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The paper presents project that included research on nature protection, population and tourism in karst national parks in Central and Southeastern Europe. The examined sites were Aggtelek NP (Hungary), Slovak Karst NP (Slovakia), Tara NP (Serbia), Krka NP (Croatia), Northern Pindos NP (Greece) and Apuseni National Park (Romania).

Karst landscapes preserve the traces of human centuries-long struggle to survive in a challenging environment and are created by interaction of human settlements, economic activities and land use with specific geological, geomorphological, hydrological and ecological features. Karst covers half of Croatia's territory and its most valuable natural areas are protected in eight national parks. This paper presents the results of a study on the perception of landscape values and visitor motivation in Krka NP, which is part of a larger multinational research on karst protected areas in Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia and Croatia. It is located in the North Dalmatia and the main phenomenon is specific karst landscape formed by the Krka River, which has cut a deep and wide canyon into the karst plateau, with spectacular lakes and waterfalls in limestone tufa, combined with a cultural landscape reflecting the human use of this karst area, recently transformed by tourism. With 1.4 million visitors in 2019, Krka NP is the second most visited protected area in Croatia (after Plitvice Lakes) and generates high tourism pressure. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of visitors dropped sharply and the Park administration introduced some restrictions for visitors to prevent over-tourism (e.g. ban on bathing under the waterfalls). The aim of this study was to investigate the motivation for visiting Krka NP during the pandemic COVID-19 and visitor perception of karst landscape values. The research is based on a questionnaire survey conducted from 30 August to 3 September 2021 in Krka NP near the Skradinski Buk waterfall among a sample of 525 visitors. The questionnaire consisted of 28 questions, mostly forced choice (Likert scale and multiple choice) and some open questions. The responses were analysed and presented using descriptive statistics and compared using selected parameters. The results are divided into three sections: (1) motivation for visiting a karst national park, (2) perception of tourism in the park area, and (3) perception of karst landscape values in national parks. Most visitors come to Krka for a half-day visit, spend some time near the main phenomenon (Skradinski Buk waterfall) and only a few visit other parts of the park, despite a large number of other attractions and hiking trails. As the main phenomenon is located near the coast, visits to the park are often combined with summer holidays on the coast and tours by organised groups (e.g. school children), while almost no one stays overnight in small rural settlements near the park. Most visitors are motivated to visit nature and come to see the waterfalls, but although more than half of the respondents have heard of karst, only a small proportion associate this with the karst landscape values, which make the park protected and attractive. Despite the general perception that tourists are more likely to choose natural areas during the pandemic, the survey found that only one third of respondents were more motivated to visit Krka NP because of COVID-19. Hydrological, geological, biological and landscape protection are fairly evenly rated as the most important values of the park, while visitation and education are not recognised as important tasks and tourism pressure is not perceived as a problem. Therefore, this article contributes to existing knowledge with new insights into changing motivations for visiting karst protected areas during the COVID-19 pandemic and visitor perception of karst landscape values in national parks.

Aims: According to geographic possibilism, the environment does not determine socio-economic development, however natural settings set certain constraints and limitations. Our main study question is how do natural settings influence population dynamics? In this study, we examine this question using the example of ŠibenikKnin County, which includes the area of Krka National Park. Methods: We used a GIS-based statistical approach for this study. The following parameters represent the natural factors: elevation ; slope ; distance from the sea ; proportion of karst areas. In addition, the distance from the national park was also added as an independent semi-natural factor (though it is a social construction). The dependent social parameters are population densities for selected historical dates, population change, the year of maximum population, natural increase, migration, and age index. The analysis units are the settlements (199 of them are found in the County) and local government units (there are 20). Results: The study period can be divided into 4 basic phases: from the first census in 1857 to 1921, there was a slow increase in most settlements ; then a relatively constant phase up to 1961 (some settlements already started to decrease in that period) ; a slow decrease until 1991 ; and a quick decrease with some stabilization thereafter. These processes were also accompanied by significant inner and outer migrations. As for the relationships, we found that elevation has the highest correlations with most population parameters, but distance from sea was also significantly correlated with population change and migration in certain periods. On the other hand, the proportion of karst showed a statistically significant correlation with population density values. Conclusion: Our final conclusion is that correlations between natural and population parameters are low but statistically significant in many cases, thus the basic principles of environmental possibilism are valid for the area.

Aims: In recent decades, the scenario method has often been used to explore the possible future of the increasingly complex and diversified European countryside. The Croatian countryside is also very heterogeneous, but with predominantly negative demographic and socio-economic development. Although the scenario method brings useful new perspectives for participatory and strategic planning, policy and decision making, we argue that the fuller potential of future studies lies in their territorialisation, for example by using a typological approach. In this respect, many scenario exercises already consider ex-post the spatial implications of the scenarios developed, but without linking them directly to the present- day typology of rural areas. Therefore, the aim of this research is to construct alternative scenarios for rural Croatia in 2030, using the different types of rural areas as a starting point, and considering it simultaneously with the development of scenario narratives in an attempt to address the identified challenges. Methods: The main methods used were: Factor and cluster analysis (for the development of an initial typology of rural areas) ; Monte Carlo simulation ; and Delphi method, which involved 37 rural experts in two rounds of written questionnaires. Results: Four scenarios were developed: Rural Renaissance, Shift, Road to Nowhere and Growth without Development. The spatial impacts of explorative scenarios were visualized through four scenario-specific typologies. Numerical simulations have shown that the alternative scenarios imply a change in the spatial distribution and size of the territory, as well as in the number of inhabitants in a given rural area type compared to the current typology. The Road to Nowhere scenario entails the most visible spatial changes in the distribution of rural area types. Conclusion: The research findings suggest that the use of a typological approach to scenario development could support the development of more concrete and sensitive place-based policy recommendations for rural development.

