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Land use and settlement dynamics of two rural areas defined by the contact karst spring is the subject of this paper. The research area consists of the spring catchment of Ljubija in the northeast part of Slovenia and Gradole, the most water-rich spring in Istria (northwest Croatia), have been surveyed in terms of environmental conditions, and social and historic land use aspects. We used Statistical data and Geographic Information System (GIS) methods. Via a multidisciplinary approach we discovered that: 1) environmentally, both areas are actively managed due to drinking water resources— Gradole has 9.8% and Ljubija 8.9% of protected area; 2) data regarding social features showed that human pressure has not negatively influenced the natural settings and water supply vulnerability—the area of the Ljubija spring catchment has lower population density compared to the area of the Gradole spring catchment (1.4 inhabitants/ km² compared to 38.7 inhabitants/km² ), but the Ljubija area has more pronounced growth in the number of households—I2020/1948 = 115 compared to I2020/1948 = 88.1 at the Gradole spring catchment; and 3) the limited regeneration abilities of the karst water bodies have been preserved by the prevailing share of forest—land use data showed 84.8% for Ljubija and 34.4% for Gradole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jewish heritage tourism is a relatively new form of niche tourism which appeared in Europe in the 1990s, because of a renewed understanding of cultural and historical values of Jewish heritage. By its inclusion in tourism, Jewish heritage has become a visible component in destinations, which has led to the renovation of synagogues, opening of Jewish museums, organization of festivals, and also to the gentrification of neglected Jewish quarters in many European cities. The goal of this paper is to analyse the most common methods, selection of stakeholders, elements, research locations and spatial scope used in studies of Jewish heritage tourism. The analysis includes 28 scientific papers from databases and focuses on the research methods used in those papers. The results show that the most common methods used in studies of Jewish heritage tourism are content analysis and interviews. These methods have proven to be suitable for determining the state and representation of Jewish heritage in each destination, while for a higher level of integration of Jewish heritage in tourism, other methods are more appropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature-based tourism is a type of tourism that is primarily concerned with the direct enjoyment of relatively undisturbed natural phenomena. Today, it is among the types of tourism which are characterised by significant growth rates at the global level. It has considerable growth potential and its development can concurrently ensure tourist satisfaction with the nature experience, profit for tourism providers, funds for environmental protection and an improvement in living standards in local communities. Nevertheless, it is also important to be aware of the potential negative implications of nature-based tourism development and to continuously manage all aspects of sustainability. This paper aims to determine the main study aspects of nature-based tourism, the most common methodological approaches and the most important characteristics of its contemporary development. For this purpose, an analysis of recent empirical research on nature-based tourism was conducted, and a total of 41 original scientific papers were included in the analysis. The four study aspects derived from this analysis contribute to determining the general characteristics of nature-based tourism's contemporary development, the prerequisite factors for this development, and the effects it has on a given area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public transportation is a fundamental societal service that directly affects spatial development. In order to ensure a high level of functionality and sustainability of the public transport system, as well as even spatial development, a good planning framework for its development is a necessity. This paper analyses the distribution and functional characteristics of the public transportation system in the northeastern part of the Zagreb Urban Agglomeration: the Sesvete district and the neighbouring municipalities of Gornja Stubica and Marija Bistrica in Krapina-Zagorje County. The goal of this paper has two parts: to analyse the public bus and train transportation systems in the study area, using relevant traffic, demographic, and functional data; and to create a typology of public transport quality of the settlements of the research area. Based on the results of the analysis, potential measures to aid the development of public transport in the study area, as well as their potential impact for the entire area of Zagreb, have been detailed in the discussion section. The results of the analysis indicate that public transport is more available and of better quality in the southern part of the study area and in Sesvete and the smaller settlements surrounding it, but it is less frequent and less available throughout the majority of settlements in Gornja Stubica and Marija Bistrica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the scientific community, the concept of services of general interest is relatively new, even though its components have been examined in various ways for several decades. The term "service of general interest" is a political and normative expression introduced by the European Union. While it is challenging to provide a precise definition, services of general interest are generally understood as service activities that public administration bodies in a specific country or region designate as activities contributing to the public welfare. In geographical research, individual elements of this concept are often analysed, such as the provision of infrastructure and services in settlements, the organization of central places, or the accessibility of services in a specific area. This paper aims to organize fundamental knowledge about services of general interest, as found in scientific and professional literature; with the intention of analysing definitions and classifications of these services, exploring the scientific interest in distinct service categories, examining the spatial organization of services, and investigating their accessibility and adaptation in response to modern social, economic, and technological changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is an evident lack of research in the field of geodiversity valorization, which has resulted in the neglect of its scientific values, as well as insufficient development of geotourism. The aim of this paper is to valorize selected geomorphological sites in Blidinje Nature Park, considering their geotourism value. The applied methodological concept was created as a result of an analysis of existing methodological templates of geodiversity valorization, where the criteria for the assessment of basic, additional, conservation, and tourism value were combined. In this regard, one of the objectives of the paper is to contribute to a better understanding and application of methodological concepts of tourism valorization, especially within protected nature areas. During the research, 44 sites were singled out and, based on the results of the preliminary assessment, a list was created with a total of 23 sites that were valorized of which eight stood out with a higher than average mark. The results of this research indicate the potential for the development of the geotourism supply of Blidinje Nature Park, for which the basis should be the best-rated geomorphological sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents