Each even year we organize a symposium Geographic Information Systems in Slovenia, which is attended by representatives of research, educational and government institutions and users. In 2012, the 11th symposium was held. Before the symposium a book with 27 contributions was published. Every third year we organize a scientific conference NATURAL DISASTERS IN SLOVENIA. The third conference was in 2014. The purpose of the conference is to provide an interdisciplinary scientific overview in the field of natural disasters. At the conference the results are published in a scientific monograph. Every second year we organize a scientific conference SLOVENIAN REGIONAL DAYS. So far, six events have been organized, the last in 2014. The conference is designed to present the implementation and recommendations for regional policy in Slovenia and is an excellent opportunity for confrontation of opinions.
B.01 Organiser of a scientific meeting
Main objective of the SyCULTour project is to improve the management of cultural values in rural areas in order to increase their economic and social development. In the project we will try to create, implement and promote a common methodology (or a model) for management of cultural values in rural areas. With this model we wish to create a “guide” for various stakeholders who wish to utilize cultural values in touristic, educational, marketing and similar purposes, which would bring new developmental impulses to local economies. Promotion of the model is an important step in this project since we don’t want for it to become just another obsolete document. Promotion and dissemination of the model will be done primarily through the newly founded Virtual Chamber of Rural Tourism. This Virtual Chamber will be an online tool useful for various stakeholders who want to share knowledge, experiences and good practices for cultural values management. In order to improve the current management for cultural values we will, based on our experience, prepare recommendations for concrete local, regional, national and supranational documents. Project is co¬financed by transnational cooperation programme South East Europe and European regional development fund.
D.01 Chairing over/coordinating (international and national) projects
1) The programme research group issues the Acta geographica Slovenica journal. Being the leading Slovenian and Central- and Southern-European geographical journal it received the Impact factor in Slovenia in 2011. The journal is indexed in SCI Expanded and Scopus. 54 volumes have been published since 1952 - all the articles have been digitized in 2014 and can be accessed on the internet at ags.zrc-sazu.si. 2) Member of the programme team Matija Zorn is editor-in-chief of the Geographical Bulletin scientific journal, which is issued by the Geographical society of Slovenia. It is the oldest Slovenian geographical scientific journal publishing scientific, methodological and review articles, as well as reports on the work of Slovenian geographical institutions and associations. It is indexed in Scopus. So far 85 volumes have been published since 1925. The journal is available at http://zgs.zrc-sazu.si/sl-si/publikacije/geografskivestnik.aspx. 3) Janez Nared and David Bole were guest editors in Regions magazine (No. 293), published by Regional Studies Association on the topic of culture and heritage as a driver of regional development, on the topic of mountain areas, and on the topic of public transport in metropolitan areas. 4) Head of the program group Blaž Komac is editor-in-chief of the UJMA journal, which is published by the Administration for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief of the Republic of Slovenia. Globally, this is the only journal that provides a comprehensive yearly look at natural disasters in one place. So far, 28 volumes have been published since 1990. The magazine is available at: http://www.sos112.si/slo/page.php?src=li11.htm
C.05 Editorial board of a national magazine
Exploring Cultural Spaces of Europe, URBANC, Mimi (editor 2014–). Wien: Peter Lang Verlag. The series explores languages, cultures, and societies of Central and South Eastern Europe, with a special focus on Slovenia. The aim of the series is to publish indepth studies in the humanities and social sciences produced not only by ZRC SAZU but also by other scholars from Slovenia and elsewhere. The first volume has been published and the second one is in preparation.
C.01 Editorial board of a foreign/international collection of papers/book
The lecture focused on the impact of warfare on the natural environment in the case of the Soča Front (Soška fronta in Slovene; usually translated as the Isonzo Front by non-Slovene historians), which was held in limestone mountains in the Soča Valley during the World War I. Around million and a half solders took part at the Soča Front; around 200.000 were killed, around 700.000 were wounded or poisoned. Shallow regolith and sparse vegetation are characteristic for the predominantly karst area. Traces of explosions are hard to be found on limestone almost hundred years later comparing to the bomb craters in the thick regolith of some other contemporary battlefields (e.g. the Verdun battlefield, France). Throughout the Soča front, the landscape has been changed in particular by removing vegetation by explosions and digging regolith (trenches) and soil on the slopes. Impact of vegetation removal was only transient, since it mostly recovered in the following decades. The time of natural restoration in the region of the Upper Soča Valley depended on the altitude and the amount of organic matter in the affected surface. Judging on the basis of certain natural hazards in the last decade in the region, natural restoration took less than a decade in low-lying areas rich in humus and more than a decade in low-lying areas with a lack of humus. In high (karst) mountains, long-term natural restoration can take hundreds of years, as it takes part in the absence of biotic factors.
B.04 Guest lecture