Reviews and information 
on existing barriers in the built envi­ronment in major public buildings in the main regional centres in Slovenia; 
•	 Preparing an Internet guide for the disabled on the accessibility of public buildings in Slovenia. 
Survey of the disabled 
The survey collecting information on existing barriers in Slovenia obtained a total of 181 responses from individual disabled persons and ten representative disabled organisations. 
Field analysis 
The investigation of existing built-en­vironment barriers was conducted in all major centres (in accordance with the statistical region classification). The analysis included public buildings in the areas covered in the first phase of the research (transport, education and employment, healthcare, public ad­ministration, cultural institutions and leisure). In this part of the research we: 
•	 Conducted a thorough analysis of ac­cessibility of major public buildings; 
•	 
Created a specially designed database in which data from the field survey were stored; 

•	 
Prepared a catalogue of irregularities discovered during the survey that must be promptly remedied. 


Research results 
The detailed field analysis sought to discover existing barriers, prepare a catalogue of these findings and alert those responsible about the irregulari­ties found. Accordingly, the findings from the field survey were presented in the form of a checklist to all those responsible for managing the facilities where irregularities were discovered. The checklist included a demand that the irregularities be promptly remedied. 
At the end of the second phase we also designed an Internet website, which will be developed further during the third phase of the research project. In long run, the website will be continually up­dated with new information and various activities connected with the built envi­ronment and communication barriers. 
Project financing 
The project is co-financed by the Slov­enia Research Agency and the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia. 
Research team 
Richard SENDI – Project leader Boštjan KERBLER Nina GORŠIČ Biba TOMINC Sabina MUJKIĆ Matej NIKŠIČ Igor BIZJAK 
More information about this project is available at http://dostopnost.uirs.si 

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Richard Sendi Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, Ljubljana, Slovenia E-mail: richard.sendi@uirs.si 

Simon KUŠAR 

Professional analyses in regional and spatial planning: a roundtable discussion (Ljubljana, 11 Nov. 2010) 
On 11 November 2010, the Depart­ment of Geography at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, and the Association of Slovenian Geographers organized a roundtable discussion on the role of professionals in various fields conducting research on spatial issues in regional and spatial planning. The aim of the meeting was an interdisciplinary discussion about current open issues in regional and spatial planning proce­dures. The result of the discussion was a joint resolution on the future role of experts in regional and spatial planning, especially in preparing the professional analyses necessary for making appro­priate decisions on formal planning procedures. 
This meeting was dedicated to Academy Member and Professor Igor Vrišer on the occasion of his 80th birthday. He was a leading expert, researcher and scholar in regional and spatial plan­ning from the 1960s to the 1990s and the author of the only book on regional planning in Slovenian. 
The roundtable discussion was opened by Andrej Černe, the vice dean of the University of Ljubljana’s Faculty of Arts. He congratulated Vrišer on his birthday and presented his role in the develop­ment of regional and spatial planning in Slovenia. After this, he presented the goals of the meeting. Jernej Zupančič, the head of the Department of 
Urbani izziv, volume 21, no. 2, 2010 
Reviews and information 


Geography at the University of Ljublja­na’s Faculty of Arts, and Darko Ogrin, representing the Association of Slov­enian Geographers, also welcomed the participants. 
The discussion started with five pres­entations. Marjan Ravbar from the Association of Slovenian Geographers highlighted selected spatial planning is­sues. He criticised the national polycen­tric development policy. In his opinion, this kind of spatial policy cannot help solve contemporary spatial problems in Slovenia. He pointed to the duality of spatial and development planning sys­tems. However, he is convinced that this duality can be surpassed by a regional management approach. 
Simon Kušar form the Association of Slovenian Geographers presented the conclusions and recommendations from a similar meeting held in March 2010, organized by the Association of Slovenian Geographers: 
•	 
Environmental impact assessments of proposed investments should be supplemented by territorial impact assessments; 

•	 
Sector policies should also be evalu­ated through a territorial impact as­sessment; 

•	 
There is a need for a regional ap­proach in spatial planning because Slovenia is characterized by marked landscape diversity; 

•	 
An integrated and complex spatial approach is needed in spatial plan­ning; 

•	 
Regional planning should be re­established; 

•	 
Projections for future spatial needs should be taken into account while preparing new spatial plans; 

•	 
European guidelines for spatial and development planning need to be fully incorporated into national plan­ning legislation; 

•	 
Spatial developments need to be evaluated regarding various criteria; for example, taking into account the aesthetic dimension. 


Aleš Mlakar from the Slovenian Asso­ciation of Landscape Architects high­lighted the importance of the regional level in planning. Professional analyses at the regional level contribute to co­ordination between national strategic guidelines and detailed spatial plan­ning at the local level. They should be value-oriented. In addition, they should enable weighting the various variants re­garding future spatial development and serve as a framework for harmonizing various interests. Mlakar also indicated the importance of a proposal for spatial planning changes that was developed by numerous research associations, other organizations and individuals. 
Andrej Pogačnik from the Town and Spatial Planning Association of Slovenia pointed out the importance of appropriate methods, techniques, concepts and good case studies because they lead to the synthesis needed for shaping spatial plans. He contributed many ideas on how regional analysis could improve knowledge of the spa­tial characteristics of Slovenia and its regions. Regional analysis is applicable for studying the optimal location of economic zones, creating appropriate region-based strategies for developing tourism, measuring development po­tentials, studying region-specific spatial patterns, assisting less-developed areas and managing river basins. 
Jože Kos Grabar from the Association of Surveyors of Slovenia listed some problems in spatial planning in Slov­enia such as terminological confusion. Planners face numerous theoretical and methodological obstacles when trying to combine various spatial data layers. He pointed out the importance of integrating knowledge. Collabora­tion between the academic sphere and spatial planners should be increasingly encouraged in the future. 
The presentations by the invited speak­ers and later discussion led to the prep­aration of the following proposals for the future development of professional analyses and the spatial and regional planning system in Slovenia: 
•	 
Integration of development and spatial planning; 

•	 
Introduction of spatial planning at the regional level; 

•	 
Publication of a dictionary (al­ready written) of planning termi­nology; 

•	 
Transfer of standard and innova­tive planning methods and ap­proaches into practice; 

•	 
Connecting educational and re­search organizations with plan­ning companies; 

•	 
Encouraging interdisciplinary and inter-institutional cooperation in preparing the professional analy­ses needed for spatial and regional planning; 

•	 
Formation of new interdiscipli­nary research and project groups; 

•	 
Making additional efforts to in­crease the role of spatial issues and spatial planning in society; 

•	 
Educating politicians, public ad­ministration and citizens about the role of professional analyses and regional and spatial planning. 


The roundtable supports the project “Odgovorno do prostora!” (Spatial re­sponsibility!), which is a broader initia­tive by professional societies to improve the spatial and regional planning system in Slovenia. 

Figure 1: Opening the roundtable discus­sion (photo: Matjaž Rebolj) 
Simon Kušar University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, De­partment of Geography, Ljubljana, Slovenia E-mail: simon.kusar@ff.uni-lj.si 
Urbani izziv, volume 21, no. 2, 2010