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In this paper we suggest that modern tourism planning of a destination should include participation from all levels of the community (direct stakeholders, local residents and differing age groups) if the participatory process is to be extensive and universal within the community. We see participatory planning as a critical success factor in seeking to satisfy the requirements of the modern paradigm of sustainability and responsibility in tourism. A community-based approach to tourism development is a prerequisite to sustainability. This focuses on community involvement in the planning and development process and developing the types of tourism, which generate real social and economic benefits to local communities. Representing the interests and fulfilling the needs of various users is one reason for enabling their participation. Interestingly, children & youth are often overlooked in this regard even though adults may not adequately represent their needs. An important outcome of participatory planning is the process of collective learning that takes place through the underlying process of dialogue. We will refer in the paper to parallel research conducted with colleagues in Slovenia focusing in detail on the role of children & youth in the participatory process of developing sustainable tourism at a local level. This includes a view that planning for sustainable tourism development is an effort to shape the future. Among stakeholders and community participants, children & youth have a significant voice in the future and to a strong degree should have the right to engage in development. The paper seeks to assess the role of participatory structures in planning and development and in the role of children & youth as stakeholders in the planning of local destination management., U ovom radu polazimo od pretpostavke, kako u suvremenom planiranju turističkog razvoja destinacije treba težiti da su u participativni proces uključene sve razine lokalne zajednice (direktni dionici u turizmu, lokalno stanovništvo kao i različite starosne skupine). Posljednje navedeno jedino osigurava univerzalni i sveobuhvatni participativni proces planiranja u turističkoj destinaciji. Ocjenjujemo, da je participativnost svih dionika kritičan faktor uspjeha za osiguranje održivog i odgovornog turističkog razvoja u des-tinaciji. Na taj način osiguran je razvoj turizma, koji generira realne socijalne, okolišne i ekonomske koristi za lokalnu zajednicu. Mogućnost za iskaz participacije treba biti omogućena svim dionicima u destinaciji. Interesantno, djeca i mladi često su izostavljeni iz ovog procesa, iako u većini slučajeva odrasla generacija ne može adekvatno izraziti njihov pogled na budući turis-tički razvoj u destinaciji. Značajan rezultat participativnog procesa je i međusobna komunikacija te izmjena iskustva u procesu planiranja razvoja turističke destinacije. U radu se referiramo i na paralelno istraživanje, koje su izveli kolege iz Slovenije, s fokusom na ulogu djece u participativnom procesu planiranja turističke destinacije. Smatramo da je to od važnog značaja za osiguranje elementa održivosti za budući razvoj u turističkoj destinaciji. Između svih dionika u planiranju razvoja destinacije, djeca i mlada generacija trebaju i moraju imati svoju ulogu i svoj glas, kako bi participativni proces bio cjelovit odnosno sveobuhvatan.

This paper examines the local economic development agencies, their entrepreneurial or leadership behaviour and their ability to contribute to local/regional development in the context of a transitional economy. The research employs qualitative research methodology by combining in-depth interviews and focus groups on 36 local development agencies (LDAs) and other actors ‘responsible’ for the economic development in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Inductive theory or the bottom-up model for regional development provides the conceptual structure for this research. The research identifies a number of important factors that determine the trajectory of the local/regional economic development, as well as the challenges that LDAs and other local actors are facing in one of the most unpredictable economic environments.

In this paper we seek to identify what we see as a dysfunctional barrier in the development of environmentally and economically sustainable tourism at a local level. Changing shifts in tourism markets have led to the greater importance of sustainable tourism initiatives, which by their very nature will tend to have a locally oriented concept, as opposed to a national or international concept. Our research used four comparative case-studies to consider the potential advantage of locally focused bottom-up tourism models based on coalitions of key local actors over top-down models based on national or international structures., U svom radu nastojimo identificirati ono što smatramo disfunkcionalnim barijerama u razvoju ekološki i ekonomski održivog turizma na lokalnoj razini. Pomaci na turističkom tržištu doveli su do inicijative, da se veća važnost pridaje onim kretanjima koja po svojoj prirodi imaju tendenciju ka lokalnoj orijentaciji, za razliku od nacionalno ili međunarodno usmjerenog koncepta. U našem smo istraživanju komparativno upotrijebili četiri studije slučaja u kojima je izražena prednost lokalno usmjerenih turističkih modela prema metodi „odozdo prema gore“, odnosno participativnog planiranja, u čijem je temelju koalicija ključnih lokalnih aktera posloženih obrnuto od modela „odozgo prema dolje“ utemeljenom na nacionalnim ili međunarodnim strukturama.

There is a broad consensus amongst academics, policy makers and practitioners that a fundamental cause of difficulties experienced by the majority of economies in transition is a lack of entrepreneurialism. This is manifested in the low rate at which new, especially smaller-scale, private businesses are created. This is particularly evident in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) where many barriers either created by or inherited from the old system remain in place. Such barriers inhibit entrepreneurial progress in the country despite a number of strengths and opportunities. The main prerequisite for such progress is the development of an institutional infrastructure capable of creating the optimum conditions for entrepreneurial development. International experience shows that a number of models perceived to be relevant in different international contexts have not been effective in BiH, due to the lack of a holistic, equitable and future-oriented approach to socioeconomic transformation. The aim of this paper is to address and assess the current problems and issues in BiH and to provide an integrative framework for entrepreneurship and SME development appropriate to the local and other contexts.