Peter Repolusk’s research while affiliated with Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts and other places

Because of their proximity to the border and their peripheral character compared to the rest of a country’s territory, border areas are often poorly developed (title: 'Promoting the development of disadvantaged border areas in Slovenia'). Therefore, regional policy pays special attention to them. In Slovenia, this has been the case since 1975, with ninety municipalities currently designated as disadvantaged border areas. To facilitate their comprehensive development, the Slovenian government set up a program to promote their development that will connect and harmonize the efforts of all ministries in developing these areas. Designing this program relied on past experience in promoting poorly developed areas and, to make the program as comprehensive as possible, the following aspects were addressed: quality of living, economic development, access to services of general and economic interest, demographic changes, sustainable development and mobility, cross-border cooperation, and an overall developmental or systemic framework to promote the development of individual areas. The basic aim was to establish how to comprehensively promote border area development. To adapt the system for promoting border area development to the needs of individual municipalities as much as possible, a typology of these areas was first produced, which made it possible to compare them against one another and, most importantly, against other Slovenian municipalities. Second, questionnaires were produced for representatives of the municipalities and representatives of the border areas’ residents. Based on the respondents’ feedback, thematic categories were defined in detail and examined through an indicator analysis. Finally, a selection was made, along with detailed descriptions, of measures that either together or individually could help improve the situation in disadvantaged border areas.

Po gospodarskih kazalnikih ima Velenje uspešno, izvozno usmerjeno gospodarstvo z visoko dodano vrednostjo na zaposlenega. A kot vsa industrijska mesta v Evropi, je Velenje zelo ranljivo. Ta knjiga želi osvetliti vidike preobrazbe Velenja v preteklosti, sedanjosti in prihodnosti ter pripraviti pregled razvojnih dejavnikov Velenja. Poudarek je na družbenih, kulturnih, prostorskih, okoljskih, gospodarskih in drugih vidikih mestnega razvoja ter kritičnem ovrednotenju bodočih razvojnih virov. Drugi poudarek je na izvirnosti in posebnosti določenih aktivnosti in pojavov, ki pripomorejo k večji ustvarjalnosti in prožnosti Velenja. Uvodnim razmišljanjem sledi predstavitev 16 raznolikih prispevkov v knjigi, ki kritično vrednotijo sedanje in prihodnje razvojne vire Velenja in njegove okolice. Prispevke so napisali tako domačini kot raziskovalci, ki so delali na projektu BRIGHT FUTURE, ki je odkrival mala industrijska mesta po Evropi. Iz vseh prispevkov razberemo dve glavni sporočili: pomen uporabe lastnih (endogenih) razvojnih virov in participativnega načina odločanja v prihodnje. [According to the economic indicators, Velenje has a successful, export-oriented economy with high added value per employee. But like all industrial cities in Europe, Velenje is very vulnerable. This book ('Velenje, an industrial city in transformation') seeks to shed light on the aspects of Velenje's transformation in the past, present and future. The purpose of the book is to provide an overview of Velenje's developmental factors. Emphasis is placed on social, cultural, spatial, environmental, economic and other aspects of the city, as well as a critical evaluation of future development resources and their actions. The second emphasis is on the originality and specificity of certain activities and phenomena that contribute to greater creativity and resilience of Velenje. We present 16 diverse contributions to the book that critically evaluate the current and future developmental resources of Velenje and its surroundings. Articles are written by locals and experts working on the BRIGHT FUTURE project dealing with small industrial towns across Europe.]

As of January 1, 2017, Slovenia had a population of 2,066,880. Even though only 5% of the population still makes a living with agriculture, half of the population is rural. Only the capital city of Ljubljana has a population of more than 100,000. During recent decades, suburbanization has been more characteristic than urbanization. The population is aging rapidly, life expectancy is increasing, and demographic trends are worrisome. A negative migration rate was characteristic from the mid-nineteenth century to the 1960s, when rapid industrialization was accompanied by increased migration from other parts of the former Yugoslavia. Immigration again strengthened after 1995. The spatial distribution of Slovenia’s population has been affected more by internal migration than cross-border migration. The employment structure is dominated by service professions, although since 2000 there has been a strong increase in creative professions. The country is quite homogenous ethnically and religiously. Ethnic Slovenians account for more than four-fifths of the population, and among those with a religious identity, Catholics strongly predominate at 91%.

