Information technology and global integration processes enable smoother and faster knowledge flow. "Local" research findings reach the global professional community almost immediately. And vice versa, global sociological findings quickly enrich local funds of knowledge. At least at the conceptual level that is. Differences occur in the concrete transfer of "global" knowledge to the local level. This is why we dedicated great attention precisely to the "translation" of global ideas to local contexts. Intensive research was also carried out on possible synergies between local Slovene special features in the spatial and environmental field and global trends in providing good-quality space and environment. The basic guideline in these efforts was the insight that the quality of space and the environment in Slovenia is a very significant competitive development factor in the long term. Incorporating this starting-point in the development policies of different, even non-spatial sectors (e.g. agriculture, energy, health, social care, etc.) is an essential move towards developmental use of good-quality space and environment. The research results on the sociological conditions of legitimising interventions into space and the environment are directly aplicable. For a variety of reasons, this is an extraordinary problem in Slovenia, which requires generally know procedures to be adjusted. Equally directly usable are the findings on information technology literacy and on the digital divide. In Slovenia, these issues are highly topical because of the low mobility and low level of population concentration. The usability of our research efforts is confirmed by the increased demand for consultancy services and orders for expert opinions in the field of spatial planning and environment protection. We have co-operated in the preparation of professional spatial planning documents and in assessments of the social influences of several major and minor infrastructural interventions into space and the environment. For this reason, we increased the application ratio of our research work. In the initial period, the ratio was around 20% and has since climbed to nearly 40 %. How useful the research findings are is also underpinned by the intensive and broad inclusion of the acquired knowledge in the education process at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the Faculty of Social Sciences, our parent institution, and also at other higher education institutions in Slovenia and abroad.