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Article History

Received: 24 July 2025

Accepted: 29 April 2026

First Online: 12 May 2026

Ethics

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval: The research was conducted in accordance with ethical standards confirmed by the Ethics Committee of the Geographical Institute “Jovan Cvijić” SASA, as stated in its official decision of March 20, 2026 (Approval No. 3712/2026). The Committee determined that the study does not require formal ethical approval under the provisions of the Law on Personal Data Protection of the Republic of Serbia (Official Gazette RS, No. 87/2018) and is fully aligned with the institutional Code of Ethics. The study relied on an anonymous survey involving non-sensitive data and excluded vulnerable populations. Participation was entirely voluntary, and informed consent was obtained from all respondents prior to data collection. All data handling procedures were carried out in compliance with applicable data protection regulations and established ethical principles in social science research. Furthermore, all procedures adhered to the ethical standards set by the institutional ethics framework (Approval No. 98/1/2020) and the national research authority (Approval No. 51-03-00860/2018-14), as well as to the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent amendments, or equivalent internationally recognized standards.

Informed consent: All participants provided informed consent prior to participation. They were informed that the data would be used exclusively for academic and scientific research purposes. For in-person surveys, consent was obtained verbally following the provision of written and oral information about the study’s purpose, procedures, and potential risks or benefits, while for online surveys, consent was implied through voluntary completion after reviewing the study information. Informed consent was obtained between December 3, 2020, and September 5, 2021, corresponding to the full survey period. The study was based on an anonymous survey, and no additional personal data were collected or processed beyond the information provided by the respondents.