Ivana Milovanović

Sports tourism, combining leisure travel with spectating or participating in sporting activities, is a rapidly growing industry with substantial economic, social, and cultural impacts. Vojvodina, an autonomous province in northern Serbia, offers significant potential for the development of sports tourism, however, it faces challenges such as limited strategic coordination and underutilized resources. This paper examines two projects that are a part of the Europe DEPART (DEveloPment of a sustAinable spoRts Tourism in Europe) initiative and demonstrate sustainable approaches to sports tourism in Serbia: the Tour de Fruška and EuroVelo6 Danube Bicycle Route in Serbia. Both projects highlight the importance of connecting natural and cultural assets, fostering healthy lifestyles, and promoting environmentally and socially sustainable tourism practices. The paper concludes that building on these successes can help Vojvodina enhance its sports tourism offerings, strengthen stakeholder cooperation, and support long-term regional development. 

The expectations of modern sports tourists, athletes, and recreationists are increasingly focused on integrated contents and perspectives that are related to the concept of sustainability. Such a development trend requires that research directions be directed towards the contexts of this interdisciplinary approach. This study focuses on the development of sustainable sports tourism, aiming to assess the current state of sports tourism in Vojvodina through a SWOT analysis and to examine stakeholder perspectives via interviews. This is a cross-sectional study, which comprises SWOT analysis, and semi-structured interviews (N = 30). Results discover that region of Vojvodina has potential for tourism development. However, due to poor implementation of strategies, disorganization and limited resources, it has not yet reached its potential. These obstacles could be overcome through stronger brand differentiation and strategic management, while emphasizing the advantages of this region, such as the preserved nature, multiculturalism, authentic food and sustainable principles.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which emerged in early 2020, caused widespread disruptions to youth sport, including curriculum-based physical activity, organized sports, and active transportation. This study investigated the impact of repeated lockdowns on organized youth sport participation, physical fitness, skill development, and psychosocial well-being in Slovenia. An online survey was conducted between November and December 2021 with 116 coaches of U13–U19 athletes across multiple sports disciplines. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric analyses were employed to examine participation trends, training adaptations, and perceived athlete outcomes. Following the first lockdown, 14.6% of athletes dropped out, while 6.5% of teams reported increased membership. After the summer break, participation rebounded, and the second lockdown had a smaller impact, indicating partial resilience in youth sport engagement. Training frequency and modality were substantially affected, with 20% of coaches not implementing remote sessions and fewer than half conducting post-lockdown fitness assessments. Coaches reported declines in general physical fitness (71%) and sport-specific skills (70%), heterogeneous changes in body mass, and reduced self-confidence and motivation in over 50% of athletes, whereas team spirit remained relatively stable. A significant association between perceived changes in body mass and motivation highlighted the role of physical self-concept in supporting engagement. These findings demonstrate that prolonged interruptions to organized youth sport have multidimensional effects on physical, technical, and psychosocial development. Future research should explore long-term consequences, identify effective mitigation strategies, and consider sport-specific, age, and gender-related factors to enhance resilience in youth sports systems under exceptional circumstances.

Background: In sports and physical activities, destructive behaviors such as aggression and violence are not uncommon. Although sports and physical activities have many benefits, they can also have negative consequences. This study aimed to investigate the factors that can contribute to the manifestation of aggression and interpersonal violence (IV). The variables incorporated were the athletes’ age, sports experience (training years), and type of sport. Methods: This study included n = 2091 youth athletes (aged between 11 and 18 years) from Serbia, with a cross-sectional study design. The data were collected through a questionnaire and analyzed using the Chi-square and Mann–Whitney U tests in IBM SPSS. Results: The athletes’ ages and the types of sports (collective and contact) in which they participated are associated with aggression and IV manifestation. In addition, physical violence tends to be more common among older athletes in collective and contact sports, while psychological violence is more prevalent among older athletes who train for five or more years and participate in collective and non-contact sports. Conclusions: Identifying some of the correlated factors in aggression and IV manifestation among youth athletes could help in the development of strategies to reduce these destructive behaviors in youth sports.

This paper presents the results of an exploratory field study on the everyday lives of women of Bosniak ethnicity in the ethnically divided city of Kosovska Mitrovica. The research was conducted in two cycles, in 2011 and 2018, using semi-structured interviews with twenty women and girls. The interviews focused on topics such as living conditions, family relationships (including those with partners and parents), leisure time, and perceptions of safety. The findings indicate that women?s daily lives are reduced to routinized patterns of behavior, movement within predefined paths (perceived as lower-risk), and social interactions primarily limited to members of their ethnic group or, occasionally, with neighbors from other ethnic communities in ?controlled? or household settings. The main conclusion is that women from the Bosniak minority are doubly marginalized compared to women from the majority ethnic groups (Serbian and Albanian), which makes the negative features of everyday life in conflict-ridden and polarized social contexts even more evident in the case of ethnic minorities.

