1. Which town/city/country would you choose to live in from the following?
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2. Do you think that Gorlitz, Detroit, and Candela are at the beginning of a new dawn, or at the end of an era? Is it inevitable that some towns/cities will always 'fall off the map'?
3. "Gorlitz's project will only help young liberals working in IT dependent industries." Do you agree?
4. Do you think that technology can help slow down migration from regional towns and cities towards capital cities? Or do we need something else e.g. infrastructure, devolution, regionalism, traditional industries?
5. Are there any cities in your country that are trying to attract newcomers or hold on to their citizens? How are they doing it? Have some succeeded or failed at this?
6. Could you work remotely at your current job? Could you work remotely in a foreign country? Would you want to?
7. Could you perform your daily tasks solely from a computer or a phone? Would you be happy sitting on a tropical beach, a drink in your hand, with a laptop doing your work?
8. "Working 9 to 5 in an office/factory/shop with colleagues provides a rhythm to life, a security that remote working can never match." Do you agree?
9. Are you a self-starter?
10. Do you need validation to feel successful?
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Situation
You represent the town of XYZ, a town that has seen a decrease in the size of its population. You have an interview with a journalist (your teacher) from a prestigious newspaper. Explain to him/her your town's policies on rejuvenating the population.
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Discuss quotes
“When you light a candle, you also cast a shadow.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin
"I would rather be the only horse in a one-horse town than be the third horse in a big city."
- David Lichtenstein
"It is not in some sort of retreat that we will find ourselves: it is in the city, in the midst of the crowd, a thing among things, a man among men."
- Jean-Paul Sartre
"The city has a face, the countryside has a soul."
- Jacques de Lacretelle
"Live in the countryside for you, instead of living in the city for others."
- Latin proverb
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Photo: Ketut Subiyanto