The joint publication of Dr. Mariann Szabó, senior lecturer of our department, with researchers Dr. Katalin Lőrincz and Dr. Izabella Agárdi was included in Tourism and Rural Development Studies Journal, 2023, Vol. VIII, No. 1, which presents research papers related to the Veszprém-Balaton 2023 European Capital of Culture Program (https://veszprembalaton2023.hu/en).
The article ‘Nothing special? A cutting-edge co-creative regional development project in Hungary’s Bakony Mountains’ is about the program which has been implemented in for villages of the area, namely: Bakonynána, Borzavár, Jásd and Nagyesztergár. The focus of the study is how the co-creative process as a mode of social innovation helps place-based strategic planning in smaller communities that struggle with population retention and identity preservation. In the study, emphasis is placed on the methods used during the research and the experiences gained during their application on site, joining the Hungarian development policy discourse.
The project was launched at the beginning of 2022 under the leadership of the Institute of Advanced Studies (FTI-iASK) in Kőszeg, the developer of the professional content and the professional leader of the project is Dr. Mariann Szabó.
The journal is available here: https://www.turisztikaitanulmanyok.hu/en/current-issue/