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The accessibility of services of general interest (shops, post offices, banks etc.) in rural hinterlands is decreasing and villages that once supplied areas with services are losing their functions in the central settlements’ network. According to the current analytical framework the key challenges of supply are people’s dependence on car transportation, lack of village shops and other basic services, and e-services replacing location-based services. This paper examines the current dynamics of the supply of basic goods in the Idrijsko-Cerkljansko region of Slovenia. Using mixed methods approach, the paper covers a historical overview of service provision by a field survey and historical analysis, as well as an analysis of demand and supply, done via an online questionnaire. The aim of the paper is to combine the findings into a proposal for an optimized alternative supply network integrating good practices such as linking providers, promoting local products and reopening of village shops.

This article reflects on the development of green infrastructure as planning concept and inspects the status of the concept's implementation under the umbrella of the EU-strategy for the Alpine Region. Qualitative methods, including policy analysis and interviews, were used to evaluate the understanding of the concept among relevant stakeholders from Alpine countries. The results show that there is little agreement with regard to understanding the concept, and that there was a lack of common practice towards its implementation in the 2014–2020 EU budget period. The macro-regional setting consists of the macro regional strategy and the financial support for projects and measures provided via the Alpine Space Programme and The Alpine Region Preparatory Action Fund (ARPAF). The policy analysis reveals that some of the Alpine countries were more pro-active and have either integrated the concept into existing policies (nature protection, planning, environmental policies and so on) or possess GI specific legislation. It was concluded that the existence of various perceptions and views on the concept hinder the successful implementation of the concept and its integration into lower governance levels. Thus, for now, the implementation of GI in the macro-regional context depends upon individual initiatives of the states, regions, or/and local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Like many countries in Europe, Slovenia is experiencing significant changes in its urban and rural fabric through suburbanization and immigration. Small communities with limited administrative capacity to adapt to these incoming populations have been particularly affected. The associated problems include a lack of facilities for new migrants to existing villages, the rapid construction of atypical homes, and a dearth of recreation areas (Music 2004).Little has been done to effectively address these challenges. Worse, new municipalities have been created for political reasons without any consideration of their capacity for implementing their required legal tasks. These tasks are especially not being achieved in the field of spatial planning. Instead, Slovenia is witnessing an imprudent construction of infrastructure at the micro level. This type of local development does not take into account the strategic context of the wider region. This approach bespeaks a larger problem, namely the lack of a strong and valued spatial culture in Slovenia.

Članek temelji na raziskavi, ki je bila opravljena pred priključitvijo Slovenije Evropski uniji z namenom, da se ugotovi, kako lokalni prebivalci dojemajo in predvidevajo družbeno-gospodarske posledice in spremembe v kulturni krajini, ki jih bo ta politična sprememba prinesla. Avtorica je analizirala, kako se napovedane spremembe odražajo v prostoru 10 let kasneje in kako je odprtje metje izboljšalo kakovost in tudi dojemanje krajine. Slednja se je spremenila zlasti zaradi prekomejnih CBC iniciativ, katerih namen je izboljšanje lokalnega in regionalnega gospodarstva, napredek kmetijstva in večja trajnost regije. Zaključimo lahko, da je priključitev Evropski uniji regiji prinesla pozitivne spremembe, vendar se je potrebno zavedati tudi nezaželenih posledic, ki nastanejo zaradi prilagajanja lokalnih skupnosti evropskim politikam.

Copyright of Dela is the property of University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Philosophy / Univerza v Ljubljani, Filozofska Fakulteta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Dela is the property of University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Philosophy / Univerza v Ljubljani, Filozofska Fakulteta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

