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Thank you for visiting my website. If you are looking for my publications, please visit the BIBLIOGRAPHY section, where you will find many of my works available in open access. For those interested in my research projects and expert evaluations, I invite you to explore the RESEARCH AND EXPERTISE section. Students are invited mainly to the DIDACTICS section where they can find course syllabuses, as well as information regarding required literature and course materials. I also recommend checking the information on office hours, which I endeavour to keep updated on a regular basis.
If you have questions, problems and doubts do not hesitate to write to me. I always try my best to answer.
Few words about me
I was born on October 1th 1967 in Wloclawek.
I graduated from Liceum Ziemi Kujawskiej in Wloclawek (1986).
I currently serve as a Professor at the Faculty of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Alongside my academic research and teaching duties, I perform key administrative roles, including serving as the Dean of the Faculty and the Head of the Department of Regional and Local Studies (known as the Department of Regional Analysis until 2019).
I am the author of over 250 academic publications, including 16 monographs and 25 edited volumes. I have served as a principal investigator and researcher for projects funded by the European Research Council, the State Committee for Scientific Research, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the National Science Centre, and the National Centre for Research and Development. Furthermore, I design and implement research and educational projects financed through structural fund programmes. I have had the privilege of applying the results of my scientific work to meet the needs of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development, the Marshal’s Office of the Wielkopolska Region in Poznań, the Poznań City Hall, as well as other local governments, institutions, and organizations. I have participated in numerous national and international conferences. I collaborate with international research centres and European institutions, where I have completed short-term academic visits. Upon invitation from the Minister, I served as a member of the Task Force for Problem Areas at the Ministry of Regional Development. I was also a member of the Steering Committee for the organisation of the International Geographical Union Regional Conference KRAKÓW 2014. I have the honour of contributing to the Committee for Spatial Economy and Regional Planning of the Polish Academy of Sciences, currently serving as its Vice-Chairman. I am a member of the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP), where I served on the Council of Representatives from 2018 to 2022. I am also among the founders of the European Regional Science Association (ERSA) – Polish Section, having served as its Vice-President between 2012 and 2016. Furthermore, I am a member of the American Association of Geographers. I am actively involved in the Union of Universities for the Development of Spatial Management Programmes, where I chair the Executive Board and coordinate the curriculum improvement working group. Additionally, I hold the position of Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Geographical Units in Poland. I act as a reviewer for the European Research Council, the National Science Centre, the National Centre for Research and Development, and the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange. I also serve as a peer reviewer for numerous publishers and academic journals, including Regional Studies, Papers in Regional Science, European Planning Studies, Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy, Moravian Geographical Reports, Przegląd Geograficzny, Biuletyn KPZK PAN, Studia KPZK PAN, Studia Regionalia KPZK PAN, ERSA Polish Section, Prace Geograficzne IGiPZ PAN, and Studia Regionalne i Lokalne (UW), among others. I am the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Rozwój Regionalny i Polityka Regionalna (Regional Development and Regional Policy) and a member of the editorial board of the quarterly journal Studia Regionalne i Lokalne.
Research interests
- reinterpretation of regional resilience under conditions of developmental shocks,
- the transformation of the concept of the region as a territorial social system under the conditions of the twin transition,
- the position and significance of inner peripheries in spatial disparities of development,
- the utilization of functional areas in the delimitation of spatial development disparities and the programming of intervention measures,
- modeling the cohesion and competitiveness of the economic region,
- local and regional development challenges in Poland and Europe, including those related to climate change and the just transition process,
- systematization and transformation of development factors and regional policy in Poland and the European Union, including the operationalization of the territorial capital concept in line with the assumptions of place-based integrated development policy and the challenges of territorial justice,
- multidimensional delimitation of economic growth and stagnation areas in terms of partial and comprehensive development within the regional and subregional framework of Poland and the European Union,
- the consequences of implementing and modifying the Polish development policy model, including transformations in the regional policy paradigm,
- systematization of concepts related to agglomeration, concentration, and specialization of socio-economic activity in space, utilizing a broad theoretical background of economic geography and economics,
- the role of aid funds, including Structural Funds, in the process of local and regional development in Poland,
- the challenges of responsible research and innovation, including the role of higher education institutions in their implementation,
- the state and ongoing changes in the labor market during the socio-economic transformation period in Poland and Europe,
- spatial differentiation of the level and conditions of life and its consequences in shaping territorial justice,
- the application of econometrics and geographic information systems to spatial analyses.
Academic and professional career history
In the years 1986-1991 I was a student of geography, specialization – socio-economic geography at the Faculty of Geography and Geology at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. I graduated with very good results, presenting MA thesis on the topic: “The level and living conditions of citizens in Lwówek Wielkopolski” and passing my MA exam with highest grade (1991). My thesis was awarded first prize in the National Contest for Master of Geography organized by Polish Geographical Society in 1992.
I have been an employee of the Institute of Socio-Economic Geography and Spatial Management at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan since 1990 (from 2019 Faculty). In the years 1990 – 1998 I had been employed as a trainee assistant, then assistant and then as a Phd student in the Department of Regional Analysis.
In November of 1998 I obtained a doctorate in in Earth Sciences in the field of geography at the Faculty of Geography and Geology at Adam Mickiewicz University presenting a dissertation on the topic: “Local labor markets in Poznan province in the period of socio-economic transformation” and I continued to work at the Department of Regional Analysis as an adjunct.
January 20, 2009 based on the habilitation thesis entitled “Factors of regional development and regional policy in Poland during the period of integration with the European Union” and the habilitation thesis conducted by the Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences Council of the Adam Mickiewicz University, I obtained the degree of habilitated doctor of Earth sciences in the field of geography.
By order of 25 October 2019. The President of the Republic of Poland gave me the title of professor of social science.
Throughout my professional career between 1993 and 1999, alongside my primary appointment at the University, I was also employed at the ZENIT Private Vocational College in Włocławek, where I served as Deputy Director and subsequently as Director of the institution. From 1999 to 2006, I held a position at the Cuiavian University in Włocławek (formerly the Higher School of Humanities and Economics), where I actively contributed to administrative and organisational operations, serving as Vice-Dean, Rector’s Plenipotentiary, Vice-Rector, and Chancellor. Between 2007 and 2014, I was appointed at the Faculty of Humanities and Journalism in Poznań (WSNHiD, currently Collegium Da Vinci), initially as an Assistant Professor and later as a Professor, while also performing the duties of Rector’s Plenipotentiary and Vice-Rector.
Z moimi publikacjami można zapoznać się korzystając z:
DR KAROLINA CHURSKA-NOWAK 1979-2012
Karolina Churska-Nowak was born on September 11, 1979, in Włocławek. Since then, her personal and professional life has been tied to Poznań. She graduated from a class with an Italian profile at the Secondary School No. 6 in Poznań. After passing her matura exam, she continued her education with a master’s degree program in political science (specialization: political marketing) at the Institute of Political Science and Journalism, Faculty of Social Sciences at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. In 2003, she was admitted to the Doctoral Studies program at INPiD AMU, joining the Political Marketing Laboratory.
Since then, she was professionally involved in the education sector. During her doctoral studies, alongside teaching classes, conducting her own academic research, and organizing conferences, she gained empirical knowledge and practical skills by working in election campaign offices, both within and outside the Greater Poland region. Among other achievements, she was a scholarship recipient at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.