Noise: The disease of urban environments: Management and protection measures

Communal noise is the noise that comes from living together. It is the noise in the interior or exterior, whether in the working or living environment, spaces in public buildings or open public areas. The issue of communal noise has been partially resolved on paper by lows and by-lows on the permissible noise levels in the environment. However, the question is how much noise the community will tolerate, i.e, at what point citizens will start fighting noise. Numerous cities have signed strict regulations for reducing noise levels, both day and night, with a proposal for permitted limits. This paper presents commonly used methods for managing and protecting against the harmful effects of noise

Dark sky tourism: Prospects and challenges for North Macedonia

Due to the various negative impacts of tourist expansion, destinations frequently seek out new frontiers for expanding tourism demand while also ensuring its long-term sustainability. As a result, the ‘night sky' has been identified as a natural resource that provides a unique experience for promoting dark sky tourism (DST). The goal of the study is to provide a thorough understanding of the DST idea, as well as the possibilities and challenges for its development in North Macedonia. The analysis indicated many ‘dark spots' in rural areas as prospective venues for launching DST development based on the light pollution map and a quick evaluation. According to the findings, certain rural locations may be able to offer unpolluted night sky for the viewing of naturally occurring celestial phenomena. The paper suggests that DST may stimulate tourism diversity, enhance local economies, and prevent rural regions from being neglected. As a result, DST may be considered as a long-term option for promoting rural vitality through sustainable tourist development. Future study is needed to investigate the sustainability mode in greater depth to find options for gaining dark sky designation from the International Dark-Sky Association, such as dark sky communities, parks, reserves, and sanctuaries, urban night sky places, and dark sky friendly developments of distinction

Thermal mineral waters of Vojvodina (Serbia) and the possibility of their use: A case study of the Municipality of Kikinda

On the territory of Vojvodina in the period from 1969 to 2010 78 boreholes were drilled for the purpose of finding thermal mineral water. Serbian part of Banat in Vojvodina has 18 boreholes, most of which in the municipality of Kikinda (six). All boreholes reach first hydro geological system. The geothermal gradient in the municipality of Kikinda is in the range of 0.052 to 0,057ºCm-1, and the density of terrestrial heat flow is of 94 mWm-2 to 105 mWm-2, which is significantly more than in the area of the continental part of Europe. Thermal mineral waters in the wells in the municipality of Kikinda are hypothermal, with favorable mineralization, pH and salinity, which enable various possibilities of use. The waters have been used for heating needs of business premises and pig farm. However, in addition, water can be used in balneological purposes, for sports and recreation, agriculture, industry. Thermal mineral water found in the municipality of Kikinda can have a huge part in regional development, but also attract investors from our country and abroad. However, financial and administrative problems are just some of the restrictions when creating or implementing studies for the use of thermal mineral water in the municipality of Kikinda

Geosite Assessment Using Three Different Methods; a Comparative Study of the Krupaja and the Zagubica Springs - Hydrological Heritage of Serbia

Hydrological heritage is a relatively new concept in the field of geosite assessment. The principal aim of this study is to apply M-GAM (Modified geosite assessment model) for comparative analysis of the Krupaja spring and the Zagubica (Mlava) spring, located in Homolje area, in Eastern Serbia. According to the classification of geosites of Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia, these sites are on the list of protected sites ("hydro(geo)logical" heritage sites) of extraordinary national importance; however, they still have not gained necessary recognition in Serbia. Thus, their assessment according to different target groups should provide a clearer picture of their current condition. As M-GAM considers that not all indicators for evaluation of geosites are of the same importance, this paper applies two methods for comparing and determining the importance of indicators and subindicators in the model (Analytical-hierarchy process (AHP) and descriptive statistics conducted by SPSS). Also, it is assumed that different target groups will give different importance to some indicators in the model, which would result in various evaluation scores for the same geosites. The paper also provides a comparative analysis of the assessment carried out by two different target groups - potential geotourists and geoexperts. The results obtained by AHP and descriptive statistics are quite similar, which confirms the reliability of respondents' answers and the results gained. The analyzed sites are differently positioned in the evaluation matrix, and implications are further discussed in the paper