The Good Practices Catalogue of Participatory Urban Agriculture addresses some of the main challenges related to governance systems within the Danube Region that can be associated with the decreasing capacities of public authorities to incorporate a participatory approach into planning. It offers concrete lessons on how to enhance public services, promote active citizenship, reinforce public participation and contribute to the sustainability of cities by means of urban agriculture. It brings conceptualization and systematization of urban agriculture; analysis of political framework that supports participatory urban agriculture in the Danube Region; review of the role of urban agriculture in the EU-funded programmes and projects and of their relevance for the questions addressed by the AgriGo4Cities project; and presentation of selected good practices of participatory urban agriculture aiming to provide a know-how about designing successful participatory gardens. It addresses scholars and practitioners (civil society and decision-makers) interested in the fields of urban agriculture, participatory planning, social inclusion and sustainable development.

Abstract: This article presents the use of geographical names in the ethnically mixed Slovenian-Italian bilingual areas of Slovenian Istria in southwest Slovenia and the Slovenian-Hungarian bilingual areas of Prekmurje in northeast Slovenia. It also briefly reflects upon the smaller and more dispersed Roma and German minorities. Attention is drawn to the need for further standardization of names, including those used in the languages of the minorities, highlighting two examples of bad practice when dealing with Slovenian geographical names outside Slovenia. Key words: Geographical names, bilingualism, ethnic minority, standardization, Slovenia

Cultivated terraces distinctively mark the landscape and are a result of human adaptation to steep areas. Terraces were studied with regard to their morphometric qualities, ownership structure, and land use at eight pilot sites in various landscape types in Slovenia. Twenty-six detailed interviews were carried out with local residents and experts. In current agricultural practice, terraces mostly represent obstacles, and for owners they create a loss rather than profit; however, they represented an advantage in the past, when they were cultivated manually. Land use is intensifying on economically profitable terraces. Among those examined, the Jeruzalem terraces stand out because these are the youngest ones (created in socialist Yugoslavia around 1965). Because of their aesthetic value, they are the best known among the public. Profitability in particular will be an important driving force for the future maintenance of terraces.

This article presents central settlements in Slovenia and their main characteristics in 2016. We defined central settlements based on services of general interest and the population of an individual settlement, and developed the analysis further by using competitiveness indicators. We defined 360 central settlements at six levels of centrality, among which the significance of Ljubljana as a national center of international importance and the significance of intermunicipal, local, and rural centers are increasing. The significance of certain regional centers at the second and third levels of centrality is decreasing. The level of services of general interest supplied to Slovenian territory is relatively appropriate, but it should be improved by promoting competitiveness, especially in centers of national and regional importance. © 2017, Anton Melik Geographical Institute. All Rights Reserved.

This volume is a contribution to fostering greater consistency in the use of Slovenian exonyms, or geographical names adapted to Slovenian. It provides material for their standardization and at the same time ensures that this important aspect of Slovenian will not to sink into oblivion. The issue of geographical names and their exonyms has received international significance because of this issue’s sensitivity. The role of international professional associations is increasing in this matter; such as the UNGEGN (United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names), founded in 1959, which guides international activity regarding geographical names. The Working Group on Exonyms is responsible for studying exonyms under the aegis of UNGEGN. The attested use of Slovenian exonyms in journalism is based on over two centuries of practice, and their cartographic use is based on a tradition going back a century and a half. With their general use in all social strata, exonyms have become an inseparable part of the Slovenian language and thereby also an important part of cultural heritage. Special attention has been paid to the use of nativized foreign geographical names in all major Slovenian world atlases, and the use of exonyms has also been examined in geography textbooks at various levels, encyclopedias, manuals, and travel guides. Based on a study of the names, we have expanded the set of exonyms with certain other frequently used exonyms, among which the names of historical settlements, regions, and certain other features have a special place. Although the use of exonyms is currently inconsistent, analysis of the collected material has shown that the differences are slowly decreasing. Consistent public, professional, and scholarly usage would facilitate the unambiguous identification of individual named features and structures. Based on a table containing somewhat more than 5,000 exonyms, we have prepared a list of the most frequently used names, which are presented in this research volume. We believe that it will become an important reference resource that can be used for textbooks, research and discussion papers, other articles, and Slovenian normative guides, and by anyone interested in this issue. It will facilitate copyeditors’ work and make it more efficient. The published list of these exonyms will also enrich the international treasury of such names and will become part of the world’s linguistic heritage. The volume has three parts. Part one contains theoretical and methodological reflections on exonyms, with an emphasis on explaining basic concepts, the use of exonyms, gathering and selecting them to design a collection of exonyms, and presentation of an analysis of their frequency. It concludes with two chapters that serve as links to the other two parts of the volume. The first presents the format of the table in detail. This table, with a list of the most frequently used exonyms (3,818), comprises the second part of the book and is supplemented by a table with a list of over 350 of the most established alternative exonyms. The third part of the volume contains color maps containing exonyms from the table in part two, arranged by part of the world and divided according to semantic type of exonym.