Mateja Šmid Hribar

The role of identifying and managing cultural values in rural development

Cultural and natural elements contribute to the development of rural areas. Identifying and evaluating development aspects and the interconnection of cultural values and local stakeholders are key to managing cultural values. This article defines cultural values with development potential by studying the relevant research literature and legislation, carrying out field studies in the Idrija countryside, and using an online questionnaire to evaluate development aspects.

Stakeholder conflicts in the Tivoli, Rožnik Hill, and Šiška Hill Protected Landscape Area

Green areas and especially their distribution and composition are the key factor that makes urban people’s lives more comfortable and healthier. Even though Ljubljana residents also have many other green areas at their disposal in their immediate vicinity, the area of Rožnik Hill and Tivoli Park as an urban forest with dispersed park features continues to be the most popular recreational destination, with roughly 1,750,000 visits per year. In 1984 it was designated a protected landscape area through an ordinance. In the past decades, a number of conflicts have arisen in this area between various stakeholders, such as landowners, park users, and specialist services, which is why these types of areas require careful and prudent management.

Terraced landscapes as protected cultural heritage sites

This article presents the current state of protection of terraced landscapes as an important type of cultural landscape, both globally and in Slovenia. The UNESCO World Heritage List, the Satoyama Initiative list, and the Slovenian Register of Immovable Cultural Heritage are analyzed. The findings show that terraces rarely appear as a factor justifying protection, even though certain progress has been made in recent years. At least globally, this has clearly been contributed to by the 2010 adoption of the Honghe Declaration. Slovenia shows both a lack of appropriate criteria for identifying terraced landscapes worth protecting and an insufficiently systematic treatment of heritage sites that are already being protected.

A methodological basis for landscape interpretation: the case of the Ljubljana Marsh

Landscape interpretation is one of the best-suited and established forms of informing and raising the awareness of visitors and local residents. The literature contains only rare examples of useful methodology that could help managers with the initial steps of interpretation. A methodological basis for landscape interpretation is presented, using the case of the Ljubljana Marsh. The form consisting of eight thematic categories is a useful tool for identifying suitable topics and selecting the right interpretation tools. Using this form, managers will reach their final interpretation goal more easily: to make people recognize the landscape and protect it against inappropriate changes.

Cultivated terraces in Slovenian landscapes

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.

Protecting trees through an inventory and typology: Heritage trees in the Karavanke Mountains, Slovenia

Both research and policy require a transparent approach to monitoring and managing natural and cultural heritage because landscape quality has become a key concept in landscape planning. This paper introduces an advanced approach to natural and cultural heritage inventory for the study of heritage trees. Because trees play different roles in society, different regulations apply to their preservation, which can lead to inconsistencies in records for heritages trees. The inventory of heritage trees and their types in the study area identified within the Karavanke Natura 2000 project, which is presented in this paper, is based on existing lists of heritage trees, fieldwork, and interviews. A new database of heritage trees has been established in which the advantage of geographical information systems unifying various data sources is emphasized.

The role and importance of the landscape park Udin Boršt

Udin Borst is an isolated conglomerate terrace in Gorenjska region, Slovenia. A number of surface karst features and caves developed here due to the predominance of carbonate gravel. It is one of the last contiguous areas of lowland forest in Gorenjska region, and a popular recreation location for the people living nearby. Due to its karst surface and the forest it offered shelter to the locals in turbulent times. Its role during the period when bandits ( rokovnjaci ) was common and during the Second World War is still preserved in folk memory. Due to its natural and cultural heritage, the area was protected as a Memorial park in 1985, but the legislation has become outdated and needs to be amended and updated. This article presents new findings on the geomorphological and intangible cultural heritage that need to be incorporated in the amended legislation.

Public and common goods in the cultural landscape // Javno in skupno dobro v kulturni pokrajini

The main purpose of this paper is to review the literature and national documents, and define the meaning and roles of various types of good in the rural cultural landscape. We identified four main categories: private good, toll good, common good, and public good. The scope, uses, and benefits of goods in the cultural landscape change over time due to, inter alia, socio-political processes and formal (non)recognition at the institutional level. Further, we discuss how public good and common good benefit the community, and the necessity of sound management and conservation of common good. In the context of public good, supporting, regulating, and cultural ecosystem services are becoming increasingly important. They are non-subtractable, but they are inextricably linked to private land. As there are many points of conflict in the use of common and public goods, their protection should be provided in the relevant legislation.Glavni namen prispevka je pregled strokovne literature in državnih dokumentov ter opredelitev pomena in vloge razlicnih tipov dobrega v podeželski kulturni pokrajini. Prepoznali smo stiri glavne kategorije: zasebno, placljivo, skupno in javno dobro. Obseg, nacin rabe in koristi dobrega se v kulturni pokrajini spreminjajo skozi cas, tudi zaradi družbeno-politicnih procesov in formalnega (ne)prepoznanja na institucionalni ravni. Poleg tega razpravljamo, kako javno in skupno dobro prinasata skupnosti koristi ter o nujnosti premisljenega upravljanja in ohranitvi skupnega dobrega. V kontekstu javnega dobrega so podporne, uravnalne in kulturne ekosistemske storitve vse pomembnejse. Z rabo sicer ne upadajo, a so nelocljivo povezane z zasebnimi zemljisci. Ker obstajajo mnoge tocke konflikta v rabi skupnega in javnega dobrega, je njegova zascita pomembna tudi na zakonodajni ravni.