The aim of this article is to evaluate the quality of the Danube River in its course through Serbia as well as to demonstrate the possibilities for using three statistical methods: Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Factor Analysis (FA) and Cluster Analysis (CA) in the surface water quality management. Given that the Danube is an important trans-boundary river, thorough water quality monitoring by sampling at different distances during shorter and longer periods of time is not only ecological, but also a political issue. Monitoring was carried out at monthly intervals from January to December 2011, at 17 sampling sites. The obtained data set was treated by multivariate techniques in order, firstly, to identify the similarities and differences between sampling periods and locations, secondly, to recognize variables that affect the temporal and spatial water quality changes and thirdly, to present the anthropogenic impact on water quality parameters.

Pandemic times and an increasing pace of sustainable development have accelerated the process of Industry 4.0 implementation. Digitalization is one of the key issues of Industry 4.0 development. The paper investigates an identified research gap on the perception of digitalization in terms of environmental goals and sustainability in the SME sector. The study features a comparative research design and examines the perception of digitalization in small and medium-sized enterprises in Poland and Serbia. The study gathered 235 responses on the impact of Industry 4.0 and digitalization in SMEs on environmental issues and sustainable development. Findings revealed that digitalizing the company has a positive effect on reducing carbon emissions. However, statistically significant discrimination in reducing harmful emissions was found between Poland and Serbia. Provided research procedure further adds to the practical implication in finding carbon emissions as the most important issue in sustainable development in the SME sector.

The aim of this research is to provide the assessment of water quality with a wider scheme of interrelations between the water quality parameters and locations using a reliable visual approach of multicriteria PROMETHEE and GAIA methods. The case study of one of the largest and regionally most important catchment areas on the territory of the Republic of Serbia—the Tisa River Basin—was therein used. The analysis of water quality included scenarios for warm (summer), cold (winter), and average annual period. A partial and complete ranking of locations according to the quality of water was performed by applying the PROMETHEE method and expanded afterward by GAIA method analysis to point out critical locations with endangered water quality (M6, M4, and M11). Identified locations were then investigated in more detail using spider web graphs that revealed water quality variables of concern (PO4-P and N) and indicated the causes of its occurrence. The obtained results are in accordance with the results of physical and chemical tests that are regularly conducted by the official government agencies for environmental protection and the reports that are presented to the public. The presented approach can easily be applied to any water body to point out both the locations with reduced water quality and the specific parameters (causes) that affect the reduction of water quality at these locations, thereby enhancing and strengthening usual water quality assessments as well as water resources management in general.

This issue of Serbian Journal of Management (SJM 11(2) 2016), besides containing regular research papers, is containing the papers which resulted from the International May Conference on Strategic Management - IMKSM2016 and the Students Symposium with the main topic: “Environmental awareness as a universal European Value” which was financially supported by the Visegrad Fund. The - IMKSM2016 conference was organized by Engineering Management Department (EMD) of Technical facultuy in Bor, University in Belgrade. IMKSM2016 conference was organized in Bor, Serbia, on 28-30 May 2016. The Visegrad fund project: “Environmental awareness as a universal European Value”, is listed with the following classification number 11540386.

The increase in ecotourism popularity at a global level is a consequence of the increased human concern for the state of natural resources. This type of alternative tourism is increasingly present in tourist trends around the world. For developing countries, ecotourism can be an opportunity for accelerating economic development by exploiting natural resources, without changing their original state. Although it offers great opportunities, the management of tourism in protected or unprotected natural assets is a great challenge. The importance of integrating the actions of all stakeholders and the usage of strategic approach are often neglected. The aim of this paper is to generate strategies for the development of ecotourism in Bor and its surroundings. For this purpose, a combined SWOT-TOWS methodology is applied. Based on the obtained results, nine strategies are proposed, whose implementation would enable the usage of natural and cultural and historical potentials for the revival of ecotourism in this area.