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.

Purpose: This paper aims to analyse the main variables and causal relationships in the system structure of the diversification of non-agricultural activities on agricultural holdings using system dynamics (SD) modelling. The SD model aims to simulate depictions of the behaviour of the real system while testing the effects of alternative decisions over time.Design/methodology/approach: An SD methodology was chosen to model diversification in farm tourism.Findings: A system approach increases the authors’ understanding of the transition of agricultural holdings to farm tourism. The results indicate that the transition to farm tourism depends on the level of tourism development in a certain area. The system is influenced by subsidies allocated by authorities to expand primary agricultural activities. The model describes a situation in which the tourism and agricultural industries have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.Research limitations/implications: The research is limited by the small set of available data due to the limited number of farms in Slovenia. One major problem is the difference in statistical data on the same activity collected from different institutions in Slovenia.Practical implications: The paper includes implications for understanding the transition process to farm tourism, allowing policymakers to experiment with subsidies and promotion to explore the efficacy and efficiency of proposed policies.Originality/value: This study provides a structured, systemic view of the diversification of non-agricultural activities on agricultural holdings, where the simulation results are a reliable reflection of the behaviour of the actual system being modelled.

The article presents a model for finding the most suitable locations for setting up micro-biogas plants (<50 kW), which represent an efficient way of processing organic waste in small local communities. The input parameters of the model, which was made with GIS tools, were the number of farms and heads of large livestock with their locations, the number of food establishments and their collected food waste and waste fat. We tested the case study model in the Gorenjska region in Slovenia. The result of processing the input data in the model are four locations in three municipalities Naklo 1, Naklo 2, Kranj and Cerklje. We evaluated the locations with economic indicators net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR) and discounted payback period (DPP). With sensitivity analysis, we investigated the impact of increasing investment costs, decreasing energy prices and different scenarios with adding corn silage to the anaerobic process. Location Naklo 1 has NPV 31,410.26 €, IRR 10.53% and DPP 22 years, Naklo 2 has NPV −58,808.91 € and DPP of more than 25 years, location Kranj has NPV 140,313.00 €, IRR 13.07% and DPP 16 years, location Cerklje has NPV −43,026.82 € and DPP of more than 25 years.