On the Sunny Side of the Alps: Slovenian Mountains and Their Perspectives - Sustainable Development in Mountain Regions: Southeastern Europe - page 197

areas. In the past there were some regionalisations made on scientific level. The
last one was made by the Slovenian Geographical Institute and includes the most
integrated methodology to define the regions. One of the regions is the Alps and
short description is given at the beginning of the chapter. There also is an area of the
Alpine Convention in Slovenia, which includes one third of the Slovenian territory.
Border incorporates central Alpine areas but it was defined more or less politically
and is mostly adapted to municipal borders.
16.2 Mountain Policy in Slovenia
As the majority of Slovenia is mountainous, most of national strategies and legisla-
tion affect mountainous areas but generally there is no explicit mountain policy in
Slovenia. Slovenian regional policy has three main periods: stimulation of under-
developed areas (1971-1991), stimulation of demographically endangered areas
(1991-1999) and stimulation of harmonised regional development (from 1999 on).
From the 1970s on there has been an effort to implement polycentric development
although Slovenia shifted very late to the endogenous principles of development in
comparison to other EU countries. Until the last period, regional policy had been
orientated towards selected problematic areas. Harmonised regional development
tries to cover the whole national territory but the priority is still given to the areas
with special developmental problems.
Mountain areas combined with economic and demographic indicators are used in
definition of areas with special developmental problems (Ministry of Economy) for
use in regional development policy implementation. Polycentric development policy
in the 1970s directed state subsidies in less-developed areas. In many cases bigger
enterprises open small units in the countryside, which artificially maintain social
conditions. Because these units were economically unstable, most of them were
closed at the beginning of the 1990s, which caused depopulation of these areas.
Although there is no explicit mountain policy in Slovenia, there are some issues,
which are the subject of debate on the national level and are related to mountainous
areas. These issues are targeted through different strategies and laws prepared by
different ministries.
- Depopulation of marginal areas, agriculture abandonment, and decay of cultural
landscape - most of these processes are taking place in the mountains. This issue
is targeted by the Strategy of Countryside Development, Agriculture Act, Act on
Harmonized Regional Development and Rural Development Programmes.
- Sustainable development - mountains play an important role in terms of water
resources, energy resources, tourism and recreation areas, which contribute to
high quality of life in most of Slovenia. This area is covered with the Alpine
Convention, National Sustainable Development Strategy, National Environmental
Protection Strategy, Environmental Protection Act, etc.
- Tourism development - mountains (especially the Alps) are considered one of the
key areas of tourism development.