Rainfall erosivity and extreme precipitation in the Netherlands

In order to assess the rainfall erosivity of the Netherlands, several parameters which describe distribution, concentration, and variability of precipitation were used (the annual amount of precipitation, the precipitation concentration index and the modified Fournier index), as well as eleven extreme precipitation indices (maximum1-day precipitation amount, maximum 5-day precipitation amount, simple daily intensity index, number of heavy precipitation days, number of very heavy precipitation days, number of days above 25 mm, consecutive dry days, consecutive wet days, very wet days, extremely wet days, and annual total wet-day precipitation). The precipitation data for calculating the above mentioned parameters is obtained from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute for the period 1957–2016. Based on statistical analysis and the calculated values, the results have been presented with the Geographic Information System (GIS) to point out the most vulnerable parts of the Netherlands with regard to pluvial erosion. This study presents the first results of combined rainfall erosivity and extreme precipitation indices for the investigated area. Trend analysis implies a shift from being largely in the low erosivity class to being completely in the moderate erosivity class in the future, thus indicating an increase in rainfall erosivity. Furthermore, the observed precipitation extremes suggest that both the amount and the intensity of precipitation are increasing. The results of this study suggest that the climate conditions in the Netherlands are changing, and that this change might have a negative influence on the rainfall erosivity of the country

Evaluating Farm Tourism Development for Sustainability: A Case Study of Farms in the Peri-Urban Area of Novi Sad (Serbia)

Farm tourism is often considered a form of tourism whose main characteristic is sustainability. Nevertheless, the existing literature also provides a partial approach, where the development of farm tourism is analyzed within the context of sustainable development and crisis situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the paper is to analyze environmental, social, and economic factors as vectors for the sustainable development of farm tourism by applying a specially designed SFT model. An empirical study was carried out on a sample of nine farms in the peri-urban area of the city of Novi Sad (the Republic of Serbia). Sustainable development was analyzed using dynamic social, economic, and environmental indicators with the aim of finding a model that could be used to ensure more stable economic income for the population, social equality, and environmental protection. By applying the SFT model, it was determined that the current position of farm tourism is not fully compliant with the aims of sustainable development due to its clearly dominant economic dimension and less developed social and environmental sustainability. The results were further analyzed with the aim of achieving a balanced development of farm tourism, which needs to be based on the continued application of the concept of sustainability. The results could be used by public and private institutions in the tourism sector, as well as creators of legal regulations and strategies in the field of sustainable and rural tourism, with the aim of further developing and improving its sustainability

Dark sky tourism

Dark sky tourism (DST) ... sometimes referred to as 'terrestrial star tourism' or 'celestial ecotourism' ... consists of visitors travelling to remote, unlit areas on land or water, to observe celestial objects. Depending on the object(s) observed (e.g., stars, planets, moons, nebulae, star clusters or galaxies), stargazing activities occur either aided (with binoculars or telescopes) or unaided (with the naked eye). Dark sky experiences can also be accompanied by other activities like astrophotography or storytelling...

DARK SKY TOURISM: PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES FOR NORTH MACEDONIA

Due to the various negative impacts of tourist expansion, destinations frequently seek out new frontiers for expanding tourism demand while also ensuring its long-term sustainability. As a result, the ‘night sky' has been identified as a natural resource that provides a unique experience for promoting dark sky tourism (DST). The goal of the study is to provide a thorough understanding of the DST idea, as well as the possibilities and challenges for its development in North Macedonia. The analysis indicated many ‘dark spots' in rural areas as prospective venues for launching DST development based on the light pollution map and a quick evaluation. According to the findings, certain rural locations may be able to offer unpolluted night sky for the viewing of naturally occurring celestial phenomena. The paper suggests that DST may stimulate tourism diversity, enhance local economies, and prevent rural regions from being neglected. As a result, DST may be considered as a long-term option for promoting rural vitality through sustainable tourist development. Future study is needed to investigate the sustainability mode in greater depth to find options for gaining dark sky designation from the International Dark-Sky Association, such as dark sky communities, parks, reserves, and sanctuaries, urban night sky places, and dark sky friendly developments of distinction. Keywords: Nature-based tourism, Night sky, Astrotourism, Sustainability

Estimation of water quality of Sava River (Vojvodina, Serbia) in the period 2004-2011 using Serbian Water Quality Index (SWQI)

A Water Quality Index (WQI) is a numeric expression used to evaluate the quality of water bodies and make it easier understood by managers. This paper aims to assess water quality of Sava River in Vojvo­dina (North Serbia) for the 2004 - 2011 period. For this purpose authors applied: Serbian Water Qual­ity Index (SWQI) assessment. WQI value is dimensionless, single number ranging from 0 to 100 (best quality) derived from numerous physical, chemical, biological and microbiological parameters. For the Sava River SWQI was mainly rated as very good. This study shows a clear decrease in water quality dur­ing warmer periods of the year. Additionally, this study shows that water quality along Sava River de­creases slightly downstream, of Sremska Mitrovica station but it still provides values that according to SWQI descriptive quality indicator have been defined as good (72-83) and very good (84 - 89). Also, this study shows an increase of SWQI downstream of the confluence of Drina River into Sava River. This methodology includes parameters for assessment of organic loading, but does not involve parameters of heavy metals concentration