Jacek B. Szmańda

Response of the Danube River Floodplain to Flood Events During 2002-2007 Period

Response of the Danube River Floodplain to Flood Events During 2002-2007 Period The relationship between floods and their geomorphic effect is discussed in this article. Almost every flood event is registered in overbank alluvia. We investigated sediment structures and textures as a response to three flood events occurred during 2002-2007 period on the Danube River floodplain in Bratislava. The change in sedimentation is the effect of floodwater flow energy changeability in the channel and floodplain. Generally, three main phases of energy flow changes of floods are recognised and thus the complete flood record can be expressed as the set of three layers. We also analysed conditions of the overbank sedimentation based on the shape and size of sedimented particles. Results show a relatively high variability of sedimentation processes during floods. The total amount of new overbank sediment accumulated in the 2002-2007 period, its texture characteristics and spatial distribution do not depend only on flood discharge, but also on the drainage basin sources of floodwater and sediment.

Geomorphic/Sedimentary Responses of Rivers to Floods: Case Studies from Slovakia

The aim of this study is to outline the geomorphic/sedimentary responses of three Slovak river systems of different character (a non-channelized meandering gravel-bed river, a mixed-bedrock headwater river, and a channelized section of a large alluvial river) to extreme flood events. Lateral channel shifts and the spatial variability of channel landforms as responses of a non-channelized gravel-bed stream to flood events were studied on a 13.2 km long reach of the Ondava River in two time horizons, 2002 and 2009 (reference year: 1987). Two different methods were used to quantify the geomorphic effect of floods on the Topl’a River. First is the analysis of the remotely sensed imagery before (September 2006) and after (October 2009) the July 2008 flood. Second is the analysis of representative cross sections measured on each of the 78 delimited channel reaches. Lithofacies studies of the Danube River overbank deposits were conducted on the right-bank inter-dike inundation area (active floodplain) of 300–600 m width. Case studies prove that the responses of different river systems to floods are governed by a combination of ‘global’ laws and ‘local’ spatial and/or temporal factors (different settings and scales).

Should Renaturalised and Recultivated Landscapes Appear in Landscape Typology

Abstract Landscapes constantly change under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors. They can be destructive as well as leading to regeneration of landscapes which have been imbalanced. When this process occurs in a natural or human-controlled manner with the use of natural elements of the environment, it is called renaturalisation, and the resulting landscape - renaturalised landscape. Where landscape restitution occurs under the purposeful, sustainable and rational human influence, we talk of the recultivation process and the resulting landscape is termed recultivated. Examples of both of these terms added to landscape classification have been described based on several quarries existing within the City of Krakow.

E-turystyka natywna szansą rozwoju przedsiębiorczości wśród społeczności lokalnych

Native tourism as an individual and non-institutionalized, non-formalized form of exploring the world belongs to the modern trends of tourism development, including sustainable tourism, ethnic tourism or slow tourism. This type of tourism has, among other things, designed to promote the economic development of local communities and refers to the policy of pro-poor tourism. Tools commonly used in e-tourism became also useful for native tourist services. The combination of these two trends in tourism: native tourism and e-tourism, may become the basis for the development of online information systems within native e-tourism. Such systems, from their nature, could help in the realization of individual and qualified tourists’ needs and interests as well as in facilitating the dissemination of offers by local suppliers of various, niche types of tourist services. The article is a key study and describes the concept of the Native E-Tourism and its relation to other forms of sustainable tourism. It also shows principles of the ETNOS portal – one of the pioneer Internet portals in native e-tourism that helps in diffusion of a not new but modified concept in tourism.

Applying Native e-Tourism to Support the Development of SustainableTourism

Sustainability is a commonly desirable concept also in individual, non institutionalised tourism, since its main objective is progress, and sustainability provides an opportunity for correct and reasonable management. Our proposition of creating native e-tourism fits into this system perfectly as it arose from the combination of native, ethnic tourism and electronic tools (e-tourism) and is very close to slow and responsible tourism. Native e-tourism promotes an approach of giving a chance for local communities to become a service provider without any intermediate party in a well-known environment they have a strong connection with. This paper, by proposing an idea of a native e-tourism, is a contribution to a theoretical discussion on a tourism typology and the definition of sustainable tourism. The authors try to find a solution to a problem of integrity of sustainability, the customer’s interests, efficiency requirements and local society’s vision of development; and to prove that a single, native supplier with the use of electronic technology may create a system of private enterprise and remain sustainable in their operations. The publication is a case study, an incorporation of theory into applied work and takes part in a discussion on the contemporary and future trends in tourism.