The Organisation of Cultural and Social Life in Selected Successful Villages

This paper compares the methods of organisation of cultural and social life in three municipalities which were awarded the “Village of the Year” title, namely the municipalities of Oravská Lesná, Liptovská Teplička and Spišský Hrhov. The research in these three municipalities suggests several historical and socio-economic similarities between the villages of Oravská Lesná and Liptovská Teplička, which contrasts with the situation in Spišský Hrhov. These similarities and differences between the municipalities are also manifested at the level of their cultural and social life and development strategies. On one hand, we have the traditional mountainous villages with stable long-term and internally driven demography; on the other hand, a changing municipality with a high rate of immigration. In the former case, activities related to the identity of a traditional municipality are being developed, while in the latter case, the identity of the municipality is being actively created also through new cultural and social activities. The key factors of the municipalities’ cultural and social life in both cases are initiative inhabitants and proactive self-governments open to their initiatives