Sustainable Development of Ethno-Villages in Bosnia and Herzegovina—A Multi Criteria Assessment

Abstract

This paper explores ethno-villages in Bosnia and Herzegovina as an important element of rural and cultural tourism. The attractiveness of natural and cultural heritage is very important for sustainable rural tourism development. In order to improve the process of decision making to enable the sustainable development of ethno-villages, a multi-criteria assessment model has been developed. The methodology is based on qualitative modeling using a multi-criteria analysis via the DEXi software. The model is based on hierarchical relations consisting of three main criteria that are the basis of sustainable tourism development: economic, social, and environmental criteria. The ultimate goal of the model in this study was to evaluate ethno-villages, namely six ethno-villages in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The results of the study show how ethno-villages contribute to sustainable development.

The Transformation of Medical Spas into Modern Spa Centers in Bosnia and Herzegovina

“…Th e DEX method is adapted to human thinking because it uses descriptive judgments in the form of linguistic values, which are in the form of diff erent scales: low, high, acceptable, unacceptable, bad, good, etc. (Prevolšek et al, 2020), and on this basis diff erent scales of values can be applied (Maksimović et al, 2018) in order to evaluate alternatives against specifi c criteria. It is possible to use value scales in the DEX method, but fi rst they must be transformed into descriptive scales.…”

Multiple Criteria Decision Making for the Achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: A Systematic Literature Review and a Research Agenda

“…The findings concerning the three categories below are presented and discussed: 7 summarizes the reviewed papers related to SDG 8 [69][70][71][72][73][74], highlighting the methods, methodological approaches, and contexts of the MCDM applications. Most articles focused on decision problems concerning tourism activities [73,74,78] or multisectoral areas [75,76]. Michailidou et al (2016) [73] used ELECTRE III and sensitivity analysis to rank options for mitigating emissions and adapting tourism businesses and destinations to Greece's changing climate conditions.…”

A Multidimensional Model for the Vernacular: Linking Disciplines and Connecting the Vernacular Landscape to Sustainability Challenges

“…However, global and local drivers of change such as urbanization, rural depopulation, land abandonment, proliferation of industrial agriculture and the introduction of standardized buildings, codes of practice or techniques, have generated an increasing interest in the preservation and management of rural heritage [54,55] and consequently, of the significant part of that heritage that is produced through vernacular processes. This interest is based on multiple socio-cultural, environmental and economic reasons that are often grouped under the overarching goal of sustainable and resilient (rural) development [56,57].…”

“…These buildings are perceived as a key tool and asset for the reactivation and diversification of rural economies, especially through ecotourism [56]. Additionally, they are a crucial component in the definition of the landscape character, and consequently, there is an increasing research on methodologies to facilitate the consistent analysis, renovation, maintenance and transformation of rural buildings or ethno-villages [54,57]. Additionally, rigorous mapping of vernacular constructions is reported [55], as well as the development of new and deeper interactions between protected rural settlements and the environment by approaching them as complex social-economic-natural systems [58].…”