Spatial management, and status of recreational infrastructure and recreational habits in the context of social changes in the last three decades

Last three decades are characterised by the rapid development of information-communication technology, which not only significantly changes working process, but also influences leisure activities and the use of space for recreation. The type and accessibility of recr. infrastructure were further modified due to the socio-political changes and transition process in Slovenia, which substantially transformed the relationship between private and public, and management of recreation. Since Jeršič studies at the end of 20th century there was no systematic approach to research spatial aspects of recr. infrastructure, although recreational habits of Slovenes adjusted all the time. New types of recreation activities occurred or their popularity shifted, the pandemics happened. All these aspects have so far been only partially addressed, therefore the main aim of these project is to fill in the gap in the research of recreation in the last 30 years and provide a systemic and interdisciplinary view on the recreation. These means to investigate the recreational habits, recr. infrastructure, its management and spatial planning. The goals of the project are: _ to prepare the registry of the recr. infrastructure in Slovenia, _ to analyze in more detail the recr. infrastructure and its use in selected municipalities, - to identify the recreational needs and patterns of the population before and during the pandemic, - to analyze the spatial management of recr. infrastructure at the national and local levels and determine the extent to which the population influences the development of new recr. infrastructure, - develop a tool for systematic monitoring of adult sports and recreational activities; and - provide a theoretical model and guidelines for spatial planning and management of recr. infrastructure. The goals will be achieved by applying the mix methods approach which uses quantitative and qualitative method, and it his way reflects the interdisciplinarity of the research (geography, sport and spatial planning). As main methods, spatial analysis with the GIS tool support, questionnaire, historical analysis, focus groups, policy and institutional analysis should be mentioned. Selected methods will answer the following research questions: 1) What is the state of recreational infrastructure at the state level and in different types of municipalities? 2) What are the recreational habits of Slovenians and what is the impact of the pandemic on recreational habits and access to infrastructure 3) To what extent does access to recr. infrastructure influence the recreational habits and mobility of the population? 4) What is the management framework for recr. infrastructure at the national and local levels? Activities are organised in 5 WPs: WP1: State of the art of recr. infrastructure, WP2: Recreational habits and habitual physical activity of Slovenes, WP3: Accessibility and quality of recr. Infrastructure, and WP4: Management and spatial planning of recr. infrastructure. The last, fifth, WP, is dedicated to the upgrade of the results by building the theoretical model of spatial planning and management of recr. infrastructure. the main results of the project are typology and registry of recr. infrastructure on the national and local level, standardised questionnaire about physical activity of inhabitants, comprehensive data about recr. habits, socio-economic determinants of recreational use of infrastructure, seasonal variation and motives, data about the changes of recre. habits before and between the epidemics, the maps of spatial and time accessibility of inhabitants to selected types recr. infrastructure and theoretical model of management. These results will significantly contribute to the establishment of systemic research of recreation in Slovenia and contribute to the international arena as well, since the recreation has so far only been addressed via the research, focused primarily on other topics, such as tourism or quality of life.