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The research area is the strip of narrow lake land surrounding Velenje and Škale Lakes (in the Northeast Sub-alpine part of Slovenia) which has different potentials that provide opportunities for sustainable development. The primary research goal was to create digital cartographic materials; current land use was displayed (updated in October, 2014 and February, 2015), and land use/land cover categories were created using GIS. An evaluation of the integrated assessment of the landscape’s visual aesthetic qualities was also made, followed by a questionnaire survey. Furthermore, the range of options to complement and improve existing proposals for the continued use of the lakes' banks, the direct hinterland of the lakes, and the surfaces of Škale and Velenje Lake, was established. Some ideas were in line with sustainable use - applying a natural concept, and some proposals were results of imaginative brainstorming. Finally, we proposed some spatial development scenarios for the area researched by the models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seasonal changes in the concentrations of trace elements (Ni, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr and As) were analysed in shoots of macrophytes Myriophyllum spicatum, Najas marina, Potamogetoncrispus, Potamogeton lucens, Potamogeton nodosus, Potamogeton pectinatus and Nuphar lutea taken from lake Velenjsko jezero (Slovenia), an artificial lake resulting from mining activity. Lake lies in the vicinity of the Šoštanj Thermal Power Plant, from which fly ash slurry was transported by pipeline and emptied into Velenjsko jezero until 1983. The degree of concentration of elements in plant’s shoots varied according to the species of plant and the time of the season. The average concentrations of non-essential elements (Ni, Cr, Pb and As) in stems and leaves were the highest in Myriophyllum spicatum and the lowest in Nuphar lutea. Concentration of two essential elements Cu and Zn were the highest in the shoots of Potamogeton lucens and Potamogeton crispus respectively. Element concentration showed seasonal variation. For essential elements Zn and Cu there was a clear concentration decline from May to September in almost all macrophyte shoots, while non-essential elements remained at the same level or decreased through the season.