Abstract:The research deals with the sustainable development of the Serbian and Slovenian countryside, under the influence of tourism progress. The article identifies the main rural tourism competitiveness in Serbia and Slovenia, as one of the essential factors of rural development in both countries, analyzing the main contributions and making a series of proposals to guide the future research agenda. The aim of the paper is to clarify around one obviously defined objective-to point out the competitiveness of sustainable rural tourism in typical post-socialist settings. The data for this study were collected using the Integrated Model of Destination Competitiveness to observe Serbian and Slovenian competitiveness in tourism. Determinants were assessed using a survey evaluating four demanding factors and 20 supporting factors, based upon a five-point Likert Scale. The results indicated that the friendliness of residents towards visitors, easy communication between them, together with quality of infrastructure and health facilities show the highest level of statistical correlation. These are the main propositions to start an initiative for the authorities in local communities to actively participate in sustainable rural development. The findings provide tourism stakeholders with relevant respondents' perceptions pertaining to the tourism development in non-urban areas.

This article aims to investigate the role of waste management in the development of modern green and smart cities and to determine the existence of several key points in programs transforming cities into green cities with smart technologies. The relevance of the research is determined by the need to develop a theoretical and methodological basis for the green and smart city concepts. The research process involved the following methods: Scientific analysis, comparison, and synthesis. The research results of the case study of Russia determined that for urban territories with great distances between urban districts, waste sorting stations should be located as parts of so-called waste recycling complexes at intermunicipal landfills. This will allow a more fully implementation of the concept of recycling economy not only in Russian cities, but also in other cities with sparse populations across the world. Further, the authors conclude that the effectiveness of green technologies in modern cities, especially in waste management, depends on the level of participation of citizens. People are active participants in the life processes of cities and have a direct impact on the urban environment. Consequently, the introduction of green technologies can only be achieved in harmony with the well-established behavioral attitudes of city residents together with the implementation of green and smart urban technologies.

This article aims to assess and forecast the dynamics of a regional green economy. The research relevance is determined by the need to develop theoretical and methodological basis of the green economy for the transition period and to identify criteria basis for assessing the state and regional level of it. The authors applied the modern methods, which allowed to model criteria considering data uncertainty and both static and dynamic criteria. The research process involved the methods of scientific analysis, comparison and synthesis, the theory of fuzzy sets, and fuzzy modeling. The main principles and methodology of the criteria evaluation for a regional green economy are proposed. The principal methodological approach in this research combines the current state and dynamics of the green economy in evaluating and forecasting the conditions of data uncertainty. The research results form a theoretical, methodological, and practical basis for assessing the current state and level of a regional green economy development, determining the effectiveness of environmental and economic programs, optimizing financial management, conducting environmental monitoring, and developing state plans.

Rural tourism is often considered to be a factor in the development tendencies of rural space, a factor in the development of agriculture, as well as a factor in reducing rural depopulation. The primary aim of the research was to look at the problems in financing sustainable rural tourism in the case study of Serbia. The secondary one was to analyze the factors that may influence the self-financing capacity of rural tourism service providers. The findings confirmed the main hypothesis that financial resources are a significant limitation of the development of sustainable rural tourism. It was found that there is a high correlation between the amount of income generated and the structure of the workforce. The results verified that rural tourism entities were not making sufficient investments due to lack of financial resources, i.e., adequate financing modalities. It can be concluded thatin order to develop sustainable rural tourism, financial investments are needed, both at the level of service providers and at the macro level.