The Buzau Carpathians and Sub-Carpathians, located in Buzau County, Romania, encompass 34 administrative units, including two towns and 32 rural communes. Since 1990, this region has experienced significant economic, social, and environmental challenges, resulting in underdeveloped rural areas and a lower quality of life. However, its scenic landscapes (Buzau Land Geopark, Natura 2000; Siriu, and Penteleu sites) and its rich cultural heritage, including traditional customs, religious sites, museums, and wine routes, make it a promising area for tourism development. As part of the H2020 SPOT project, the SPOT-IT tool was introduced to support sustainable tourism planning. This GIS-based tool assists local authorities, tourism entrepreneurs, and residents in estimating, forecasting, and managing tourism flows. The current study applied the Suitability Tool within SPOT-IT, focusing on five criteria: accessibility to accommodation, restaurant access, microclimatic conditions, land use, and land planning. This analysis helped identify optimal areas for tourism development in economically challenged, remote regions. The study identified four primary areas suitable for tourism: Northern area based on outdoor recreation and nature-based activities; Central area based on cultural heritage and historic attractions; Central-Southern area based on architectural heritage and local accommodation; Southern area based on vineyards, agritourism and culinary experiences. These findings provide essential guidance for stakeholders in promoting sustainable tourism in the Buzau region, helping to balance economic growth with local and environmental preservation.

Politicians, and the public often view the peripheral countryside as lagging, depopulated, ageing, and lacking job opportunities and services. Rural development programs in these areas focus on creating jobs in agriculture. The Vyso & ccaron;ina region (NUTS3), considered a quintessential Czech inner periphery, was chosen as a case study. Unlike other administrative regions, Vyso & ccaron;ina is not a nodal-type region; its unifying element is its peripherality. Thus, the challenges of individual micro-regions do not increase from the regional centre to the periphery but have a strip character, with more developed parts in the north and less developed parts in the south. Hypothetically, the region should belong to the underdeveloped areas of Czechia. However, our results indicate that Vyso & ccaron;ina is a relatively stable region. This raises the question of whether we should reconsider the issue of rural backwardness considering transition to a post-productive society.

Despite growing EU-level support, agroforestry remains poorly developed in many Central and Eastern European countries, including Slovakia. This study presents the first sociological assessment of agroforestry development in Slovakia, focusing on stakeholder perceptions, system preferences, and policy barriers. Using a qualitative, multi-actor case study approach, we conducted participatory fieldwork, focus groups, and open-ended surveys between 2022 and 2023. Findings reveal rapid growth in awareness and interest following targeted engagement activities. Stakeholders identified silvopastoral systems as particularly suitable for abandoned upland areas and silvoarable systems for intensively farmed lowlands. Environmental and cultural benefits—such as biodiversity enhancement, landscape aesthetics, and microclimate regulation—were key motivators, whereas economic incentives played a secondary role. However, structural barriers persist. Respondents cited legal ambiguity, limited advisory services, and restrictive implementation of the first agroforestry support measure under the CAP Strategic Plan (2023–2027) as major obstacles. Many viewed the policy as overly prescriptive and poorly aligned with on-the-ground realities. We conclude that participatory, context-specific approaches are essential to designing effective agroforestry policy. Slovakia’s experience offers broader lessons for post-socialist countries aiming to integrate agroforestry into multifunctional land-use systems under the European Green Deal and CAP reforms.

The intent of the research is to introduce a new strategy which will allow the implementation of small retention elements in the landscape more quickly than the standard approach of comprehensive land consolidation (LC). The average implementation of an LC project takes more 5 years, and the implementation rate of the proposed measures are in single digits. Thus, over the short to medium term, LC will not solve the current problems of climate change and water erosion. One of the main aspects that extends the length of time taken to implement LC in the Czech Republic is the high degree of fragmentation in the ownership of agricultural land. A single block of land can be divided into dozens of individual parcels with individual owners. This very high level of fragmentation leads to a reluctance by the individual owners to farm these small parcels and thus they rent the land out to large agricultural enterprises. This leads to the creation of excessively large blocks of land, which in turn leads to acceleration of water runoff and erosion. Through an analysis of old maps and archival aerial photographs, an area of approximately 250,000 hectares of defunct field paths on arable land were identified. Since these field roads are solely owned by municipalities, they have the potential for the rapid implementation of erosion protection without administrative delays. As these paths frequently follow contour lines, they are often suitable locations for the placement of effective anti-erosion measures. On average, a reduction in erosion-prone areas of 10.85% in each cadastral territory would be possible, with a standard deviation of 10.13%. A potential reduction in areas at risk of more than 10% was identified in 4472 cadastral territories out of a total of 13,077. Using this proposed strategy, erosion-prone areas in the Czech Republic could be reduced by an average of 32.55 hectares per cadastral area, with water erosion potentially decreasing by 107.42 t yr⁻¹ per cadastral area. This equates to a total reduction of 480,382.24 t yr⁻¹ annually across the entire country.

