The application possibilities of regional well-being and wellness conceptions and their development options to be implemented by ICT support in Balkan countries
Programme: National Research Development and Innovation Programme (HU)
Project duration: 01-06-2013 – 30-09-2015
Project partners:
Consortium leader: BKF University of Applied Sciences (former METU)
Project partner: The Foundation for Information Society (Hungary)
Short summary: The Foundation for Information Society and the BKF University of Applied Sciences (former METU) have been jointly awarded a 300-million HUF funding from the call by the Research and Technology Innovation Fund. The research project aims at discovering the values of the countries of the Balkan region that may serve as a basis to formulate new concepts of tourism services focusing on preserving health.
With international experts in the team, the research project has two main priorities over a period of more than two years: the collection of the cultural and natural treasures of the Balkan region and the development of marketable health tourism products and info-communications solutions based on the material collected. The results are supposed to offer the basis for the so-called Balkan Wellbeing conception by mapping the characteristic values and natural gifts of the region targeting tourists who travel with the aim of preserving their health or treating health problems.
In the frameworks of the project, the members of the research team, in order to prepare their research activities, participate in three international study tours as the guests of Finnish, Austrian and Serb partners. In the course of the study tours, they will examine already operating health touristic solutions such as Nordic Wellbeing, the Alpine Wellness, or the Balkan Spa. Following this, every 6 months, they will present and elaborate on their experiences on a workshop, examining which parts of the visited models can be adapted to the Balkan region including its methods. In the course of the work, besides the Hungarian researchers and their international partners, the representatives of national touristic companies, as well as professional and adult training institutions will support the implementation of the project.
The international project is jointly managed by the staff of the Foundation for Information Society and the experts of BKF University of Applied Sciences.
The project is closely connected to the Science-Innovation take-off point of the New Széchenyi Plan, to the Digital Renewal Action Plan and to the EU’s Europe 2020, Digital Agenda and Horizon 2020 strategies.
For more info, please visit the project website: http://infota.org/en/projects/research-projects/regional-well-being-research-project-ktia-en-research/