Creating a star-gazing destination in Rasinari

Peers from across Europe

Alongside Astrid Severin and Magda Michalikova, our Thematic Experts on ‘Greener Europe’, six excellent peers participated in the peer review:

• István Gyarmathy, Nature Protection Officer / Dark Sky Park Coordinator, Hortobágy International Dark Sky Park (Hungary
• Richard Novak, Vice-president of the Kaptarko Association, Heves county (Hungary
• ​​​​​​​Andreas Hänel, Working Group Dark Sky Vereinigung der Sternfreunde (Germany)
• ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Femke Van Akker, Policy Officer, Province of Fryslan (The Netherlands)
• Rui Simão, Councillor, City Council of Pampilhosa da Serra, Coimbra region (Portugal)
• Michael Browne, Head of Tourism, Mid Ulster Council (United Kingdom)

Some recommendations

Developing sustainable tourism is an important topic for the Municipality of Rasinari, as well as local and regional stakeholders. The implementation of innovative approaches and new tourism products such as the Dark Sky park or Star gazing destinations in the vicinity of the Natura 2000 protected area is a subject of great interest. For this reason, Rasinari has asked to meet peers from more experienced regions. Some activities are already underway. For instance, in April 2024 a new hiking trail was launched in the village called ”The Planets Path”. The trail puts an emphasis on exploring the sky while wondering in nature.

Several recommendations and key outcomes were established as a result of the discussions and presentations of the peers. 

Key insights

• The Dark Sky is a resource, a local asset that people can be proud of
• Start by defining your goals and target groups
• Embed star gazing into a holistic offer valuing nature, biodiversity, culture (stones, beehives, sheperds, …) tailored to target group(s)
• Understand your baseline (collect data, measure, make surveys...) and identify what you already have (entrepreneurs, artists, food, …)
• Develop a strong brand based on your values and do not hesitate to work with emotions
• Do not copy / paste : Develop your own unique selling point
• Create a local / regional movement and use local knowledge, craftsmanship and the intelligence of the crowd
• Engage in training and education
• Walk the talk: reduce light pollution

Prepare for a dark sky park 

• Select suitable location
• Conduct light pollution measurements and mapping
• Reduce light pollution in the vicinity (turn the lights off at night, use the right colour (warm amber), shielding, …)
• Identify your goals and target groups, what do you want to achieve (how many visitors, etc.)?
• Decide on type of infrastructure – lower versus higher costs
• Start small and continue with a bigger investment

The host’s policy challenges, and all the peer suggestions will be available shortly in the follow-up report.