structural features and the process and intensity of landscape changes in the Central Lika Region of Croatia, in the transitional, post-socialist and post-war periods (1980–2012). The aim of this paper is to analyse regularities and interrelations between the changes in structural features and the intensity of the processes that cause change. By using GIS spatial analysis methods, the shape, position, and condition of landscape patches were defined for each year. The diachronicprocess analysis, with the application of a specially-developed index — the Landscape Development Index (di) — made it possible to determine the intensity of development of individual landscape elements. The landscape was observed using the concept of Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) and, for this purpose, data from the CORINE Land Cover database were used for 1980 and 2012. The results showed fragmentation and an increase in the number and complexity of patches, as well as a decrease of the core patch area. Consequently, the increase of the share of edge areas has increased vulnerability to external influences and changes. Applying the Landscape Development Index (di) showed advantages compared to a standard comparison of the two conditions or synthetic indices, enabling the intensity of each observed phenomenon/process to be determined, and allowing for deeper spatial and temporal analysis as well as better understanding of landscape development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the geopolitical situation of the Western Balkans, a region defined along state borders by the European Union. The region includes Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia. For the purpose of the research, a survey was conducted among geography students in eight cities of the Western Balkans and in Zagreb. The survey was conducted according to the Delphi method in two rounds. By conducting research using a survey and the Delphi method, three scenarios of geopolitical development through 2031 were formed: "Euro-Atlantic integration", "Status quo" and "Reconstruction of the Western Balkans". By comparing the scenarios, it is apparent that the geopolitical development of the region in the next ten years will mostly follow the "Status quo" scenario, that is, according to the current geopolitical patterns of the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the role of Medvednica Mountain streams in the past and present spatial planning of the City of Zagreb. A description of their main characteristics is followed by an examination of their historical role in spatial planning and spatial plans, and of their impact on the urbanisation of Zagreb over four characteristic periods from the second half of the 19th century to the time of writing. A survey was also conducted to determine the ways in which the people of Zagreb use these streams and their views on their potential development. The international practice of planning and management of urban streams is explained in selected examples. Finally, on the basis of the survey, field research, and a synthesis of foreign and domestic planning practice and literature, the authors summarise the results and findings of the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Podgorje is in the zone of the overlapping nodal-functional regions of Rijeka and Zadar. Despite its central position in the geographical context of Adriatic Croatia, the Podgorje region is suffering very negative demographic processes and trends because it is an area of poor transportation accessibility. The aim of this research paper is to analyze the interdependency of transport accessibility of Podgorje and the neighboring leading regional centers, as well as the negative demographic processes and trends that have destabilized this region and converted it into a rural periphery of Adriatic Croatia. The processes of littoralization and industrialization of the coast of Podgorje failed, when they should have created the prerequisites for the development of a functional network of settlements, which would have in turn created and kept necessary functions and retained the population. The absence of these processes has led to the demographic decline of the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, many rural regions of Central Europe have witnessed a massive inflow of non-EU nationals, turning them into new migration destinations (NDMs). The majority of these regions were not prepared for this change and international migration became a hot-button topic. However, as the negative consequences of demographic change are getting more prominent in rural Central Europe, these regions should search for new ways to stimulate the integration of newly-arrived migrants. This can be done with the help of “social innovations.” This paper provides a literature overview on the aforementioned topics, as well as an analysis of the results of the Arrival Regions Project (Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE) that tested nine different social innovation approaches to support the integration of non-EU nationals in rural Central Europe. The results of the project confirmed that social innovation approaches are an effective and easy-toimplement way to support integration of non-EU nationals living in rural Central Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of their importance, water springs have been the subject of scholarly study since the late 17th century. With the development of science in the 19th, and especially in the 20th and 21st centuries, they became the object of study of various fields and branches of science. The result of the diverse studies of springs is a rich knowledge of their properties and the development of numerous classifications. Most basic classifications were created at the beginning of the 20th century, but a need for interdisciplinary research and classification of springs has emerged in the last twenty years. Today, however, there is no internationally-accepted interdisciplinary classification or database of springs that would facilitate the comparison of researched features and the use of research data. In Croatia, water-rich karst springs, which are attractive phenomena, have been thoroughly researched and classified, while non-karst springs have been examined less. The aim of this paper is to present the development of spring classifications throughout history, to emphasize the variety of research approaches that have been used, and to present the most important modern research of springs in the world and in Croatia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The teaching methodology of geography is a relatively young scientific discipline within the scientific field of geography, that has only been experiencing its full scientific affirmation in the last few decades. In the early years, scholarly production focused on works that primarily dealt with geography education, but further development of the discipline showed a tendency to single out educational geography as a distinct scholarly entity and branch within the field. Given the aforementioned, there is a need to recapitulate scientific production and the most important findings of this geographical scientific discipline from the last fifty years. A review of scientific and scientific-expert papers on the teaching methodology of geography and educational geography indicates a thematic and methodological paradigm shift toward covering topics and objects of research significantly wider than those covered in the classroom and during geography lessons. The noticeable changes in the prevailing scientific interest in the curriculum and organization of teaching according to human resources research, the organization of education in certain areas and student achievement indicate a continuous and stable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]