From environmental awareness in word to environmental awareness in deed: The case of Ljubljana

Modern lifestyles demand the exploitation of natural resources, which results in a significantly deteriorated living environment. The goal of this study was to determine and evaluate people’s relationship to the environment and their willingness to take action themselves to protect it. The majority of people (or more than half, in this case) support environmental protection in principle, especially in word only, because this is also socially desirable. However, when they must address limitations that would interfere with their lives by limiting activities or increasing costs, their enthusiasm abates quickly. Twenty percent of people can be defined as being in favor of environmental protection and regarding it as a value. Education level plays a very important role in people’s behavior towards environmental issues. This study was carried out in Ljubljana by surveying 408 people

Reduced Permeation of Precipitation Water into Groundwater on Ljubljansko polje

The permeation of water into groundwater in an urban environment is considerably differ-ent than that in an untransformed landscape. Built-up and open surfaces have very different proportions of impermeable surfaces. Due to urban land use on Ljubljansko polje, the loss of permeating precipitation water is more than 0.5m3/s or 190 mm of precipitation

2Bparks MAINSTREAM

Knjiga 2Bparks MAINSTREAM je zaključna publikacija mednarodnega projekta Creative Sustainable Management, Territorial Compatible Marketing and Environmental Education to be Parks (2Bparks), ki je trajal od 1. 7. 2010 do 30. 6. 2013. Projekt je z vključevanjem okoljskih vsebin v procese odločanja, razvojem trajnostnega turizma in ozaveščanjem prispeval k trajnostni rabi naravnih virov ter h krepitvi povezav med družbami, gospodarstvi in zavarovanimi območji.V publikaciji so predstavljeni glavni rezultati projekta, s posebnim poudarkom na njegovi nadnacionalni razsežnosti, podana pa so tudi priporočila za trajnostno upravljanje in načrtovanje zavarovanih območij v prihodnje.Projekt 2Bparks je bil sofinanciran iz Evropskega sklada za regionalni razvoj v okviru programa MEDITERAN

From drawing cognitive maps to knowing the protection zones for drinking water resources

Using a sample of 900 persons from the urban area of Ljubljansko polje and the suburban area of Iški vršaj, we tried to determine how much local residents knew about the protection zones for drinking water resources. We employed a survey questionnaire and the drawing of cognitive maps. A little fewer than half of the people are aware they live in water protection zones. The proportions of those who are aware of the protection zones in Ljubljansko polje (two fifths) and in Iški vršaj (two thirds) differ considerably. Only 280 persons, just under one third of those surveyed, drew the boundaries of the protection zones on the attached map. In Ljubljansko polje, the greatest concentration of drawn protection zones was a little north of the oldest and largest pumping station at Kleče. The second largest condensation occurred in Iški vršaj in the immediate vicinity of the Brest pumping station

Zavest ljudi o pitni vodi

The modern way of life requires the exploitation of natural resources, which leads to a significant deterioration of the environment and can even endanger human health.The basic hypothesis is that the population of Slovenia in general is still too inadequately informed and insufficiently environmentally educated and aware about water as a natural resource to have the motivation and capability to actively participate in the protection of water as a natural resource.Most people support environmental protection in principle, especially declaratively, since this is a socially approved action. However, when faced with restrictions that would interfere with their way of life by limiting their activities or increasing their expenses, their enthusiasm decreases rapidly. And the closer we get to actions we could define as “environmentally active,” the fewer people are actually prepared to protect the environment. Possibly a fifth of the population can be defined as people who favour environmental protection and consider it a value for which they themselves are willing to do something.The survey showed that level of education is very significant relative to people’s response to environmental problems and that the more educated are more environmentally friendly.Temeljna hipoteza knjige je, da so prebivalci Slovenije še vedno nezadostno informirani, okoljsko izobraženi in ozaveščeni o vodi kot naravnem viru, da bi lahko aktivno sodelovali pri varovanju vode kot naravnega vira. Avtor je na podlagi obširnega vprašalnika ugotovil, da večina ljudi načeloma podpira varovanje okolja, še zlasti deklarativno, saj je to tudi družbeno zaželeno dejanje. Ko pa se soočijo z omejitvami, ki bi posegle v njihov način življenja, ta vnema hitro popusti. Bolj ko se bližamo dejanjem, ki bi jih lahko opredelili kot okoljsko aktivna, tem manj ljudi je dejansko pripravljenih varovati okolje. Izkazalo se je, da je pri odnosu ljudi do okoljskih problemov zelo pomembna stopnja izobrazbe

Bojan Erhartič's contribution to geography

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Bojan Erhartič had a strong impact on Slovenian geography because he placed it on the map of countries where geographers deal with geomorphological heritage. He began his research path into the world of natural heritage with the study of geography. After receiving his bachelor’s degree, he turned his attention to studying geodiversity, and this led him to issues concerning the evaluation of geomorphological heritage, especially in mountainous areas. Erhartič was among the first in Slovenian geography to deal with the aesthetic evaluation of geomorphological heritage. His interest in the “beauty of nature” stemmed from many years of planned work in (geographical) photography. The Anton Melik Geographical Institute of the Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts holds approximately 218,000 of his “geographical” photos, which he took during his many travels in more than forty countries on five continents

The beauty of landforms

This article determines which landforms attract people the most and whether one can speak of collective patterns in the aesthetic evaluation of a landscape. It therefore concerns enjoying the beauty offered by a more or less reshaped natural environment. This study is based on the Triglav Lakes Valley (Dolina Triglavskih jezer) in Slovenia which, due to the few man-made changes introduced there, includes hardly any anthropogenic “unnecessary noise.” The online survey included more than six hundred people and used photos of various landforms. Lakes were found to be the most attractive to the respondents, and fractured rock areas were the least attractive

Stakeholder conflicts in the Tivoli, Rožnik Hill, and Šiška Hill Protected Landscape Area

Green areas and especially their distribution and composition are the key factor that makes urban people’s lives more comfortable and healthier. Even though Ljubljana residents also have many other green areas at their disposal in their immediate vicinity, the area of Rožnik Hill and Tivoli Park as an urban forest with dispersed park features continues to be the most popular recreational destination, with roughly 1,750,000 visits per year. In 1984 it was designated a protected landscape area through an ordinance. In the past decades, a number of conflicts have arisen in this area between various stakeholders, such as landowners, park users, and specialist services, which is why these types of areas require careful and prudent management