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This paper deals with a university degree in Environmental Engineering as a part of university studies in Engineering and shows engineering fields in which environmental engineering studies have been established as stand-alone studies globally. Furthermore, the paper gives a short overview of environmental engineering education in Slovenia, and then looks in detail at the integration of environmental engineering studies with study programmes offered at the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana. In 1998, the first ever in Slovenia technical studies in environmental engineering were introduced, i.e. the four-year university study Water Management and Communal Engineering (VKI). In 2009, it was transformed into a new two-stage Bologna study programme Water Management and Environmental Engineering (VOI). The paper presents the basic indicators of the VKI studies (enrolment, graduates, average grades, study duration, drop-out), which formally expires in the academic year 2015/16, and compares them with those of the pre-Bologna university study programme in geodetic engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Further regional and spatial development of the Republic of Slovenia is based on a wide share of protected areas that pose significant demands for spatial planers. As an example of links between spatial planning and management of protected areas, in this paper we deal with the Triglav National Park (TNP) in NW Slovenia, particularly with the proposal for its 2014-2023 management plan and to which extent this plan takes into account specific conditions that arise from risk areas due to natural hazards as a significant water management expert foundation for planning the use of space. The paper explicitly demonstrates that the determination of hazard and risk areas in Slovenia is truly necessary, and that only a detailed determination of hazard and risk areas in scales 1:1000 to 1:5000 makes possible detailed spatial planning and thus also the management of protected areas. From the discussion, it also follows that the proposed TNP management plan should be upgraded in the field of research by establishing a Scientific (research) council at the TNP Administration, and by establishing a specific targeted research program focused on research in TNP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The model developed for evaluating the optimal division of Slovenia into provinces is based on regional centres equipped with activities of appropriate levels, including universities. Connections between universities and the industry of a province are important factors in ensuring equal opportunities to access university education. Information on the regional concentration of students and distribution of organizations providing field placements in relation to all organizations in Slovenia is an important criterion of quality of university education. University and professional studies in geodetic engineering for the entire country is conducted at the University of Ljubljana. A comparison was made between the old and the new university and professional study programmes during the transition to the Bologna study programmes, when University of Ljubljana synchronously offered the old and new study programs (academic years 2008/09, 2009/2010, and 2010/11). The focus of this paper is on the role of field placements in the university with special reference to the understanding and evaluation students' and graduates' competences. The demographic composition of students in geodetic engineering with their involvement in field placements is analysed. An analysis of regional distribution mapping and demographic analysis of organizations with the determination of distance from place of residence of students in geodetic engineering to their field placement is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article tackles the problem of regionalisation of Slovenia from the integrated perspective of water management. When propositions to divide Slovenia into several regions (provinces) (with proposals to make between 3 and 14 regions) were made, very different and numerous parameters have been taken into account. The article examines the regionalisation problem from the integrated water management perspective that was introduced into the Slovenian water legislation by the European Water Directive, adopted in 2000. The article also summarises the main directions of integrated water management, contained in Water Act that was adopted in 2002 and is still in force. On the basis of integrated water management foundations in European legislation, the article uses the division of Slovenia into water districts as a professional basis for a comparison between different proposals for division of Slovenia into regions. Although it is true that a hydrographical division of Slovenia into water districts cannot be the most important basis for regionalisation, one may notice that a division of Slovenia into three regions (Western Slovenia (Koper), Central Slovenia (Ljubljana), Eastern Slovenia (Maribor)) and partially division into six regions would be fully in line with bases for integrated and (by definition) territorial water management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An application of data mining for the determination of flooded areas was published in the Journal Geodetski vestnik (no. 54/2010-4). This paper analyses the usefulness of these results for further analyses of hydraulic parameters. The velocity and discharges were computed for six locations. The study showed that the flooded areas determined by satellite images can be used for further analyses. Nevertheless, other layers have to be sufficiently precise, especially the digital terrain model (DTM). DTM 12.5 was used. The study showed that DTM 12.5 is not precise enough. The observed area is very rough and the hydraulic parameters (cross sectional area of flow, wetted perimeter, hydraulic radius, river-bottom slope, flow velocity, discharge) cannot be detected with sufficient precision. Consequently, the calculated hydraulic radiuses, velocities and discharges are out of expectations. In the first part of the article, some basic information about remote sensing and its techniques is presented. Some practical examples of their usage (especially satellite images) for the observation of natural disasters are also given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mathematical modelling is a common approach when assessing debris-flow hazards. In this study on the mathematical modelling of debris flows, we applied the widely used Flo2D model. The high accuracy of the input parameters is essential for obtaining acceptable results. The numerical grid in the area of the debris-flow movement is generated from topographic data. The aim of our research was to assess the usefulness of public data for debris flow-modelling and to compare this data to the LiDAR-derived data. In Slovenia, DEM5 and DEM12.5 are publicly available data. However, the morphological accuracy of these datasets is questionable because of their development methods and their low morphologic resolution. A better solution is LiDAR-derived data with higher resolutions and a multiple options for further improvements with different methods and algorithms. The results with LiDAR data are more accurate; the torrential channel is better expressed. One downside of LiDAR data is its high price, which prevents wider usage of more precise data. Another downside is the much longer computational times of the model. More precise data means a more agitated surface of the computational grid, which results in shorter computational steps to ensure numerical stability. Methods for LiDAR-derived DEMs improvements are proposed in this study. With modified data, computational times are much shorter and results are even more precise than with non-modified DEMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]