Boris Salak
@tuwien.at
Univ.-Ass. DI Dr. nat tech.
TU Wien | Faculty of Architecture and Planning | Institute of Urban Design and Landscape Architecture | Research Unit Landscape Architecture and Landscape Planning
Scopus Publications
Scholar Citations
Scholar h-index
Scholar i10-index
Scopus Publications
Boris Salak, Marcel Hunziker, Adrienne Grêt-Regamey, Reto Spielhofer, Ulrike Wissen Hayek, and Felix Kienast
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
This study examines the siting scenarios for renewable energy installations (REI) in a mountainous region of Europe (Switzerland), incorporating the external costs of ecosystem services and, innovatively, social preferences. This approach challenges the prevalent techno-economic siting paradigm, which often overlooks these externalities. To minimize the external costs of the scenarios while maximizing energy yield, Marxan, an optimization software, was employed. The energy target for all scenarios is set at 25 TWh/a, stemming from the energy gap anticipated due to the phase-out of Swiss nuclear reactors by 2050. This target is met using renewable energy infrastructure such as wind, roof-mounted photovoltaic, and ground-mounted photovoltaic systems. By integrating social preferences into the optimization, this study showcases a promising implementation that transcends the software’s intended applications. It complements techno-economic approaches and offers alternative decision-making avenues. The conventional "roof first" strategy proved ineffective in preventing extensive land use for the development of new renewable energy infrastructure. Strategies incorporating ground-mounted photovoltaic infrastructure were more spatially, ecologically, and socially efficient than those without. The strategy optimized for energy yield exhibited the highest spatial efficiency but incurred significant ecosystem service costs and, surprisingly, had low social costs. In contrast, the strategy prioritizing ecosystem services was the most efficient in terms of ecosystem service costs but had elevated social costs and was spatially less efficient than other strategies. The strategy optimized for social preferences incurred the lowest social costs and excelled in spatial efficiency and ecosystem service costs. Notably, this strategy employed a limited number of planning units linked to both high ecosystem service and social costs. The findings underscore that incorporating social preferences significantly enhances the evaluation of siting options. This inclusion allows for the social acceptance of investments to be factored into costs, facilitating more informed and inclusive decisions.
Anne C. Wunderlich, Boris Salak, K. Tessa Hegetschweiler, Nicole Bauer, and Marcel Hunziker
Elsevier BV
B. Salak, F. Kienast, R. Olschewski, R. Spielhofer, U. Wissen Hayek, A. Grêt-Regamey, and M. Hunziker
Elsevier BV
B. Salak, K. Lindberg, F. Kienast, and M. Hunziker
Elsevier BV
B. Salak, K. Lindberg, F. Kienast, and M. Hunziker
Elsevier BV
R. Spielhofer, T. Thrash, U. Wissen Hayek, A. Grêt-Regamey, B. Salak, J. Grübel, and V.R. Schinazi
Elsevier BV
Alexandra Jiricka-Pürrer, Valeria Tadini, Boris Salak, Karolina Taczanowska, Andrzej Tucki, and Giulio Senes
MDPI AG
Due to their valuable landscape and natural characteristics, protected areas (PAs) distinguish themselves from other green spaces. Studies that survey individuals on the perceived capacity of PAs to provide health benefits are very limited. However, the importance of PAs for societal health could emphasize the necessity to preserve them. In addition, studies of cross-country comparisons of nature-based activities show strong cultural differences with regard to the importance of wild nature and landscape preferences. Cross-country comparisons of the perception of PAs as a resource for personal well-being and health are lacking. An extensive survey with face-to-face questionnaires was conducted in PAs in Poland, Austria, and Italy with an overall sample size of 1390 people. It examined both emotional and physical personal well-being in the context of a stay in a PA. In general, the results showed that between the three countries, different perceptions of the capacity of PAs to contribute to personal health and well-being exist. Both diverse emotional and physical benefits were associated with a stay in a PA. Moreover, respondents from the three countries assessed the perceived capacity of a PA to reduce negative physical symptoms, such as muscular pain or tension, and negative emotional symptoms, such as depression or stress.
Patrick Scherhaufer, Stefan Höltinger, Boris Salak, Thomas Schauppenlehner, and Johannes Schmidt
Elsevier BV
Patrick Scherhaufer, Stefan Höltinger, Boris Salak, Thomas Schauppenlehner, and Johannes Schmidt
Elsevier BV
Stefan Höltinger, Boris Salak, Thomas Schauppenlehner, Patrick Scherhaufer, and Johannes Schmidt
Elsevier BV
A. Jiricka, B. Salak, A. Arnberger, R. Eder, and U. Pröbstl-Haider
WIT Press
Management concepts for sustainable tourism development tackle the challenges of preventing the use of natural, socio-cultural and economic resources from turning into the abuse of such resources. Their major aim is keeping the balance between visitor numbers and the welfare of the local environment and population. In 1997, a new approach was elaborated – the Tourism Optimization Management Model, called TOMM for short. In contrast t o other management approaches, TOMM acts as a motivator to achieve results which will be appreciated by all tourism actors. Rather than focusing on limits, it strives towards a process of mobilisation and identity building. Within a three-year transnational research project – focused on remote areas under transition to a strategic development of tourism – TOMM was first applied in a transnational European context. This paper analyses the potential and flexibility of the TOMM framework under special preconditions: all study areas were either just beginning tourism activities or were re-establishing their tourism businesses. The transnational application in this paper examines the ability of the TOMM-process to introduce a ‘strategic’ sustainable tourism management concept under difficult conditions, such as low tourism budgets, missing tourism data, heterogeneous stakeholder structures or lack of commitment by stakeholders. Findings of this international comparison demonstrate the potential of the TOMM-framework to encourage a learning process about successful and sustainable destination development, and about the need to monitor multidimensional data in order to survey and adapt the tourism strategy if needed.
A. Jiricka, B. Salak, R. Eder, A. Arnberger, and U. Pröbstl
WIT Press
To tackle the global problem of climate change, it will be crucial that the global economic system adopts energy-saving measures and furthers its reliance on renewable energy sources. This challenge is particularly relevant for the tourism industry, which depends on transportation by definition, and is highly dependent on resources and energy in many other regards. Tourism can quickly be caught in a vicious cycle: the necessity to adapt to climate change, i.e. by increasing artificial snow making, or new product development as exemplified by the “wellness-boom”, leads to ever higher rates of energy consumption, thus further contributing to climate change. However, the fledgling human explorations towards combating climate change and increasing energy efficiency also offer innovative opportunities for exploring new niches of tourism. This paper presents how such novel tourism opportunities avail themselves around the theme of renewable and sustainable energy use. Combining environmental education and experiencing novel products can be used for marketing a fundamentally new tourism product, which attracts both the technologically interested tourism segment and the family-oriented traveler. This may lead to positive perception of climate change adaptation strategies. A summary of “model” energy regions in Central Europe describes the typical characteristics that regions must have for possibly developing these innovative tourism niches. The main focus of the paper is on “eco-energy region” of Guessing, Burgenland, which is involved in an on-going transnational research project -for sustainable tourism development in Central Europe (Interreg IVB). The area around Austria’s only energy self sufficient city