After gaining independence, countries such as Slovenia put a lot of effort into adapting their legislations to new market conditions. While concentrating on legislation, they often dismissed several other factors which influence policy and decision making. Among them, a particularly important role is played by the Europeanisation of planning, and the turn towards a higher flexibility of processes and land uses as opposed to the predetermination via zoning. While shedding light on these issues, this paper reflects on the incremental evolution of the Slovenian spatial planning system from the approval of the first Spatial Planning Act in 2003 towards a territorial governance approach characterised by a mix of regulatory processes and plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Barca Report of 2009 firmly placed endogenous potentials on the European Union policy agenda. Now, as the current EU programming period 2014–2020 draws to a close, this article examines how such potentials are being shaped and applied at the local and regional levels. We reflect upon lessons learned from this approach, thereby contributing to the debate on the next European Union's cohesion programming period from 2020 onwards. The analysis deals with the valorization of place-based development potentials in case study regions, highlighting challenges in the current development of such regions. Examples are given of the utilization of endogenous potentials, and we consider lessons learned from this locally-led, place-based development approach for the wider framework of European cohesion policy. The focus is on (old) industrial regions, characterized by small- and medium-sized towns outside major agglomerations. The authors conclude that it is insufficient to merely consider the direct economic effects of endogenous development potentials. Instead, a more comprehensive perspective is required, one that pays greater attention to other functions of endogenous approaches, specifically their catalyst, identity and symbolic functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Kakovostna Starost is the property of Anton Trstenjak Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Slovenian national planning policy has been in a renewal process since 2014. The process required an evaluation to reveal to which level the defined measures have been delivered and discuss the policy's future role. The mixed-methods evaluation approach consisted of a document analysis, a questionnaire with local communities and interviews with representatives of the ministries. Implementation of measures depends on multiple factors: capacity, personal priorities of actors, interpretation skills, financial support, political will for co-operation, etc. The potential to mitigate the influence of factors on implementation through a co-evolutionary trend of planning is elaborated in the light of Europeanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economic & Business Review is the property of Economic & Business Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Territorial impact assessment (TIA) aims at informing policy-makers on the policy impacts on different geographical areas (‘territorial units’). This paper presents a methodology for TIA which was tested on four European Union (EU) directives and their likely impacts on territorial units in Slovenia. This involved clustering Slovenian statistical (NUTS 3) regions according to their policy-relevant characteristics. The evaluation framework was reflecting the specific territorial cohesion objectives at corresponding governance levels (EU, national, local). This exercise indicates that there are some significant differences among Slovenian regions for different impacts, which become somewhat blurred when aggregated. Furthermore, the meaning of impacts differs depending on the governance level from which they are viewed. We conclude that important differences may be lost when impacts are generalized in policy assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European Union directives, along with their transposing arrangements in EU member states, can have unanticipated and sometimes undesirable impacts on certain regions and places. These include impacts on the use of space (e.g. new infrastructure or sprawl), governance, and on wider social, economic or environmental dimensions. Although ex-ante assessment of the potential impacts of EU initiatives has been carried out since 2002 through the European Commission's Impact Assessment procedure and also through national equivalents in some member states, important impacts are still overlooked, frequently because of their territorially heterogeneous nature within and between EU member states. This paper presents the results of the ESPON EATIA research project, in which a new territorial impact assessment methodology was developed for national and regional administrations in EU member states in order to inform their national positions during the negotiation of European draft directives and potentially other policy proposals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of Natura 2000 is causing difficulties in the EU's Member States, including Slovenia. In addition to the positive environmental it also results in the negative economic, social, and governance-administrative effects. To prevent similar quandaries in adopting and implementing EU policies, the project ESPON EATIA developed a participatory process for the territorial impact assessment. Testing the Habitat Directive has shown that in addition to the positive effects regarding the conservation of biodiversity, the directive represents a major obstacle for the economy and the delivery of investments. At the same time it represents the potential of the area for tourism and opportunity for the development of new industries. The regulation contributes to a better quality of life, but also extends the spatial planning procedures and conflicts between investors and the local community. This approach has proven to be an appropriate medium for the exchange of experiences of various stakeholders who are involved in either the preparation or the implementation of the rules and as the proper tool for the global assessment of the effects of selected EU regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Članek obravnava značilnosti porudarskih potencialov in njihovo vlogo v regionalnem razvoju v izbrani nemški in slovenski rudarski regiji. Možnosti za uporabo potencialov so različne, največkrat gre za uporabo obnovljivih virov energije (biomasa, geotermalna energija) ali turizem (muzeji). Avtorja predstavita dve izbrani regiji, podobnosti in razlike v njunem pristopu pri uporabi potencialov in primerjata dejavnike, ki vplivajo na uporabo, upoštevajoč nacionalni politični in zakonodajni okvir. V sklepu so porudarski potenciali, na primer porudarska pokrajina, infrastruktura in rudarska tradicija, prepoznani kot ena izmed pomembnih razvojnih možnosti za rudarske regije, prizadete zaradi strukturnih sprememb in zaprtja rudnika. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid expansion of settlements and related infrastructures is a global trend that comes with severe environmental, economic, and social costs. Steering urbanization toward well-balanced compactness is thus acknowledged as an important strategic orientation in UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG-11) via the SDG-indicator "Ratio of land consumption rate to population growth rate." The EU's simultaneous commitment to being "a frontrunner in implementing [...] the SDGs" and to striving for "no net land take until 2050" calls for relating the concepts of land consumption and land take to each other. Drawing on an EU-centred questionnaire study, a focus group and a literature review, we scrutinize definitions of land consumption and land take, seeking to show how they are interrelated, and questioning the comparability of respective indicators. We argue that conceptual clarifications and a bridging of the two notions are much needed, and that the precision required for definitions and applications is context-dependent. While approximate understandings may suffice for general communication and dissemination objectives, accurate and consistent interpretations of the discussed concepts seem indispensable for monitoring and reporting purposes. We propose ways of addressing existing ambiguities and suggest prioritizing the term land take in the EU context. Thereby, we aim to enhance conceptual clarity around land consumption and land take—a precondition for solidly informing respective policies and decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]