Agricultural crop production is closely related to climate, as a decisive success factor. Temperature fluctuations and changes in the volume of precipitation are the main factors affecting the growth and development of crops, and, ultimately, the quantity produced. Corn is the most common crop necessary to provide for domestic needs, and a strategic product for export. Production of corn in the period from 1947 to 2014 in Serbia had an oscillatory trend, with significant jumps and falls in production. The subject of this paper is the forecasting of future trends in corn production in Serbia. Building on the subject, the purpose of this paper is to create the model for forecasting future corn production and establishing its trends.

Urban tree diversity plays a crucial role in enhancing the resilience of cities by contributing to ecosystem services such as mitigating the effects of land degradation, combating urban heat islands, improving air quality, and fostering biodiversity habitats. A diverse tree population enhances resilience to vulnerabilities related to climatic stress, disease, and habitat loss by promoting stability, adaptability, and efficiency within the ecosystem. Little is known about urban tree diversity in Serbia; therefore, this study examines the diversity of tree species in the City of Niš, Serbia, to assess its implications for urban resilience and biodiversity preservation in the context of land-use change. Using the Shannon Diversity Index, we quantify species richness and evenness across both central and suburban zones of the city. The results are benchmarked against similar indices in five other European cities to assess how patterns of urban tree distribution vary under different urbanisation pressures. The study reveals that tree diversity is markedly lower in the city centre than in peripheral areas, highlighting spatial inequalities in green infrastructure that may accelerate biodiversity loss due to compact urban development. These findings demonstrate how urban expansion and infrastructure density contribute to ecological fragmentation, potentially leading to long-term effects on ecosystem services. This study emphasises the strategic importance of integrating greenery diversity into urban and landscape planning, particularly in rapidly growing urban centres in Southeastern Europe. This research contributes to the existing body of literature, providing a deeper understanding of the interdependencies between urban tree diversity, land degradation, and biodiversity loss, offering data-driven insights. This enables urban planners, landscape architects, and policy advisors to make informed decisions about street tree diversity and green city infrastructure, contributing to the development of sustainable cities.

Sustainable development of rural areas is very significant for the economic development of the Republic of Serbia. Reduction in the number of citizens in rural areas and neglect of agriculture in the previous years have led to numerous economic and social problems. The most important among them include the unfavorable demographic trends, undeveloped infrastructure, small agricultural farms that are not market oriented, a low productivity level of agriculture and a low income per farm, a large share of agriculture in rural economy, a low degree of diversification of rural economy, insufficient investment into rural areas, etc. Such condition is unsustainable because it causes more difficult life and work conditions in rural areas. Rural areas in the Republic of Serbia are the subject of this analysis. The aim of the paper is to examine possibilities of further development of rural areas in Serbia. The methods which will be used in the paper include the methods of synthesis, analysis and compilation.

The competitiveness of the hotel industry is a vital component for ensuring the sustainable development of tourism, since hotel industry is one of the largest segments of the tourism industry. One of the important prerequisites for achieving competitiveness in the tourism market is business based on the principles of sustainable development. The incorporation of the sustainability principle into all segments of tourism supply and demand becomes inevitable and increasingly acceptable. The subject of research in this paper is an analysis of the various practices that hotels are introducing into their business to meet the demands of tourists who are environmentally aware and to operate in accordance with the concept of sustainable development. Therefore, the aim of the research is to present the green construction and green business of the hotels as a challenge for the hotel industry in contemporary business conditions.

Managing the future policy and strategy of tourism development is becoming increasingly challenging due to the constantly changing environment. It is crucial to identify key dimensions and implement the concept of sustainable development to ensure tourism development is sustainable. This paper aims to research the dimensions of sustainable tourism development in European Union countries and the Western Balkans. The goal is to analyze the homogeneity of these countries in terms of sustainability of tourism and travel. Additionally, this paper aims to determine the level of deviation of the Western Balkans from the European Union countries in terms of economic, ecological, and social sustainability of tourism development. Identifying critical components of tourism sustainability in these countries is important for creating strategic guidelines to manage tourism and directing supply and demand in the dynamic tourism market.

The competitiveness of the tourism industry in contemporary business conditions is a key factor for the success and survival on the market. In this regard, it is very important that not only companies, but also national tourism economies, monitor the level of competitiveness they have reached in order to get directive on how to further improve their business. One of the important indicators of the competitiveness of tourism at the level of national economies is the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) created by the World Economic Forum (WEF). However, there are different opinions in the literature about the methodology of this Index, especially when it comes to attributing significance to each variable that is an integral part of it. The subject of research in this paper is the methodology of the Tourism and Travel Competitiveness Index. The aim is to analyze the sensitivity of this Index to changes in the relative importance of the involved variables. The result of the research is to weight the variables within the Index and to obtain new values of subindices that determine the new, different ranking of countries on the world list according to tourism competitiveness.