be done? How to cope with such risks? What kind of strategies, policies and actions should be designed to cope with relevant impacts? How global networks should be (re)designed in the event of crises to determine new geographical configurations, in particular in Europe? Additional research questions include: are global supply chains bound to become “shorter”, thus, moving from global spatial patterns to more “regional” ones? Are risks of “empty shelves” (that is, unavailability of products for consumers) going to increase in the future? Some major research and practice findings pinpoint the role of resilience as a renewed guiding principle supporting the geographical reconfiguration of global networks and territories. However, effective and practical contributions about how to implement such a principle are dramatically missing currently. The paper develops original contributions to support decision-making processes of economic actors and policymakers facing such challenges. The methodological approach is based on literature findings and on-the-field data collection consisting of interviews to logistics and supply chain experts, executives and professionals “in the driving seat” in relevant industries in Europe, including wood & furniture, domestic appliances, food, apparel, eyewear, multimodal transport and logistics and IT.

In this lecture, I demonstrate a case study to show how the issue of energy transition is structured in a metropolitan locality and how it conflicts with heritage conservation concerns. The case study is set in a pre-1945 housing estate of single and two-storey twin and condominium houses in a major Hungarian city, which estate has architectural value. The research is based on semi-structured interviews with 12 local civil society activists and an additional 4 experts, involved in heritage conservation and energy transition issues.
Results of the research show that heritage conservation is associated with concepts of aesthetics, respect for the spirit of place, immobility and nuisance, while energy transition is associated with concepts of practicality, financial return, self-care, and the possibility of solving natural and social challenges. In many cases, the two sets of concepts are linked: in that both are technology-oriented, linked to local traditions, there is a certain pessimism that runs through them, and this stems from another common point: the effort of civil work for a struggling, labelled right cause, while local and national authorities cause in many cases barriers to resolving the conflict.
In the lecture, I argue that local societies, and in particular the population of the metropolitan area under study, have recognised the potential of green transtition, and the civil society movements under study have an immense contribution to make in informing local societies. Although no major breakthroughs have been made so far in terms of national regulation, the hope that a critical mass of local people and civil society movements will force change is still alive. In fact, the creation of energy communities is the intermediate state that would bring not a compromise but a lasting consensus in this situation - solving both the issue of a climate-conscious and energy-resilient local society, while avoiding ad hoc autonomous and individual solutions.

The term "energy transition" is often oversimplified in public discourse, reduced to a focus on emissions-free energy targets while black-boxing the intricate global supply chains and material flows that sustain them (Nadaï and Wallenborn, 2019). Rather than a uniform shift, energy transitions involve reconfigurations of socio-technical systems that reshape landscapes, infrastructures, and daily practices across geographies (Rotmans et al., 2001; Gailing and Moss, 2016; Buell, 2017). This abstraction risks misrepresenting the uneven spatial manifestations of transitions, where some regions advance while others remain burdened by legacy systems (Fuenfschilling and Binz, 2018).

Understanding the complexity of energy transitions requires analytical tools that reveal how global supply chains unfold in local contexts, materialising as production facilities, infrastructure, and worker settlements, all embedded in specific environmental conditions. Current approaches lack the tools to trace and represent material flows across scales while simultaneously capturing their spatial configurations and territorial transformations. To address this gap, this study proposes a cross-scale mapping methodology that traces how solar energy generation shapes production networks, infrastructure, and settlement patterns across interconnected sites. This approach situates energy transitions within multi-scalar networks, linking chemical processes to physical landscapes and technological artefacts to urban agglomerations.

The methodology integrates GIS-based territorial analysis with drawings, process diagrams, and ethnographic methods to visualise the spatiality of these material assemblages. By mapping material flows across interconnected sites, the study reveals how renewable energy technologies shape heterogeneous spatial arrangements within global production networks (Castán Broto, 2019). These arrangements reveal how energy transitions co-produce both immediate spatial consequences and broader territorial transformations, reflecting historical path dependencies and inequalities often overlooked in sustainability frameworks.

