In the paper, we explore the potential of sketchnoting as a tool for constructing learner´s knowledge. Sketchnoting is non-linear note-taking method...

In the first part of the paper the aim is to provide the reader with a theoretical insight into models of government structure at the local level and provide evidence from European countries that underwent reforms during the second half of the 20th century. In the Slovak Republic (Slovakia) the renewal of local self-government in 1990 brought changes to the administrative boundary map with more than 200 municipalities reestablished bringing the current number to 2,929 local administrative units. This has resulted in some discussion regarding a reduction in the number of local government units in this country. The second part of the paper is focused on Košice; the second largest city in Slovakia with 234,000 in­habitants. The city is organised at two administrative levels; one covering the whole city, the other covering 22 wards. When compared to cities of a similar size, Košice has been criticised for its high number of city wards and councillors, with the concomitant financial inefficiency it can bring. There has been an ongoing debate on reducing their number since 2010. The paper reports on the search for an admin­istrative structure that would best tailor to the citizens' needs and provide effective management in Košice. It uses traditional methods of qualitative research (historical method, content analysis and syn­thesis) accompanied by statistical data organised in tables and figures.

Starting from the school year 2026/2027, Slovakia will implement the State edu-cational programme for primary and lower secondary education (Ministry of education, 2023), introducing performance-based and content-related changes in geography educa-tion. For the third educational cycle (6th –9th grades) the curriculum sets learning activities that can be conducted using geoinformation technologies. These activities include geo-graphical inquiry, the use of statistical data for acquiring, processing, presenting the infor-mation, identifying the spatial relationships, creating a map, and drawing conclusions. The achievement of such educational goals may vary depending on the understanding and preparedness of teachers. In this context, it is essential that future geography teachers ac-quire the knowledge and skills to apply inquiry-based teaching strategies effectively. This paper examines inquiry-based learning and teaching with digital mapping tools aimed at pre-service geography teachers by equipping them to design their own inquiry-based tasks. A set of twenty-eight geography tasks was analysed from didactic and subject-specific viewpoints. Findings show pre-service geography teachers cultivated their expertise in un-derstanding and designing the inquiry-based tasks with the use of selected digital mapping tools in topics of school geography. Their most frequent design was a task to create a the-matic map representing a demographic indicator of Slovak population using the ArcGIS Online platform. The study concludes with recommendations for integrating inquiry-based learning with digital mapping tools into geography teacher training programmes.