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Authors: Mária Bihuňová

Abstract: Rural tourism is still not effectively developed in Slovakia. Tere are documents and activities of nongovernmental organisations that promote the countryside, culture, agricultural activities, the uniqueness of the landscape but they are not systemic and without strong legal background. In the southern part of Slovakia – Te Danube Lowland – is rich with natural, cultural and architectural sites, thermal springs, possibilities for water tourism in the river Small Danube, and places for agro tourism, etc. Te development of the region supports the character of the terrain and appropriate conditions for modest cycling. Te Environmental Education Centre (EEC) Dropie – an educational organization of the Slovak Environmental Agency in Zemianska Olča is a unique site providing recreational and educational activities, with the possibility to spend overnights in the centre. It is the biggest environmental centre in Slovakia and it is aimed (except the issues regarding natural protection) at the education and promotion of the bustard (Otis tarda) one of the heaviest flying birds in the world. Tis bird has a territory of the natural occurrence along the border between Slovakia, Hungary and Austria. Te EEC Dropie is situated in the agricultural land, characterized by large-scale block felds, surrounded by Special Protection Area of the Island Meadows and the NATURA 2000 site. Te students of the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Faculty of Horticulture and Landscape Engineering were invited to create landscape architectural designs for the centre focusing on easier and demonstrative outdoor education for the public and especially children

Keywords:environmental education, design of educational gardens, landscape architecture, rural tourism, Slovakia

DOI: 10.5937/22-17510

Article info: 1-9

Received: March 2018 | Accepted: April 2018

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Authors: Nataša Dragović, Marija Cimbaljević, Uglješa Stankov, Đorđije Vasiljević, Miroslav D. Vujičić, Vanja Pavluković

Abstract: Today, a large number of people use the Internet for a variety of purposes. Tere is a growing presence of social networks in different spheres of life. Consequently, the connection of national parks and social media has begun. In this way, the management of national parks is facilitated in general, because data from social media can be of great help. Communication with visitors of national parks, through social media, has great potential in protecting such areas, but also in providing a wealth of experience. Terefore, it is essential to constantly update and direct visitors to the ofcial Facebook sites of national parks. In this paper, the presence and activity of national parks sites on Facebook, in Former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia) is explored with the aim to seek for common practices, good examples or pitfalls.

Keywords: national parks, Former Yugoslavia, social networks, Facebook

DOI: 10.5937/22-17511

Article info: 10-18

Received: March 2018 | Accepted: April 2018

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Authors: Božidar Jaković, Dejan Tubić, Rikard Bakan

Abstract: The protected areas of nature in the 21st century record continuous growth, since they can satisfy diverse desires, needs and expectations of contemporary and extremely fragmented tourist demand. However, level of visit greatly depend on the category, resource attractiveness, additional supply and other authentic features of the protected area. According to that, in some of the recently established nature parks, tourism still does not sufciently contribute to the economic sustainability of their own park agencies, and even less to the local community. Although long-term fnancial independence of park agencies and the survival of nature parks is questionable, currently there is no clear interest in Croatia in exploring this feld. Te main purpose of this paper is to determine to what extent tourist events can contribute to increasing recognisability, level of visit and the economic sustainability of nature parks. For this purpose, the research was carried out on all fve Public institutions of nature parks (PINPs) in continental Croatia. Primary data was conducted by a semi-structured interview. An essential feature of these fve nature parks is that they are far from the major receptive mass tourism destinations, which differentiates them from those who are signifcantly more receptive due to these circumstances. Research fndings suggest that touristic events, which are a signifcant factor in seasonality reduction, bring a multiple beneft for nature parks such as increasing level of visit, recognisability, image creation etc. However, they do not contribute to the economic sustainability of nature parks due to their unproftability. In addition to events, the results indicate that nature parks should develop other, accompanying tourist attractions and facilities considering their lower rank of protection.

Keywords: protected areas, nature parks, touristic events, increasing level of visit, tourism sustainability of nature parks

DOI: 10.5937/22-17509

Article info: 19-31

Received: March 2018 | Accepted: April 2018

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Authors: Selcuk Sayan, Dennis Kalisch

Abstract: Europe has become ‘a continent of immigration’ in the course of the last half century, and European societies have experienced growing ethnic and cultural diversity. Accordingly diverse social groups with various cultural backgrounds interact in everyday life. In this context, urban green spaces (UGS) provide opportunities and places for recreation, stress relief, interaction and encounters with other people. In contrast to a dense built environment of the cities, parks can be a platform for breaking social segregation. Personal characteristics of the users or visitors including cultural and socio-demographic background have been found to have an influence on outdoor recreation use patterns. Immigrants participate in recreation activities, but sometimes in different ways than members of the host community due to their diverse habits, preferences and different behaviour. However, little is known about these differences in recreation patterns in the urban environment particularly in Europe. Thus, the objective of the study is to a) explore urban outdoor recreation patterns of immigrants, b) investigate the interrelation between cultural background and recreation patterns and c) analyse the importance of UGS for visitors’ encounters of different migration background in Antalya, Turkey and Berlin, Germany. Findings from qualitative interviews in both cities demonstrate that tolerance is the precondition for a successful integration into the host society. Respondents agreed that green spaces have a high potential for supporting the social integration process. Language can be a barrier and common interests are needed as a starting point for interaction. They agreed that the host community in both cities have a high willingness to accept foreigners.

Keywords: Urban green space, recreation, migrants, perception, tolerance

DOI: 10.5937/22-17512

Article info: 32-41

Received: March 2018 | Accepted: April 2018