Study aim: This study aimed to determine the influence of a 14-day bioacoustic correction (BAC) program, which in the future may become a solution for individuals experiencing increased psycho-emotional stress, on the properties of attention and concentration of sports science students. BAC translates EEG activity into auditory feedback, facilitating cognitive self-regulation. Material and Methods: The study involved 20 volunteers among sports science students, 10 males, and 10 females, who were randomly allocated to experimental and control groups. Results: A significant group × time interaction was revealed for the variables attention stability ( F = 7.36, η _p ² = 0.29, p = 0.01) and mistakes ( F = 15.49, η _p ² = 0.46, p = 0.001) in the Bourdon test, and for concentration ( F = 36.99, η _p ² = 0.67, p = 0.001) switch ability ( F = 17.86, η _p ² = 0.49, p = 0.010), and mistakes ( F = 29.43, η _p ² = 0.62, p = 0.001), in the Landolt test, in favor of the experimental group. There was no statistically significant group × time interaction in the Toulouse-Pieron or Schulte table tests. Additionally, following the 14-day BAC program, the experimental group demonstrated improvement in almost all parameters of the tests used. Conclusion: This study provides novel evidence regarding the efficiency of the BAC program in increasing the concentration and attention parameters of students of sports science and physical education. The improvements observed were statistically significant, supporting the potential recommendation of BAC for wider use.

Purpose: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) / Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) is a complex condition with debilitating symptoms that significantly impact individuals, particularly those in the working population. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of Graded Exercise Therapy (GET) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) along with additional methods such as Graded Exercise Self-help (GES), Adaptive Pacing Therapy (APT), and Specialist Medical Care (SMC), in managing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) / Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) among the working population. Methods: A systematic analysis of five randomized controlled trials conducted between 2013 and 2023, encompassing GET, CBT, APT, SMC, and GES was performed using PubMed. Results: The selected studies consistently demonstrate that GET positively impacts physical functioning and reduces fatigue levels in working individuals with CFS. Additionally, CBT proves valuable, emphasizing the importance of addressing the mental aspects of CFS in occupational contexts. Conclusion: This review underscores the need for further research, advocating for direct assessment methods like biomarkers to enhance our understanding of CFS and improve treatment outcomes. These insights are crucial for healthcare practitioners, researchers, and policymakers navigating the complexities of CFS within the workplace. Emphasizing the integration of psychological interventions with physical therapies is essential for a comprehensive approach to managing CFS among the working population.

Istraživanje seksualnog uznemiravanja i ucjenjivanja u suvremenom srpskom društvu novijeg je datuma. Ranija istraživanja pokazuju da se ono može dogoditi u najrazličitijim situacijama. Međutim, sveučilište je rijetko bio kontekst u kojem se taj problem analizirao, usprkos evidentnoj hijerarhiji moći baziranoj na različitim izvorima. Kako su studentice višestruko ranjiva skupina, ovaj se rad fokusira na istraživanje njihove percepcije i (ne)izravnog iskustva seksualnog uznemiravanja i ucjenjivanja, kao i očekivanja od institucionalne reakcije. Analiza se temelji na rezultatima dvije diskusije fokusnih skupina u kojima su sudjelovale 22 studentice sa svih razina studija na Filozofskom fakultetu i Fakultetu sporta i fizičkog vaspitanja Univerziteta u Novom Sadu. Rezultati su istraživanja pokazali senzibiliziranost studentica za problem seksualnog uznemiravanja i ucjenjivanja, uz određenu dozu (auto)cenzure u razgovoru o navedenom problemu, posebice s roditeljima ili drugim odraslim osobama iz primarne sredine. Također, primijećen je kontinuitet (ne)izravne izloženosti studentica seksualnom uznemiravanju i ucjenjivanju u (izvan)akademskom kontekstu. Studentice očekuju da fakultet i sveučilište reagiraju na pojavu seksualnog uznemiravanja i ucjenjivanja, dok istovremeno jedan dio smatra da bi institucionalni odgovor trebalo osigurati izvan fakulteta, pa i akademskog konteksta u cilju dodatne zaštite žrtve. Kao važan dio institucionalnog odgovora ističe se potreba za sustavnom edukacijom o tom problemu, kako studenata, tako i svih sveučilišnih zaposlenika. Istraživanje je potvrdilo kompleksnost i višeslojnost analiziranog problema te može poslužiti kao inspiracija za dodatne analize seksualnog uznemiravanja i ucjenjivanja u akademskom kontekstu.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic worldwide challenged people’s mental health. As a tool, physical activity can maintain resilience and well-being. Within this research, we aimed to examine students’ well-being in the summer of 2022 and compare them from the perspective of their study programs. Material and methods: This research was carried out in Slovenia and Serbia, with a sample of 700 students from two universities (Primorska and Novi Sad). To evaluate the students’ well-being, the PERMA-Profiler, a 15-item self-reported survey, was applied from May to July 2022. The SPSS was used for data analysis of the Mann-Whitney U test. Results: The results revealed normal functioning for the total sample (M=7.47, SD±1.37). In addition, when the researchers were making a comparison between the study programs (sports and other sciences), different responses were found with significantly higher scores attained by the sports science students (M=7.72, SD±1.38) compared to the others (M=7.23, SD±1.31). Conclusions: This research follows the previously published articles about understanding the social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sports science students were less sensitive to changes, and their mental strength demonstrates their successful coping mechanisms for these new circumstances over a more extended period.