Animals contribute to tourism, but tourism-related research focuses primarily on free-ranging or captive wildlife tourism. St. Moritz in Switzerland is a premium destination where horses have been used for tourism for more than 160 years, for instance in White Turf racing and Snow Polo. Therefore, the aim of this article is to analyse how horses contribute to the tourism event economy of St. Moritz and how locals and tourists perceive equestrian event tourism. To address these questions, a survey with 352 questionnaires and ten expert interviews were conducted. A total of 74.7 percent of the inhabitants surveyed found the equestrian events positive, with the main reasons they cited including the traditional nature of the events locally (equestrian events have been held regularly since 1906), the associated entertainment and marketing for St. Moritz, the horses themselves as animals and related equestrian sports. The equestrian event tourism is responsible for many primary and secondary effects that are important for the region, resulting in an added value of at least CHF 47,000,000 annually, generated by at least 60,000 visitors. The effort expended, including the preparation of infrastructure for the horse races and polo on the frozen lake in winter, is internationally unique. This equestrian tourism demonstrates how forms of animal-based tourism can contribute significantly to the economy while ensuring international recognition derived from the annually held events that contrast clearly with other established forms of animal-based tourism like zoos or safaris. This demonstrates that successful animal-based tourism can be achieved not only with unique wildlife species in their natural habitats, but with non-unique domesticated species.
Over the past two decades, Green Infrastructure (GI) has gained prominence as a strate-gic spatial planning concept aimed at integrating ecological connectivity, ecosystem ser-vices, and socio-spatial objectives within coherent territorial frameworks. Yet empirical evidence indicates that its operationalisation remains uneven, particularly in small mu-nicipalities and transitional governance contexts that are underrepresented in mainstream GI scholarship. This study examines how GI is conceptualised, operationalised, and im-plemented within the spatial planning system ofNorth Macedonia, with a specific focus on the municipalities of Struga and Vevchani. Adopting a qualitative multiple-method design, the research combines Critical Discourse Analysis of national, regional, and municipal planning documents with a structured practitioner workshop aimed at examining institu-tional interpretations, implementation constraints, and cross-sectoral coordination dy-namics. This triangulated approach enables a systematic assessment of how GI is framed, codified, and enacted in practice, while also capturing how practitioners negotiate its integration within existing regulatory mandates. The findings reveal a persistent communicative-operative gap. Although Green Infra-structure (GI) is discursively endorsed and aligned with European environmental agen-das, its operational embedding occurs primarily through pre-existing sectoral and land-use categories. Policy provisions remain predominantly aspirational, regulatory language is weak, cross-sectoral coordination limited, and monitoring mechanisms largely absent. GI is selectively embedded within protection-oriented domains, while multifunctionality, spatial connectivity, and equity dimensions are weakly codified in binding instruments. Rather than constituting an implementation failure, this configuration reflects a process of institutional adaptation, whereby GI stabilises in forms compatible with entrenched regulatory cultures and administrative mandates. The study reconceptualises Green Infrastructure (GI) mainstreaming as a process of institutional translation rather than linear policy diffusion. It advances a configurational lens for analysing multifunctional infrastructure within hybrid governance regimes and demonstrates that conceptual adoption without regulatory specificity may produce discur-sive convergence while leaving spatial allocation logics structurally unchanged. These insights contribute to ongoing debates on GI governance, planning reform, and EUpolicy alignment in peripheral and institutionally fluid contexts.
Gully erosion is a special form of water-induced soil erosion and is often accompanied by devastating geomorphological effects on the landscape. It is characterised not only by high rates of soil loss, but also by lasting changes in the landscape as well as its degradation. Extensive research on gully erosion has increased in the last two decades. Although studies on this topic had been conducted previously too, they were rather scarce. In Austria, only few studies have dealt with this specific form of soil erosion to date. Accordingly, one of the main objectives of this study was to issue an inventory of gully erosion in a selected study area in Lower Austria. To this end, identified erosion sites were mapped and displayed on a hotspot map to provide an overview of where accumulations of gullying can be found. In addition, a geomorphometric analysis was carried out to provide information about soil and sediment loss induced by gully erosion, as well as other specific characteristics of selected erosion phenomena. As the results reveal, 2,065 permanent gullies and 289 sunken lanes could be detected in the study area, concentrated in regions characterised by thick loess layers and intensive land use. Moreover, it has been shown that the gullies contribute to considerable soil loss rates. In three representative catchment areas, detailed examinations of the geomorphometric characteristics showed that gully erosion is responsible for more than 1,000,000 m3 of sediment loss. Not only does this lead to the emergence of 'scars' in the affected landscapes, but it also leaves agricultural land unusable. Since heavy rainfall events are expected to become more frequent in Austria due to the advance of climate change, soil erosion may likewise increase in the future. Therefore, there is an urgent need to intensify research on soil erosion in order to take corresponding measures and protect the soil from devastating erosion events.
