A good knowledge of the natural and cultural heritage of karst is a precondition for the rational planning of life on it. We try to organize the knowledge to make it as useful as possible for planners. We are involved in individual projects related to the development and protection of the natural and cultural heritage of karst areas, regional planning, water supply systems, the construction of transportation infrastructure, the closure of dump sites in karst areas, the collection of data on karst caves and their protection, karst ecology and determining the extent of human influence on the karst underground, and planning and monitoring the exploitation of karst phenomena for tourism. A new book series Karstology and development challenges on karst was designed to present the results of completed and new projects to a broader public. The first book with the subtitle Water contains selected directly applicable research studies on karst waters, their importance, characteristics, endangerment, and protection. In the next books other research fields will be presented in more detail.
F.17 Transfer of existing technologies, know-how, methods and procedures into practice
COBISS.SI-ID: 258948608In 2002 the Karstology studies program was accredited by the University of Nova Gorica, and classes started in the 2002/2003 school year at the Karst Research Institute in Postojna. Most of the lecturers are from our Institute and the rest from other ZRC SAZU institutes and the University of Ljubljana. Also among the instructors are recognized foreign professors from the Czech Republic, France, Croatia, Italy, and Poland. In 2011, 10 students from five countries were enrolled. One student successfully defended his master thesis and one his doctoral theses. With karstological subjects and modules we cooperated also at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Geography, and at the University of Primorska, Faculty of Humanities, Geography.
D.10 Educational activities
COBISS.SI-ID: 31088173In compliance with a commission from the Directorate of the Republic of Slovenia for managing investment in the public railway infrastructure, extensive karstological research (surface, underground, hydrology) was carried out between Divača and Črni Kal for elaborating the project documentation for the acquisition of construction permits for the second track of the railway line between Divača and Koper. The karstological research was carried out in cooperation with seven companies that prepared the plans for building the line across the surface, through tunnels, and across viaducts. In many cases, our research served as the starting point and basis for planning and for other partial studies for the joint Geological-geotechnical report: we participated in the phase of determining the right of way, determining the properties of the bedrock, measuring the level of the water table in karst caves, and not least determining the drained and non-drained sections of the T2 tunnel. Our findings contributed substantially to the demanding task of analyzing the risks involved in constructing the railway line. Geologically, Slovenia’s karst is extraordinarily diverse and developmentally heterogeneous. On the basis of our comprehensive knowledge of karst and experience with construction elsewhere in karst regions, we were able to reach conclusions about the presence of caves along the future railway line and determine the probable frequency of caves and their type, size, and shape. Special attention was devoted to studying the Beško-Ocizeljsko cave system and its surroundings. A tunnel will run approximately one hundred meters below the surface in the immediate vicinity of occasionally flooded caves. Tracer tests were carried out in two sinkholes along the route that upgraded our knowledge of the underground flow of water toward springs in Italy (Timavo, Bagnolli/Boljunec) and the Rižana and Osapska Reka rivers in Slovenia.
F.17 Transfer of existing technologies, know-how, methods and procedures into practice
COBISS.SI-ID: 32914221