Waste tyre fires are a significant environmental issue that leads to the release of toxic substances into the soil, particularly polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals. These contaminants can adversely affect the physicochemical properties of the soil, its microbial activity, and plant growth. The aim of this study is to assess the degree of phytotoxicity in soils affected by tyre waste fires using acute and biological tests, while simultaneously measuring microbial respiration as an indicator of soil biological activity. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the application of a 5% dose of biochar as a remediation measure was evaluated. The results showed that leachates from contaminated soils exhibited phytotoxic effects, with growth inhibition of 26.94–28.12% and reduced seed germination of 55.6–55.9%. The application of biochar to the soil under study significantly reduced phytotoxicity-induced growth inhibition (20–23.11%) and improved seed germination rates (79.76–83.71%). Microbial respiration gradually increased following the application of biochar; after 28 days it was over 30% higher compared to soils without biochar amendment. This study confirms that biochar can be an effective amendment that improves the biological quality of soils impacted by tyre waste fires.

The article deals with the restructuring of a region focused on intensive agriculture at a time when agriculture ceases to be a source of wealth. It explores the possibilities of using tourism in an area with a high proportion of arable land without neither significant historical heritage nor natural attractions. The study method is a complex geographical analysis that determines the conditions under which the transformation of the micro region takes place. This analysis results in an overview of the microregion’s most significant strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The applied solution is the use of a specific brand, using the significant presence of wine culture. The use of this brand for marketing is presented. The increase in competition ability is based on the introduction of the idea to promote the area under the brand Blue Mountains and the use of other ideas that significantly differentiate the studied region from its neighbours. The key prerequisites are the cooperation of the actors. The main contribution of the article lies in the study of local experiences with tourism promotion and place marketing as one of the possibilities for transformation into a post-productive economy.

Second-tier cities, which often developed on industrial production, are looking for suitable ways of transforming into a post-productive economy. One possibility is the development of cultural tourism, which depends on the existence of attractions, infrastructure and institutional prerequisites. However, the city's overall environment and soft factors, such as the hospitality of residents, are no less important. Compared to capital cities, second-tier cities tend to have a less hectic life and can provide a more peaceful environment for tourists. These assumptions were verified in the example of Brno, the second-largest city in Czechia. Here, cultural tourism suitably complements the city's main future orientation towards university, scientific functions, and high-tech industry. A high-quality environment for living allows tourists to enjoy the local attractions of the tourism fully. The disadvantage is the lack of air connections.

In the Czech Republic (CR), several negative changes in landscape structure before 1989 occurred due to changes in the landscape structure, agricultural intensification, mechanisation, and increased use of agrochemicals. The field roads, borders, draws, retention elements and natural obstacles to surface runoff with significant retention functions in the landscape were ploughed. The resulting extensive land blocks with arable land enabled the rapid acceleration of erosion processes. Due to the high ownership fragmentation of arable land and a lack of financial resources, it is highly time-consuming to overcome administrative difficulties in designing contour-oriented linear erosion control measures (ECM) to interrupt surface runoff and reduce erosion processes. Based on the analysis of cadastral maps, old maps and aerial photographs, we have identified a prospective possibility of using areas owned by municipalities, which are areas of former ploughed field roads (FPFR). The FPFR frequently run along the contour or diagonally across large land blocks. The FPFR are still owned by the municipalities, which significantly accelerates and streamlines the design of ECM by municipalities in these places. We identified these places of the FPFR network for the whole area of the CR. According to the degree of exceeding the maximum permissible length of the slope, we analysed where the placement of elements interrupting the surface runoff on the FPFR can be most effective. The proposed concept can reduce water erosion on 37% of arable land. The average reduction of erosion risk areas is 10.88% per cadastral territory (CT) with a standard deviation (SD) of 19.93%. It represents reduction by 32.59 ha per CT with SD = 73.87 ha and potential reduction of soil loss by water erosion by 107.5 t y −1 per CT.