The Balkans are still an imprecisely defined and relatively unknown area in southeastern Europe. They are a historical‐political term, often provoking negative associations that are synonymous with underdevelopment, backwardness, and primitiveness. This research is aimed primarily at exploring how the Balkans are perceived by students of geography in Zagreb and Maribor and what associations they provoke. Thereby the objective is to examine the differences between the two groups of students. It further seeks to investigate whether the Balkans are primarily a cognitive construct that is spatially determined on an individual level, based on an individual’s own insights, attitudes, values, and other determinants. Therefore, a combination of questionnaire survey and mental mapping regarding perceptions of the Balkans was conducted (N Zagreb = 111, N Maribor = 52). The results indicate that the Balkans can be seen as a sort of vernacular anti‐region: the kind from which states in or near its boundaries attempt to exclude themselves, while simultaneously trying to include their neighbors to the south and east.

A földrajzi posszibilizmus elgondolása szerint a természeti környezet nem determinálja a társadalmi-gazdasági fejlődést, de hatással van rá. Kutatásunk fő kérdése, hogy mennyire szoros ez a kapcsolat a népességváltozás dinamikája és a természeti adottságok között. Jelen tanulmányban ezt a kérdést konkrétan a horvátországi Šibenik- Knin megye területére vonatkozóan vizsgáljuk, mely magába foglalja a Krka Nemzeti Parkot is. Módszertanunk meghatározó alapja a statisztikai megközelítés és a geoinformatikai elemzések.A vizsgálatban a következő természeti tényezők szerepelnek: tszf. magassság, lejtőszög, tengertől mért távolság, karsztterületek aránya. Ezen kívül a nemzeti parktól vett távolságot is független paraméterként vettük figyelembe. A függő paraméternek tekintett szociális tényezők az alábbiak: népsűrűség (különböző időpontokban, mióta van népszámlálás), népességváltozás, maximális népesség éve, természetes szaporodás, vándorlás, életkor-index. A vizsgálati egységek a települések, melyekből 199 található a megye területén és a járások, melyekből viszont 20 van. A vizsgált időszak 1857-től az első népszámlálástól a 2011-es utolsó népszámlálásig tart. Ezt 4 részre lehet bontani. Az első időszakot 1857-1921-ig lassú növekedés jellemezte a legtöbb településen. A második szakasz 1961-ig tartott, és a népesség többnyire közelítőleg konstans volt, bár egyes helyeken már ekkor megindult a csökkenés. Ezt követően 1991-ig lassú csökkenés jellemezte a településeket, amit gyors visszaesés és részleges stabilizáció követett. A népességváltozásokat a természetes szaporodás mellett a jelentős belső és külső vándorlási folyamatok is befolyásolták. Ha e folyamatok természeti tényezőkkel való kapcsolatát tekintjük, akkor azt kapjuk, hogy a tszf. magasság a legtöbb népességi paraméterrel szorosan korrelál, de ezen kívül a tengertől való távolság is szoros korrelációt mutat a népességváltozással és a migrációval bizonyos periódusokban. A karsztos területek aránya a népsűrűséggel mutat statisztikailag szignifikáns korrelációt. Összességében az a megállapításunk, hogy a természeti és népességi paraméterek között az esetek nagy részében statisztikailag szignifikáns, de nem túl szoros kapcsolat van, ami azt jelenti, hogy a földrajzi posszibilizmus minőségi jellegű állítását statisztikailag pontosítottuk a vizsgált területre vonatkozóan.

Promjene zemljišnoga pokrova i načina korištenja zemljišta rezultat su složene interakcije čovjeka i okoliša. U radu se analizira promjena zemljišnoga pokrova i načina korištenja zemljišta u Donjoneretvanskom kraju 1990. – 2020. godine. Promjene političkoga i ekonomskoga sustava početkom 1990-ih posredno su i neposredno utjecale na promjene u pejzažu. Obradom multispektralnih snimaka izrađeni su kartografski prikazi zemljišnoga pokrova i načina korištenja zemljišta za 1990., 2005. i 2020. godinu. Osnovni izvor podatka bile su multispektralne satelitske snimke Landsat 5, Landsat 7 i Landsat 8. Struktura zemljišnoga pokrova i načina korištenja zemljišta utvrđena je hibridnim pristupom, tj. kombinacijom nenadzirane i ručne (vizualne) klasifikacije. Vrednovanje točnosti klasifikacija odrađeno je s pomoću matrice konfuzije i kappa koeficijenta. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da je u navedenom razdoblju došlo do porasta udjela izgrađenih površina za gotovo 33 %. Poljoprivredne površine te šume i travnjaci također su zabilježili porast, dok je udio močvara i površina s oskudnom vegetacijom reduciran., Changes in land use and land cover are the result of complex interactions between humans and their environment. This study examines land use and land cover changes in the Lower Neretva Region between 1990 and 2020. Political and economic changes in the early 1990s resulted in changes in the landscape, both directly and indirectly. Multispectral image processing was used to create thematic maps of land use and land cover for 1990, 2005, and 2020. Satellite images from Landsat 5, Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 were the main source of data. Land use and land cover structure was assessed using a hybrid approach, combining unsupervised and manual (visual) classification methods. An assessment of classification accuracy was carried out using a confusion matrix and kappa coefficient. According to the results of the study, the percentage of built-up areas increased by almost 33%. Agricultural land and forests and grasslands also increased, while the proportion of swamps and sparse vegetation areas decreased.