Professional Excursion to Moravske Toplice: Smart Development of the Local Community, Tourism and Municipal Projects

As part of the Management of Smart Cities study programme at DOBA University of Applied Sciences, we carried out a professional excursion to Moravske Toplice on 19 June 2026. The excursion in north-eastern Slovenia was designed to connect theoretical knowledge with practical examples from the local environment, to explore the municipality’s development projects, and to identify good practices in the fields of smart cities, sustainable development, tourism, mobility and local community management.

During this year’s excursion, students focused on exploring the Municipality of Moravske Toplice as an example of a local community with strong tourism, and natural and development potential. Before departure, they researched the municipality, its projects and development challenges through team activities, and prepared questions for municipal representatives. This enabled them to approach the fieldwork in a well-prepared and problem-oriented way.

The excursion began at the Municipality of Moravske Toplice, where participants were welcomed by municipal representatives. Following introductory addresses by the mayor, the deputy mayor and a member of the municipal council, students learned about current municipal projects, including projects under the Agreement for the Development of Regions, the Interreg and CERV programmes, and the municipality’s key investments. This was followed by a visit to an investment in practice – the Moravske Toplice Fitness Trail – where students were able to gain first-hand insight into the importance of investment in public infrastructure, quality of life, recreation and sustainable spatial planning.

They then visited the Moravske Toplice Tourist Information Centre, where they learned about its work, the tourism offer and the projects that contribute to the destination’s visibility. A particularly memorable experience was the ride on the tourist train to Tešanovci, where a presentation of the company JKP Čista narava d.o.o. followed. Students also gained insight into the work of public services and the importance of effective local infrastructure management for the development of a smart community.

The programme continued with a tour of the hotels and Terme 3000, which form an important part of the tourism identity of Moravske Toplice, as well as an activity at the Moravske Toplice Golf Course. Throughout the day, students observed in the field how elements of a smart city and smart community are reflected in practice – from municipal development projects and tourism services to mobility, spatial planning, public infrastructure and cooperation between different stakeholders.

This year’s excursion was particularly valuable because of its interdisciplinary approach, the students’ active preparation before departure, and their direct contact with local representatives and service providers. Students did not just listen to presentations; through field research, asking questions and observing good practices, they reflected on the possibilities for the further development of Moravske Toplice towards a smart, sustainable and inclusive local community.

We are extremely pleased to have had the opportunity to cooperate with the Municipality of Moravske Toplice and other local stakeholders, who gave students insight into concrete development projects and the challenges of the local environment. The excursion offered students a valuable experience of transferring knowledge into practice and showed how important it is, when developing smart communities, to take into account local characteristics, the needs of residents, tourism potential and cooperation between different actors.

Some impressions from our students:

• The projects that made the strongest impression on us were those connecting digitalisation, sustainable mobility, the protection of natural heritage and tourism development. It was interesting to see how the municipality does not treat individual projects separately, but connects them into a shared development story that contributes to residents’ quality of life and greater visibility of the destination.
• It is also important to highlight that the Municipality of Moravske Toplice, which is a driving force of tourism in Prekmurje, sees the development of tourism in expanding and creating new tourism products and programmes, in the quality of the offer itself, and not in mass tourism. The emphasis here is therefore on sustainable tourism and coexistence with all those who live in this area.
• This excursion was not only an opportunity to gain new knowledge and learn about successful practices in the local environment, but also a valuable opportunity for personal meetings. Many of us met our classmates in person for the first time, after working with them remotely throughout our studies. We spent a wonderful day together, formed new friendships, strengthened our mutual connections and created pleasant memories that will stay with us long after the excursion has ended.
• We will therefore remember Moravske Toplice fondly as a place of hospitality, development, cooperation and enjoyable socialising.
• The professional excursion to Moravske Toplice enabled us to see, through a concrete example, how a smaller municipality can successfully develop elements of a smart community. We were particularly positively surprised by how systematically the municipality connects tourism, sustainable development, sport, digitalisation and international cooperation into a common development strategy.
• It was interesting to see how the municipality is gradually improving residents’ quality of life through numerous projects, while at the same time strengthening its visibility as a sustainable tourist destination.
• The excursion confirmed to us that smaller municipalities, too, can become examples of successful sustainable development if they know how to make use of their strengths, cooperate with the local environment and plan their development in the long term. We also gained many new ideas that we will be able to use in our further studies and reflections on the development of smart cities and communities.

We sincerely thank the Municipality of Moravske Toplice, all lecturers and hosts, and our fellow student and Deputy Mayor Sašo Koca, who, together with his team, gave us a closer insight into the work of the municipality and its development orientations, for their warm welcome, hospitality and excellent organisation.