Katja Vintar Mally

ESD principles in higher education from a perspective of Central and Eastern European countries

Purpose This paper aims to reflect education for sustainable development (ESD) principles and their manifestation in higher education (HE) in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries which share a similar policy situation owing to post-socialist transition processes. Design/methodology/approach Observations from comprehensive mapping of ESD in professional development of university educators in CEE within the University Educators for Sustainable Development project provided the initial input for this research. To justify the findings, a questionnaire was distributed among informed respondents and assessed qualitatively. ESD success factors were identified to support the interpretation of the results within the overall HE policy context. Findings Opportunities for educators’ competence development are lower and less diverse in the CEE region than in other parts of Europe. Historical reasons and the policy context may contribute to this situation; the most important factor being the underfinanced HE sector which is currently undergoing profound structural transformation. Research limitations/implications The sample of respondents is not representative; they are informed experts in ESD. The results are of an illustrative nature; different sources of information are combined to draw a broad picture. Social implications University educators in CEE have considerable know-how and experience in ESD and thus represent significant potential for the development of this field under more favourable conditions. Originality/value This research is based on more than two years of cooperation within a broad partnership of European universities; it represents a contribution to the debate from a specific regional perspective. It shows opportunities for critical, creative and participatory approaches in HE, analyses current trends in historical and policy contexts and provides impulses for theoretically and practically oriented efforts.

Spatial variations in nitrogen dioxide concentrations in urban Ljubljana, Slovenia

Abstract Ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations are regularly measured at only two monitoring stations in the city centre of Ljubljana, and such scanty data are inadequate for drawing conclusions about spatial patterns of pollution within the city, or to decide on effective measures to further improve air quality. In order to determine the spatial distribution of NO2 concentrations in different types of urban space in Ljubljana, two measuring campaigns throughout the city were carried out, during the summer of 2013 and during the winter of 2014. The main source of NO2 in Ljubljana is road transport. Accordingly, three types of urban space have been identified (urban background, open space along roads, and street canyon), and their NO2 pollution level was measured using Palmes diffusive samplers at a total of 108 measuring spots. This article analyses the results of both measuring campaigns and compares the pollution levels of different types of urban space.

Regional differences in Slovenia from the viewpoint of achieving Europe’s sustainable development

Within the context of EU efforts to achieve the objectives of sustainable development, this article presents the findings of a study that uses a selection of thirty-two economic, social, and environmental indicators to evaluate the extent of achieving these objectives in Slovenian statistical regions from 2010 to 2014. Based on the favorable or unfavorable state and trends established, the indicator values are assigned scores that make it possible to calculate the average values for individual development areas and their total average (i.e., the indicator of sustainable regional development). The calculations confirmed the hypothesis that the differences between Slovenian regions are the greatest with regard to economic issues and the smallest with regard to environmental issues. Both in Slovenia and in the EU in general, unfavorable environmental trends resulting from unsustainable use of energy and natural resources persist, even though Slovenia’s environment remains above average in terms of its conservation.

Measuring Progress Towards Sustainability: the Geographer's view

Measuring progress towards sustainability goals is of key importance for successful policy-making. Numerous initiatives worldwide propose diverse sets of sustainable development indicators, monitoring changes in individual economic, social, and environmental aspects of development. On the other hand, there is still no consensus on the best composite indicator, which would encompass those aspects and allow comparisons across countries. The paper evaluates the suitability of some composite indicators (green GDP initiatives, Environmental Performance Index, Ecological Footprint, Human Development Index, Happy Planet Index) for sustainability measurement and also proposes an alternative measure of overall development – the Development Balance Index – in an attempt to bring to a common denominator a country’s socio-economic achievements as well as their accompanying environmental pressures.

Regional Disparities in Sustainable Development of Slovenia—Cohesion or Marginalization?

In the past decades, balancing regional development and guiding it towards sustainability goals has proven to be a difficult challenge in Slovenia. Since sustainable development strives to eliminate any kind of marginalization, this chapter investigates social, economic and environmental regional disparities in the country, proceeding from the assumption that regions failing to follow the sustainability requirements will over time become marginalized. In order to measure the progress towards sustainability goals, a set of thirty-two indicators was selected for the period 1996-2000 and the indicators were later on calculated also for the period 2010–2014. A comparison of the results of these two studies is presented as well as their comparison with the findings of other development evaluations used by Slovenian government (i.e. development risk index for statistical regions and coefficient of the development for municipalities). In both periods studied the analysis showed that interregional disparities are the greatest in the economic sphere and the smallest in the environmental sphere. According to the value of the synthetic indicator of sustainable regional development the six westernmost regions have maintained above average (positive) values and the other six regions have below average (negative) values. This dividing line between the eastern and western part of the country is mainly the consequence of greater development disparities in the social and economic spheres. In general, it is impossible to claim that the disparities among Slovenian regions are growing or declining, since very diverse trends are recorded in different areas. However, the prevailing development model in the country is still unsustainable, especially when taking into account the growing ecological footprint, the extent of the use of natural resources as well as the consequent pressures on the environment’s carrying capacity.