Pilot Action Hungary
Shifting towards nature-focused development of spa potential
Harmonizing tourism and health industry goals with natural value preservation, Hungarian project partners are committed to serve the objectives of two Hungarian counties providing impact even on a wider range of communities. Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and Hajdú-Bihar counties have a rich spa potential provided by their numerous thermal bath complexes and some specialized spa municipalities; intensifying the cooperation of research institutions, municipalities, nature protection authorities/organisations as well as business actors and clusters in this special spa-nature related issue could be a great advantage; cross-fertilisation can have long-term effect not only at county but hopefully national and/or cross-border level as well. In strong cooperation with relevant stakeholders, the following steps are intended to be made:
- gathering, assessing and capitalizing available national/regional sustainable spa development solutions where nature preservation / ground water protection is highlighted – this task covers the survey on completed and ongoing international / national / regional / local projects, initiations, measures or actions
- following the identification of impacts/threats on nature, partners will focus on and define specific demands aligned with national and regional theme-specific social and economic objectives (particularly health industry – concentrating on natural assets, tourism aspects, social inclusion, entrepreneurship development, healthy society)
- setting-up Green Spa Network for Eastern Hungary, uniting committed spas towards sustainable development, continuous knowledge, good practice exchange and creative solutions and also green service provisions, to be maintained beyond the project lifetime
- from potential to opportunity: common development of Sustainable Spa Development Concept to be applied for both counties covering even national needs – the document will serve as a framework for further exploitation of spa potential with specific focus on decreasing environmental burdens, improving the efficiency of nature preservation and increasing biodiversity.
Looking further on the upcoming definition of economic, spatial, social and environmental planning procedures concerning the two counties, the results achieved through HealingPlaces are expected to efficiently serve a more nature conscious, responsible and particularly sustainable future vision of the wonderful spa heritage and potential.