With the current advancements in GIS and remote sensing methods, especially the use of high-precision LiDAR data, there is a significant disparity in the accuracy of morphological and soil data in erosion assessment. In current practice, a soil geospatial database is used to determine erodibility (K factor), often causing step changes in value within a field. However, soil properties influencing the K factor typically vary smoothly with terrain morphology and the soil catena pattern. Terrain morphology should therefore be taken into account, and it will lead to a more precise spatial distribution of K-factor values, significantly refining soil loss calculations and erosion control planning. For this purpose, the Czech Soil-Morphological Geospatial Database containing 1,417 soil samples was created. All soil samples were analyzed in the laboratory, and their K values were linked to morphometric characteristics (MMCH) based on geographical coordinates. The correlation dependences of the MMCH and spatial changes of K values, as deviations from the average values for the drainage areas within the closed erosion units, were calculated. The results of the methodology validation show a statistically high significant dependence between the K values obtained from field measurements and the values generated by the K-terrain model, created to automate the calculation. The tool can be used for down-scaling of K factor maps of large areas according to digital terrain model. To allow it to be applied more effectively to land management, a map with K terrain values for the entire Czech Republic was created with a resolution of 10 m.

This paper maps the causes of the demographic, economic and social decline of a selected border micro-region during the last century. The decline occurred due to the location being remote, lacking natural resources and having an unsuitable industrial structure. Historical events associated with the post-war deportation of the German population and efforts to create a classless society also played a role in the decline. The results are an 87% population decrease, the demise of most companies, a very low level of human capital and unemployment reaching up to 5%. In order to comprehend the current state of the border micro-region and predict future development, it is necessary to understand the development that has occurred since approximately the middle of the nineteenth century. The European countryside is certainly not homogeneous, and different regions have shown unique mixes of positional, natural, economic and political factors. Some hope has been raised in relation to the transition to a post-productive economy, a transition that turns the remoteness of the region into an advantage. This is confirmed by the positive migration balances of the smallest municipalities in the last decade.

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The paper evaluates the first 15 editions of the European Countryside magazine in relation to the EURORURAL conferences and international projects of the Department of Applied and Landscape Ecology of the Mendel University in Brno.

Amongst the objectives of the H2020 SPOT project (Social and Innovative Platform On cultural Tourism and its potential towards deepening Europeanisation), therewas the intention to explore the use of cultural tourism as a vehicle for improving the social and economic fabric of disadvantaged rural areas. Through 15 Case Studies (including a small number of over-touristed areas for comparison), partners 'clustered' examples to establish common themes around which to describe the good practice. The detailed analysis demonstrated that each cultural tourism target is unique. It may be that there is an attraction of cultural tourism despite there isn't a 'brand' but each site has its own special features. Following extensive dialogue with stakeholders and the collation of relevant statistical data in each area, being inspired by the work on Regional Development carried out by the European Research Centre in its work on Smart Specialisation Strategies, SPOT teams described the key factors which need to be addressed in progressing Cultural Tourism in new locations or in capitalising on existing examples of Cultural Tourism. The factors are explored in detail and the relationship between them is identified by the local stakeholder's observations; examples of successful interventions are quoted from our extensive database of Case Study findings. The importance of stakeholder engagement is described and the support which can be given by the academic communities is highlighted. The framework of European, national, regional and local policy approaches is analysed in general terms and observations are made on the organisational structures which support (or impede!) cultural tourism activity. Whilst SPOT argues that each example of Cultural Tourism is unique, it is still able to draw conclusions regarding priorities at each level (EU/national/regional/local) which need to be addressed. The approach is holistic-single-issue intervention is not considered effective. The overall approach encourages sustainability; sustainability in economic terms, sustainability in social and community relationships, sustainability in resources, environmental point of viewand finally in the use of cultural tourism activity to promote community empowerment, reduce conflicts and provide a dynamic future for disadvantaged areas.

