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The aim of the paper is to show a brief review of social research methods used in beach user research and coastal zone management. It is argued that this approach may effectively be used from the perspective of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM). Beaches are one of the most important factors of the sun and sea tourism, and an area where the increased users' pressure is common with the rise of tourist activity. This expansion creates increased pressure on the coastal area, the marine eco systems and, potentially, leads to a degradation of the natural environment. Social research methods provide an invaluable insight into the processes incentivizing beach users in respect to physical, social, economic and natural aspects of beach uses as well as of other parts of the coast, through the concept of the user perception. The intended result is to provide a brief methodological overview of social science research methods applied to and found in literature that can be used to be better informed of the beach management decisions as an area of ICZM interest and, in this way, contributing to the overall sustainable development of the coastal zone and increasing the competitiveness of beach tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Nin-Ljubač Channel (Ninsko-Ljubački Kanal), off the coast of the Island of Pag, near the village of Vlašići in Croatia, there are two islets. On recent topographic maps they are marked as Veli (0.15 square km) and Mali Sikavac (0.14 square km). Local sailors have always used the plural name Ćićavci, or Ćikavci (Cikavci) (Large and Small) for them, and on some older maps, they appear as Scogli Zicavatz or Scogli Zicovac. The larger one (Veli Sikavac/Ćićavac) was also called St. Paul on the first topographic maps. More recently, claims that a fortress was found on Veli Sikavac near the ruins of a church have been confirmed by contemporary archeological research. As far as we know, the oldest clear depictions of these islets are on sixteenth-century maps, though the labels are barely legible (Tunor ?, Taner porina?). In fact, the remnants of the church, the ramparts, and an archival mention of a Venetian sentry-post in the 15th century, which the author has mentioned earlier on several occasions, have been proved to be accurate by recent archaeological research. Also the remains have been found of (probably) an older church underneath a smaller one (with one or both named on some older maps variously as St. Bastian, St. Barbara, St. Roch, and finally St. Paul). Obviously, the strategic importance of the islet was prominent in the complex sea passage between Zadar Channel and Kvarnerić on the one hand, and Velebit Channel on the other, from at least Byzantine times. Using cartographic templates, the author presents several variants of the possible etymology of the names of these islets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modern county system in the Republic of Croatia, and the strategic motorway network linking the Croatian regions, particularly the central and southern parts of the Adriatic coast via the Lika area, have defined new functional links in the central part of Adriatic Croatia. In contrast to reversions to previous divisions and demarcations in the Croatian area made by the Ottoman Empire, Habsburg Monarchy and Venetian Republic, the late 20th and early 21st centuries have seen renewed processes in the transport, economic and functional connectivity of modern Lika and North Dalmatia, which are similar to those in Antiquity and periods when the original nucleus of the Croatian state was affirmed. The construction of the motorway within the Adriatic-Ionian corridor, the focus on the nearest coastal frontage with an airport and sea ports, linking tourist complexes in the chain Novalja / Karlobag -- Nin -- Zadar -- Biograd -- Vodice -- Šibenik -- Primošten -- Rogoznica with the Plitvice Lakes tourist complex, and a greater number of national and nature parks, have encouraged new, improved connectivity through direct, easily perceptible socio-geographic processes. This has been helped by relatively simple, spontaneous permeation in trade, transport, banking, administration, education, the judiciary, security, etc., which in spite of individual, political or inherited solutions and local issues prompted by groups with different or overlapping interests, has facilitated appropriate, effective, modern-day and essential integration towards a gravitationally unique, functional regional complex. The significance of existing, established centres of gravity, among which Zadar is prominent as an old developmental hub and node on the Croatian Adriatic coastal front, is of prime importance, particularly in a period of demographic recession, not only for small, rural centres, but also larger urban ones, this regional complex, and Croatia as a whole. Scientific, multidisciplinary recognition of modern processes in development, and spatial determinants in selecting a modern regional system in the Republic of Croatia, are also linked to the modern administrative-territorial, i.e. inherited, traditional county system. It is equally desirable to align these with EU NUTS regionalisation (particularly the NUTS-3 level), which is a challenging, but undeferrable task, for the purpose of the equitable distribution of basic goods, and balanced, decentralised, high quality development in Lika and North Dalmatia and Croatia as a whole in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important geographical and geo-traffic centre of Adriatic Croatia, Dubrovnik is one of the most famous modern tourist, cultural and heritage centres in the Mediterranean and in the World. Dubrovnik-Neretva County attracts around one million relatively high-paying tourists from all over the world a year, who realise about five million overnights (about 7% of the Croatian tourist traffic). The geo-traffic location, the territorial separation by the "Neum corridor" from other parts of Croatia, the suspension of the railway connection in 1976, as much as a relatively large distance from regional centres, resulted in a situation where for the most part the modern transport links with Dubrovnik are carried out by air and by sea (regular lines, cruisers, etc.). Inland roads connect mainly with other parts of Croatia but to a significantly lower degree with the neighbouring countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. The growing needs of a modern road linkage require new and better solutions in relation to the current connections by the old Adriatic tourist road. This refers primarily to an increase in mobility and speed of travel, and to the avoidance of border crossings, but also to solving the transport connections between the Pelješac peninsula and the island of Korčula (indirectly the island of Mljet and Lastovo too). In this regard, the already initiated construction of the bridge Klek-Pelješac has recently appeared to be an appropriate and high quality realisation of a modern road (a highway or a fast road) connecting Dubrovnik with the European space in the West and North, as well as with other parts of Croatia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article summarizes the dissertation of Josip Faričić titled "North Dalmatian Islands in the Process of Littoralization - Development, Problems and Perspectives," submitted at the Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia on June 28, 2006. A brief biography of Faričić and an account of his educational background and career are discussed. The dissertation contributes to geographical research of littoralization process on the Croatian littoral, as well as to the creation of a scientific basis for future researchers.

Uvođenje novih programa geografije na Odjelu za geografiju Sveučilišta u Zadru omogućuje i potiče ostvarenje novih koncepcija u nastavi, primjenu ECTS sustava bodovanja, veću izbornost studentima u pogledu ostvarenja spoznajnih interesa, poboljšanje kvalitete i učinkovitosti, odnosno funkcionalnosti nastave itd. U smislu prenošenja kartografskih znanja, vještina i sposobnosti, kroz 7 posebnih, temeljnih ili izbornih jednosemestarskih predmeta ili kroz druge predmete, također se čini značajan pomak, a studentima se omogućuje uži ili širi izbor kartografskih tema, odnosno spoznaja u cjelini. Tri su kartografska kolegija temeljna, i to Uvod u kartografiju, Primijenjena kartografija i GIScience -- znanost o geoprostornim informacijama. Izborni su kartografski kolegiji: Geoinformatika, Multimedijska geografija, Digitalna kartografija i Geomatematika (Matematičke metode u geografiji). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers information on the doctoral thesis "Littoralisation of the Kvarner Islands--A Hydrogeographical Basis" by Robert Lončarić. The thesis was defended at the Department of Geography of the University of Zadar in Croatia on June 29, 2010. The contents of the thesis are described as well as educational and career background on Lončarić.