Author: PMF

According to the decision of the Agency for Mobility and EU Programs of the Czech Republic, the project HUNTOUR – Development of education in relation to the influence of ongoing climate change to hunting tourism was selected for funding (Erasmus+ Key Activity 2: Strategic Partnerships (KА203)).

The project leader is the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences), and other partners on the project are University of Novi Sad (Faculty of Sciences), University of Helsinki (Ruralia Institute) and National Agricultural Research and Innovation Centre (Hungary). The leader of the project on behalf of the University of Novi Sad is Milosava Matejević, PhD, and other team members are Vladimir Marković, PhD, Zoran Ristić, PhD, Milutin Kovačević, PhD, Igor Ponjiger and Biljana Basarin, PhD (Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management).

The main goal of this project is to support the development of hunting tourism in European countries through the creation of a transnational joint education program for key competencies and skills in implementing adequate and responsible hunting tourism in a sustainable way that is crucial not only for improving the quality of this type of tourism, but also for the protection of wildlife and its habitats.

The expected outcomes of the project are: a scientific publication that would include an analysis of the current situation in selected countries in terms of economic, environmental and social aspects of hunting tourism; open digital education; evaluation of the countries’ potential for the development of hunting tourism; the multiplier effect of measuring the economic impact of hunting tourism on the economy; best practice studies – case studies related to hunting tourism; creating a transnational joint education program for key competencies and skills in implementing adequate and responsible hunting tourism.

The project started in September 2020 and will last for 3 years.

In the next three years, the Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad will implement a significant scientific research project worth about 900,000 Euros, related to the study of hydro-meteorological extremes, floods and droughts.

Due to its complexity, the study of hydro-meteorological extremes is of utmost importance for South East Europe. It has been estimated that as a result of climate change, the hydrological cycle is changing, which could lead to an increased risk of floods – says the head of EXtremeClimTwin project Biljana Basarin, PhD from the Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management (Chair of Physical Geography). – We remember that several devastating floods in Central Europe during the last 20 years were caused by extreme rainfall. The complexity of the relationship between atmospheric conditions, extreme precipitation and floods, together with the observed growing trends, indicate the necessity to improve science and build research capacity in this field and in Serbia.

Losses caused by extreme climatic and hydrological events reached 453 billion Euros, 12 billion euros per year on average, 79,200 Euros per square kilometer or 811 Euros per capita.

The Faculty of Sciences recognized this need and, with the project proposal, successfully applied for a call from the European Union Framework Program for Research and Innovation called Horizon 2020 (H2020-WIDESPREAD-2020-5 Twinning). The project proposal was evaluated with a maximum of 15 points as the best from Serbia. The project will be implemented under the title “Twinning for the advancement of data-driven multidisciplinary research into hydro-climatic extremes to support risk assessment and decision making” (ExtremeClimTwin), and provides the Faculty of Science and partners with almost 900,000 Euros for research capacity building in areas of detection and description of extreme hydro-climatic events.

The partners of the Faculty of Sciences in this project are three outstanding research institutions from the EU: Climate Risk Analysis from Germany, Loughborough University from Great Britain and the Center for International Climate Research from Norway. EU partners will transfer knowledge and research skills by providing training for the research team members at the Faculty of Sciences. Networking with EU partners will be realized at all levels, and such exchange of knowledge is certainly for the benefit of all participants in the project, the wider scientific community and certainly, due to the urgency of the problem, many stakeholders from the non-academic sector. The project is also important for nurturing the potential of young researchers at the Faculty of Sciences and strategically connecting the Faculty with international research institutions through sustainable partnerships and the transfer of knowledge, results and scientific methodologies.

The project starts on November 1, 2020 and will last for 36 months.

• List of ongoing projects at the Faculty of Sciences