The analysis begins in the Lusatian mining district, Germany, tracing its evolution from agrarian roots to a coal-powered industrial hub and its reinvention as a renewable “Energiedistrikt.” It then examines Weesow-Willmersdorf, Germany’s largest solar park, exploring the spatial and infrastructural challenges of scaling solar energy to meet ambitious regional targets. Finally, the study extends to Suqian, China – a key supplier for Weesow-Willmersdorf and a global hub for solar panel manufacturing – to examine the spatial impacts of rising downstream energy demands, including urban expansion, resource monopolisation, and the hidden transformation consequences of intensified production.

The transition to renewable energy is central to strategies for achieving resilience, sustainability, and digital transformation, particularly within the framework of the EU Green Deal and its evolving policy priorities. This research focuses on mapping and understanding the dynamics of solar energy development, with an emphasis on ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV) systems in Italy, and the Tuscany region in particular.

Using a machine learning approach, this study analyzes the expansion of large-scale PV systems (≥1 MW) and their impact on agricultural land. In 2023 alone, approximately 400 hectares of agricultural land (9.5% of total land lost) were converted to PV installations. By integrating geographic, environmental, economic, and regulatory factors, identified through an extensive literature review, a random forest model was developed to identify areas with high potential for future PV installations. The resulting GIS maps provide actionable insights into optimal locations for solar energy projects, balancing energy goals with land-use preservation.

This study highlights the transformative potential of digital tools in energy planning, showcasing how machine learning and geospatial analysis can support sustainable governance. The findings emphasize the importance of place-based approaches to managing conflicts between renewable energy expansion and agricultural preservation, offering a pathway for regions to navigate socio-economic and environmental challenges in their energy transition strategies.

This contribution is proposed at a decisive moment in the development of Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) in order to examine the role of different configuration and observe how they can be actively modelled, perceived and conceptualized through the processes which take place within and around them. The aim is to bring to light what these communities are doing differently and the peculiar character of social innovation that has paved the way towards a new paradigm of commitment and involvement of people, SMEs and associations in decentralized energy systems. In order to do this, a mixed method qualitative research programme conducted in Italy was implemented. Some CERs have reinvented ways of being together, in achieving the energy transition goals in the European Union’s Clean Energy Package adopted in 2019, encouraging participation and action towards possible alternatives. Thanks to the field research conducted in Italy, the contribution adds to the amplification of knowledge of some ways to promote fast transition to a decarbonized and resilient energy system. It also offers a glimpse of some attempts to promote sustainability in the societal agenda and the relative experiences of members who inhabit these RECs. Therefore, it contributes to the literature on the geographies of the transition and, at the same time, it offers critical issues from an Italian perspective, providing ideas and insights to energy policy makers and those who handle building the decarbonization policies of tomorrow

This paper discusses innovation strategies of small rural grocery stores in northern Sweden – a sparsely populated area characterized by ongoing population decline and the widespread loss of services from smaller villages. After several decades of persistent village store closures, the number of rural shops has stabilised in recent years, with new shops emerging in often unexpected locations. We conducted a qualitative study with 25 village stores, which included interviews with shopkeepers, ethnographic observations, discussions with customers and village residents, as well as public documents and social media analysis. The aim was to understand their ownership/management structures, business motivations, and their resulting survival or innovation strategies when it comes to product diversification, target markets, customer engagement, and the use of new technological solutions. Our findings suggest the presence of shop innovations across four inter-related dimensions: digitalization, mobilization, co-location and translocalism. Digitalization included the use of unstaffed self-service models, online ordering and social media marketplaces. Mobilization included non-stationary services visiting villages on a temporary basis (delivery services, pop-up shops). Co-location involved the presence of multiple services within shared facilities, notably community venues and tourism attractions. Translocalism involved the mix of local and external networks (with producers, distribution partners and markets) to allow for business and market differentiation. While private entrepreneurs were often prioritising translocal market solutions to access more profitable external market niches, community-run shops were more focused on solutions around digitalization and co-location to retain important social community spaces, whilst seeking to overcome economic and staffing challenges. Mobile service solutions were less common and mostly disappeared after the pandemic (with the exception of government-funded delivery services for the elderly). Digital solutions, such as self-scanning or unstaffed/hybrid shops, are gaining interest among both shopkeepers and village residents. However, such models are perceived to reduce local social interactions and service quality, and sometimes marginalize older, vulnerable and non-resident populations. Co-location with social meeting and hospitality venues, as well as mentoring and digital training for marginal consumer groups, could reduce issues of social exclusion to some extent. Overall, village shop survival in northern Sweden continues to rely on government support funding, while major innovations in the digital transition have so far been limited to participants in public pilot projects. To survive, shopkeepers have to combine multiple service offerings and income streams beyond retail, whilst facing ongoing challenges to balance economic profitability with social community and personal lifestyle priorities.