Background This article analyses mass accommodation facilities to examine the development of Czech tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and 2021. Methods The questionnaire survey was carried out in March 2021 in mass accommodation facilities. 131 responses were received from hotels and guesthouses throughout Czechia, which represents a return rate of 20%. Data were processed using Pearson's chi-square test to determine the effect of changes in facility type and category, quality, location, and primary focus before the outbreak of the pandemic. A statistical analysis of data on overnight stays was also used with data from the public database of the Czech Statistical Office. Results The study confirmed the increasing importance of domestic tourism and the greater sensitivity of destinations dependent on foreign tourists. Future strategies should be associated with destination rather than corporate management. The challenges are linked to the strengthening of environmentally friendly and sustainable tourism. To what extent the post-covid situation will return to the original model and to what extent it will at least partially reflect the changes that took place during the crisis period is a question for future research. Conclusions Moving from operational to strategic measures would be advisable.

Background This article analyses mass accommodation facilities to examine the development of Czech tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and 2021. Methods The questionnaire survey was carried out in March 2021 in mass accommodation facilities. 131 responses were received from hotels and guesthouses throughout Czechia, which represents a return rate of 20%. Data were processed using Pearson's chi-square test to determine the effect of changes in facility type and category, quality, location, and primary focus before the outbreak of the pandemic. A statistical analysis of data on overnight stays was also used with data from the public database of the Czech Statistical Office. Results The study confirmed the increasing importance of domestic tourism and the greater sensitivity of destinations dependent on foreign tourists. Future strategies should be associated with destination rather than corporate management. The challenges are linked to the strengthening of environmentally friendly and sustainable tourism. To what extent the post-covid situation will return to the original model and to what extent it will at least partially reflect the changes that took place during the crisis period is a question for future research. Conclusions Moving from operational to strategic measures would be advisable.

The Regional Development Strategy of the Czech Republic 2021+ set aside economically and socially endangered rural regions. This paper aims to analyse the situation of these regions in the South Moravian Region in more detail to specify individual threats and possible approaches to rural development. In addition, the paper seeks to determine whether these regions are significantly differentiated internally, allowing the neediest areas to be focused on for growth. The research used geographical analysis and synthesis methods to identify the two most peripheral microregions as the most endangered. Their most significant strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats were summarised, and possible strategies for further development were indicated. Although the conditions and development assumptions in the two microregions were different, the significance of tourism development was indicated as the most important direction in one case and as a second direction in the other.

The paper focuses on the changes to the industrial structure of small Moravian towns as these towns are part of the settlement structure that connects urban and rural systems. Small towns (of up to 15,000 inhabitants) are the most industrialized part of the Czech settlement system. They were the subject of capitalist industrialization in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as socialist industrialization in the second half of the twentieth century. Therefore, the research question asks how the small-town sector coped with the transition to a post-productive society and how small towns were differentiated during this process. Population censuses were the main tool used to gather data for comparison. Today, small towns have preserved, in particular, less innovatively demanding industries, which have been pushed out of large and medium-sized cities. At the same time, they are undergoing a process of post-productive transformation which is associated with a massive transfer of job opportunities to services, but they can also become starting points for cultural tourism in rural areas. However, their future development will be very differentiated depending on their location concerning regional centres, on the quality of human and social capital and also on their historical pathways.

Tourism is one of the world’s most affected sectors by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This article deals with the assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on the visitation of the South Moravian Region, including important cultural and natural sites, based on the analysis of empirical statistical data in the last decade and the calculation of the year-on-year change in attendance between 2019 and 2022. According to the results, the number of visitors to the South Moravian Region in 2020 fell by almost half, including a decrease of a quarter of visitors to cultural monuments compared to 2019. On the other hand, visits to natural areas with no restricted access increased by a fifth after 2020, but natural areas with restricted access fell by more than 40%. From 2021, attendance of the South Moravian Region began to increase slightly, and in 2022, it reached ninety percent of the level before 2019, including attendance at cultural and natural sites. The results of the research confirmed the growing trend in visitors to the South Moravian Region, including cultural and natural monuments, which were significantly influenced by the impact of COVID-19 on tourism after 2020, with a recovery of tourism in 2022.