Strategic Planning on the Local Level As a Factor of Rural Development in the Republic of Serbia

The policy of regional rural development has to be efficient. It must relay on so called “good governanceâ€. But in last few decades the results on this segment in the republic of Serbia couldn’t be qualified as significant. So the primary objective of the paper is focused on how to reverse the process of continued impoverishment of the local rural areas and create conditions for social, cultural, economic and environmentally sustainable development based on local initiative. In order to meet this objective, an attempt is made to define systematic, continuous and cyclic approach of setting up priorities and policies as a basic tool for strategic action planning on a local level (LSAP). Decentralization of the state, strengthening of local municipalities and participation of citizens are three processes which had to be articulated and which through their validity has to gain strength and importance in republic of Serbia. The paper can provisionally be divided into two parts. The first part encompasses the importance of local strategic planning as well as justification of theoretical approaches while the second part gives the bases for methodology of strategic action planning on the local level formulation. In such approach two basic preconditions of LSAP could be specified: adequate institutional base i.e. strong participation of local community and its main stakeholders like local government, citizens, NGO’s and others; as well as high level of professional knowledge which builds local stakeholders ability of planning. Introducing of the regional rural approach on the local level is connected with development of LSAP in three basic sectors: institutional – civil society, infrastructural and economic. Local community must be aware what does LSAP mean, why it is so important, what preconditions are important in its development, how it’s structure look like, how it has to be developed, and how to stimulate local initiative, participation, transparency and democracy to reach sustainability.

The Experience of a Frontier Man Who Weaves into His Historical Literary Production: the Links Between the Sixteenth and the Twentieth Century

This paper examines the parallels between two books: Il male viene dal Nord and Quando Dio uscì di chiesa by Fulvio Tomizza. Although the books appear quite distinct at first glance, one being a historical novel and the other prompting discussions among researchers regarding its literary genre, both share a common theme—the experiences of frontier individuals. These works portray Istrian Lutherans from the 16th century and are linked through the character of Koper’s bishop Vergerio. Vergeri’s life mirrors the plight of twentiethcentury Istrians who faced exile. The persecution, imprisonment, and forced exodus endured by Istrian Lutherans echo the trials faced by individuals like the narrator’s father in the 20th century, following the Second World War. Set in the Istrian peninsula, a place marked by conflicts between Latins, Slavs, and Germans according to Živko Nižić, the story captures the struggles of these groups. Tomizza, through his micro-history approach, pays homage to minority populations residing in border regions, illustrating the violence they endured across history. As a frontier man himself, Tomizza profoundly comprehends their suffering, skillfully weaving this experience into a tapestry of high-quality literature that has earned international acclaim

A City as the Key to Interpreting a Novel by Alessandro Baricco

The aim of this paper is to present the term \u27city\u27 both as a constructive element and a key to interpreting the same-named novel. The paper is focused on the term’s etymology and contemporary definitions, and on the novel’s interpretations in the postmodern framework. In order to understand all the layers, the intertextual and intermedial theories are also important. Gould and his governess Shatzy Shell are the main characters of the novel. Gould is a teenager who has been recognized as a genius, which has brought him loneliness and desire to achieve success. That loneliness could be compared to some descriptions of postmodern cities, and on the other hand the cities could be compared to postmodern literature. The novel’s most important city is Closingtown – a city that does not appear on any map. It is a town in the West where the time has stopped. The town is compared to a fragmented postmodern literary work and this novel, as Baricco said, is a representation of what a city might be. A double postmodern language game is present in the novel. The first is related to the Closingtown as a Western city and Shatzy’s aspiration to write a western. The second is related to the comparison of the Closingtown and the postmodern text. Someone in the city has torn up time, which can be reflected in the fragmented narration, and it can be read that the citizens have a choice between leaving the town and patching time. The choice requires a dedicated reader who will deduct the story from the patchwork; as the citizens patch time, the dedicated reader finds a new patch of the overall story. These language games have a reflection on a game that uses physical strength and strategic approach – boxing. The interpretation game is also possible if we take into consideration intertextuality and intermediality that require a dedicated reader who is able to understand and enjoy all the segments that construct this complex novel