The role of physical stores in omnichannel retailing is changing, potentially becoming more central compared to multichannel retailing. While online shopping is growing, the role of physical stores needs further research given the increasingly blurred lines between offline and online.

The aim of this study is to explore what kind of roles physical stores have. Previous studies cover traditional retailing, while retailers themselves require more flexible arrangements for their physical stores. Pop up phenomena is one example of these requirements. Still, an emerging research topic of phygital stores lacks empirical evidence. A phygital store means that the physical retail environment is seamlessly connected to digital one. Moreover, results of this study are described from the retailers' perspective, revealing their experiences and potential barriers operating in omnichannel context.

The case study conducted at Helsinki Outlet discovers the potential of an omnichannel retail approach in creating a seamless retail environment that leverages both physical and digital touchpoints. Helsinki Outlet's adoption of a platform, provided by the real estate owner, which facilitates trade from both physical stores and online, serves as an example of how digital interventions can bridge the gap between traditional and contemporary retail.

Employing a case study methodology, semi-structured interviews are conducted with omnichannel retailers operating in Helsinki Outlet. The findings underscore the strategic benefits that arise from such a real estate owner-led omnichannel model aimed at delivering a seamless shopping experience. From retailers’ perspective, the digital solutions in addition to their physical location in Helsinki Outlet enable to implement omnichannel strategies recognized from literature such as the buy online pick-up in store (BOPS) strategy. The omnichannel approach mitigated the disadvantages of physical stores, such as limited geographic reach and time-bound operations like store opening hours, by ensuring that customers could engage with the brand at their convenience, regardless of location or time constraints.

In conclusion, the Helsinki Outlet case study provides results on the premise that digital solutions, when integrated into a traditional retail environment, can strengthen the competitive position of physical stores against online counterparts. The role of the physical store is thus evolving into a phygital one.

In recent times, it is digitalization in particular that is triggering innovative thrusts in retail beyond e-commerce. Phygital environments are emerging that blend the physical space of a traditional store with digital applications in the form of modern technologies and bring together online and offline worlds for a "hybrid customer journey". These developments manifest themselves in the form of unmanned stores and vending machine stores that use the full range of technological advances to continue to offer customers a personalized shopping experience, but one that is based on technical convenience and technical service and no longer (only) on personal service by employees. This stage of retail development is characterized as Retail 4.0, which includes the networking of devices via the internet, the collection and processing of big data, cloud computing, the use of artificial and augmented realities, e.g. in the form of artificial language and images. Unmanned stores have only been around for a few years. In Germany, only pilot stores of supermarkets and discounters exist so far in the form of so-called autonomous high-tech stores. The situation is different with so-called semi-autonomous low-tech stores and vending machines (regiomats) without sensors, which are expanding in rural regions of Germany and opening up new opportunities for the provision of basic services to the population in peripheral areas. What these facilities have in common is a continuous opening on a "small" sales area of up to a few 100 square meters, no staff, self checkout by the customer, cashless payment and prior customer registration via an app on private digital devices. This article aims to identify not only effective and potential consumers in a consolidating system of hybrid stores, but also reasons for rejection and reactance towards digital solutions among the test subjects. Theories of consumer and social psychology such as the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) or the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) can help to reveal not only the entrenched attitudes of test subjects towards consumption or technical innovations, but also to explain visible and spatially varying behavioral and purchasing practices. It is investigated a) which customer clientele feels addressed by the tech-savvy concept of unmanned stores and in which spatial structures and competitive networks of other (food) providers the customers operate; b) which location considerations on the part of store developers, store operators and other stakeholders contribute to the opening of a 4.0 store; c) to what extent the village store 4.0 can fill a niche in competition with discounters and supermarkets via smart technology.