This article examines the need and opportunities to implement vertical green in Ljubljana as a case of a medium-sized European city with a relatively green feel. Sustainability-oriented urban development supports the introduction of nature-based solutions in principle; however, there is a lack of vertical green as well as actual legislative and administrative support. Therefore, several methods were applied in the present study to link this idea to execution, starting with semi-structured interviews and a workshop for selected city officials. Legislative and formal backgrounds for implementation were then assessed. An inventory of green façades and other structures (e.g., noise barriers and retaining walls) in Ljubljana was prepared, and a geographic information system-based decision support system was developed to identify the potential areas in the city where additional green space elements would be most favourable for humans, the environment, and climate indicators. The results reveal a gap between opportunities and the actual situation. The general opinion that there is never too much green space in urban areas is confirmed by direct information from the city administration and strategic documents. There are many potential sites for implementation; however, this is hindered by ownership, management, and economic issues. The study concludes with some suggestions for following the best practices in other central European capitals, such as Vienna and Berlin.

This article presents an open space concept of areas that are kept permanently free from buildings, technical infrastructure, and soil sealing. In the European Alps, space is scarce because of the topography; conflicts often arise between competing land uses such as permanent settlements and commercial activity. However, the presence of open spaces is important for carbon sequestration and the prevention of natural hazards, especially given climate change. A GIS-based analysis was conducted to identify an alpine-wide inventory of large-scale near-natural areas, or simply stated, open spaces. The method used identified the degree of infrastructure development for natural landscape units. Within the Alpine Convention perimeter, near-natural areas (with a degree of infrastructural development of up to 20%) account for a share of 51.5%. Only 14.5% of those areas are highly protected and are mostly located in high altitudes of over 1500 m or 2000 m above sea level. We advocate that the remaining Alpine open spaces must be preserved through the delimitation of more effective protection mechanisms, and green corridors should be safeguarded through spatial planning. To enhance the ecological connectivity of open spaces, there is the need for tailored spatial and sectoral planning strategies to prevent further landscape fragmentation and to coordinate new forms of land use for renewable energy production.

The book Preteklost in prihodnost ('The past and the future') is the sixteenth volume in the GIS v Sloveniji (GIS in Slovenia) book series and commemorates its 30th anniversary. The goal of the volume is to present the wide variety of research findings on geographical information systems in Slovenia in recent years. Powerful geoinformatic tools and precise data facilitate research on processes and phenomena, and their modelling. The volume presents project outputs and research results in areas such as geology, geomorphology, hydrology, pedology, agriculture, natural disasters, environmental protection, geography, surveying, archaeology, transport, telecommunication infrastructure, tourism, cultural heritage, education, cartography, geographical names, remote sensing, and others. Readers discover new features regarding the applicability of geographical information systems and learn about interesting research findings in many areas.

The book Preteklost in prihodnost ('The past and the future') is the sixteenth volume in the GIS v Sloveniji (GIS in Slovenia) book series and commemorates its 30th anniversary. The goal of the volume is to present the wide variety of research findings on geographical information systems in Slovenia in recent years. Powerful geoinformatic tools and precise data facilitate research on processes and phenomena, and their modelling. The volume presents project outputs and research results in areas such as geology, geomorphology, hydrology, pedology, agriculture, natural disasters, environmental protection, geography, surveying, archaeology, transport, telecommunication infrastructure, tourism, cultural heritage, education, cartography, geographical names, remote sensing, and others. Readers discover new features regarding the applicability of geographical information systems and learn about interesting research findings in many areas. Knjiga Preteklost in prihodnost je 16. v zbirki GIS v Sloveniji in obeležuje njeno 30. obletnico izdajanja. Namen knjige je predstaviti najrazličnejša spoznanja raziskovalcev v svetu geografskih informacijskih sistemov na območju Slovenije v zadnjih letih. Zmogljiva geoinformacijska orodja in natančni podatki omogočajo raziskave raznih procesov in pojavov ter njihovo modeliranje. Poleg tega se razvijajo tudi številne spletne geoinformacijske aplikacije. V knjigi so prikazani rezultati projektov in izsledki raziskav s področij, kot so geologija, geomorfologija, hidrologija, pedologija, kmetijstvo, naravne nesreče, varovanje okolja, geografija, geodezija, arheologija, promet, telekomunikacijska infrastruktura, turizem, kulturna dediščina, izobraževanje, kartografija, zemljepisna imena, daljinsko zaznavanje in druga. Bralci v knjigi najdejo nekatere novosti v uporabnosti geografskih informacijskih sistemov, hkrati pa lahko seznanijo tudi z zanimivi rezultati raziskovalnega dela na številnih področjih.