04/10/2021—04/10/2021
As a major deliverable, the ‘CASTLE FOR THE REGION – REGION FOR THE CASTLE’ event at Komarno will contribute to the project objectives by creating a platform where local and regional demand and supply can meet: the Pro Castello Comaromiensi n.o. (PCC) and the representatives of a variety of local and regional stakeholders can discuss how the Komárno fortification system can be even more integral element of the region from a touristical, educational, commercial point of view. Through the fair, regions’ brand products will reach a wider general public. The project event will be embedded in the ‘Komáromi Napok – Komárnanske dni’, an annual cultural festival organized in Komárno and its Hungarian counterpart, Komárom since 1991, attracting several thousand visitors each year. The large-scale festival features all kinds of cultural events from musical concerts to the performace of reenactors (1948/49 freedom fights), museum exhibition openings, arts and crafts fair etc. The complex project event will include a SEMINAR, a MEDIA EVENT related to the Virtual Exhibition and the CASTLE FAIR & REGIONAL FAIR. – SEMINAR on the roles of castles as centres of commerce, tourism, culture and education in a regional context; knowledge transfer on how these roles could be strengthened to the benefit of the local community and the region. PCC will invite guests and speakers from other castles/institutions involved with castles in the region, representatives of local and regional chambers of commerce and tourism industries, as well as local and regional government representatives and decision makers. At the seminar we will implement the World Café method which fosters creative and collaborative thinking and allows new ideas, insights and questions to emerge during all phases of organizational planning and development (http://www.theworldcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/hungariancafetogo.pdf) We decided to use the World Café method because we strongly believe that if representatives of the castles as well as representatives of regional tourism and economy work together on defining the renewable roles of castles, these will be adaptive and can be put into practice easier and more effectively.

Seminar programme:
1. Informative session (40 min) – Introduction to the ‘Castles & Regions project’ – Introduction of the Komarno fortification system as well as other medieval and post-medieval castles along the Slovakian section of the Danube River and in Western Slovakia – Introduction to the World Café method – Presentation about the renewable roles of medieval and post-medieval castles
2. World Café (180 min) Topics: – renewable roles of castles in the diversification of tourism, in the promotion of regional products and in education – how castles along the Danube and other rivers can be made even more accessible by passenger ships – cooperation possibilities between the fortification system of Komárno and the Komárom Shipyard
3. World Café summary and recommendations for municipality/government decision makers (60 min) Working languages: Slovakian, Hungarian, English – MEDIA EVENT incl. the introduction of the Virtual Exhibition to the local/regional media, local and regional political, commerce and tourism stakeholders, delegates from the partner countries embassies/consulates and the general public – ‘CASTLE FAIR & REGIONAL FAIR’: especially aimed at the general public, beside the traditional arts and crafts products the DRM will invite representatives of ‘regional brand products’ to be presented to the general public at the fair – settling of MID-TERM COOPERATION between HNM and the PCC (see Deliverable ‘Mid-term cooperations’) and preparatory negotiations (under the leadership of AHSRD) regarding the establishment and operation of the Danube Castles Network to be launched in the framework of the project closing event (see Deliverable ‘Summary Events’)