From Csepel Island to Ruralscapes: RDAB Twinning Partners Visit the Hungarian PlaceCRAFT Pilot Region

What can rural communities learn from each other when they face similar questions around heritage, community and tourism? On 24–25 September 2026, representatives of the Regional Development Agency Banat (RDAB), the City of Zrenjanin and the Municipality of Nova Crnja visited Hungary as part of the PlaceCRAFT twinning programme, spending two days exploring examples of community-based development in and around the Hungarian pilot region.

The delegation first visited Makád in the southern part of Csepel Island. There, they took part in the HelyiÉRTÉK regional tourism professional day, organised by KÉK as part of PlaceCRAFT. The programme brought together local municipalities, civil organisations and tourism businesses to discuss cultural heritage, community initiatives, regional cooperation and sustainable tourism.

The visit also included an introduction to selected locations in the Szigetzug Microregion, PlaceCRAFT’s Hungarian pilot region, where future project activities are planned. This gave the visiting representatives an opportunity to see the local context first-hand and exchange ideas with the people involved in shaping the region’s future.

On the second day, the delegation travelled to the RuralScapes pilot region near Budapest to visit the results of the 2026 Ruralscapes building camp. The hands-on, community-based intervention provided a practical example of how local ideas can be turned into physical improvements and offered a useful point of comparison with the approaches being explored through PlaceCRAFT.

The two-day visit created space for the Serbian representatives and their Hungarian counterparts to exchange experiences, discuss different approaches and learn from concrete examples. For the visiting representatives, the trip was an opportunity not only to see ongoing work first-hand, but also to consider how similar ideas and approaches might be relevant in their own local contexts.

As the PlaceCRAFT twinning activities continue, exchanges like this help build lasting connections between communities across the Danube region and create opportunities to learn from one another in practice.