Twenty years of Croatian tutoring in Trieste

Croatian teaching abroad is a special educational program of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia. It includes a Croatian language and culture program. It is organized for school-aged children and descendants of Croatian citizens who temporary or permanently live in other countries. In the school year 2018/2019 Croatian education abroad recorded 101 teachers in 21 countries, with around 340 teaching spots attended by approximately 5,300 students. In the Italian Republic, this education is occurring in Rome, Como, Molise, Udine and surrounding areas, Trieste and Monfalcone. In 2019 Croatian tutoring in Trieste celebrated twenty years of its existence. It was established thanks to the Croatian Community of Trieste and the Croatian Consulate General, and all other persons related to the Consulate and Community, especially the Ministry of Science and Education. The Ministry recognized the importance of this effort and for 20 years has chosen teachers and entrusted them with the placement in the Croatian schools in Italy. This paper presents a framework of Croatian education abroad. It discusses the role of teachers and reasons why students attend classes and their expectations, including the experiences of good practices of teachers and their perspectives for the future. During twenty years of Croatian tutoring in Trieste the following teachers were employed: Vesna Piasevoli, Tatjana Barković, Maša Čiča, Olga Diklić, Ana Spindler, Ana Fonović and Diana Njegovan. These teachers have shared their knowledge and experience and motivated students. Along with this, they collaborated with the Croatian Community and the Croatian Consulate General in Trieste, and with the Ministry of Science and Education. The teachers organized projects and various activities to connect students and parents with the Croatian Community and their homeland. The teachers have engaged in good practices and they are the reason why existing collaborations are fostered and developed, and the experience grows. This paper is intended as a written trace of experience and commitment through two decades, to the present day. Its realization would not be possible without a collaboration with all the institutions and persons involved in the Croatian tutoring in Trieste. is paper unites all the collected materials and contributes to a mosaic of good practices, innovations and a process of growth and development

Priority environmental investment programme: Development and implementation

This paper is created to serve as a methodological base and possible work plan for Assistance in Priority Environmental Investment Programme Development and Implementation in the Republic of Serbia. It will contribute to improved mechanisms for selection of priority environmental investments. Also, the paper should outline a scope of work for technical assistance for Republic of Serbia in developing mechanisms for identifying and selecting priority environmental investments. The main feature of the long-term environmental policy in the Republic of Serbia is absence of integrated approach, which goes hand by hand with the international environmental standards, and lack of efficient economic instruments and regulations. It causes an inadequate technology policy and location of the polluters. Besides that there has been a lack of appropriate environmental monitoring system good enough to provide efficient ex-ante and ex-post protection. It has caused a lot of environmental damages so that a completely new approach in the field of environment is expected to be created out of which the Priority Environmental Investment Programme (PEIP) should be a main tool for experience of good environmental governance in the Republic of Serbia as well as in the region of SEE

Gender inequality in the Serbian labour market

Many positive changes have been implemented in Serbia since the beginning of the transition period, and while these improve the position of women in the labour market the main indicators still show significant gender differences. Women are the majority of the unemployed and there are significant differences between regions and districts, in fields of work, experience, and the length of time taken to find work. An analysis of trends in the labour market over the past decade shows a worsening of the position of women, with a lower participation in economic activity and employment, rising unemployment rates, and an increase in the average time to find work and the proportion of women in traditionally female occupations. Problems of gender inequality demand more attention in order to improve existing legislation and the implementation of economic policies in the labour market which will ensure higher participation of women with lower education, with special emphasis on increasing the motivation of these women to undergo continuing education and training

Supporting local economic development by infrastructure debt financing in the Republic of Serbia

The main goal of this paper is to establish grounds for a more efficient development of local communities taking into consideration their entire former development characterized by a pronounced polarization and territorial inequality of development exhibited among them in extreme proportions. In view of the insufficient and inadequate decentralization performed without a specific concept in the past, the authors aim to analyze the state of the local infrastructure within the framework of territorial organization offered by the latest regulations, as well as estimate the goals set in the last couple of years by the support programs related to the development of local infrastructure provided by the international institutions. The authors have a similar goal in that sense to provide sufficient argumentation for a quality distribution of local infrastructure and, accordingly, more efficient local development as a prerequisite for a more uniform regional development, especially in rural areas

Selection and application of pricing strategies in rural tourism: the case of Vojvodina's farmsteads

Tourism today is a mass phenomenon involving a large number of actors, both on the demand side and on the supply side. For more efficient and better organized performance, tourism companies need to ensure a high quality of service and apply effective pricing strategies. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to outline the key pricing strategies and analyze their advantages and drawbacks. For this purpose we have chosen the specific case of farmsteads in the Province of Vojvodina, Serbia. We focus on the complementary products or services provided by these farmsteads that have a seasonal element to them, that is, they are hard to sell out of season. As a result, we devised guidelines for entrepreneurs to enhance their business opportunities by applying effective pricing strategies such as the ‘marginal costs’ strategy.The research was supported by Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia (Grant III 47007 and 46006)