Malé Dvorníky, Slovak Republic

The municipality Malé Dvorníky has 1,070 inhabitants and offers 478 work places. A structurally important event was the reinstatement of the communal independence in 1990, three years after a fusion with a neighboring municipality. This separation meant not only independence for Malé Dvorníky, but it was also connected to enormous issues, as Malé Dvorníky had no infrastructures. Town hall, kindergarten and schools had to be build as well as roads, foot and bicycle paths. The inconsistent history of the municipality has lead to the fact that more than 90 percent of the population are of Hungarian descent. The coexistence with the Slovakian population works very well. There is no pressure to emigrate, due to the measures taken by the village renewal.

The area of the municipality is located on the biggest Danube river island which is also the biggest reservoir for drink-ing water in Central Europe. This means that the protection of ground and ground water enjoys top priority and influences the process of development strongly.

First measures were taken immediately after the separation of the municipalities. About ten years ago, a broad development concept was formed as a logical continuation, which was created in intense collaboration with the population. Eventually, visions and goals were formed on this basis – as well as measures to achieve them. Main priorities are environmental protection and achieving energetic independence. Aside from the ecological aspect, tourism should be strengthened as well. Consequently, over 40 extraordinary communal, regional and national projects, some of which were even international, sparked dynamic processes. External experts were asked for help in many cases.

Important projects were initiatives to structure the village and to improve the infrastructure, such as the construction of a town hall, a school and a kindergarten as well as playgrounds and recreation zones. Another major concern was and is inner development, which is expressed through the revitalization of existing objects and the construction of apartments for young families close to the center. A communal canteen, which can be used by all inhabitants, as well as a mobile support service make life a lot easier for many people in Malé Dvorníky. By implementing an economy zone, many businesses were settled there and the local added value was massively increased. In the field of agriculture, a main aspect is ecological farming. The expansion of sustainable tourism is ongoing and many projects in the fields of art and culture were realized.

Another major achievement of the municipality was broad environmental education which reached all groups of the inhabitants. A lighthouse project was “Sun is Life”, a project crossing the border to Hungary: solar energy is the main supplier for electricity, heating systems and water production. The installments can already cover the energy consumption of all municipal buildings. Further installments are being planned or constructed.

Although many successful projects have been realized already, the municipality does not consider its tasks fulfilled. A number of measures in the diverse fields of village renew-al are soon to be realized.

Evaluated: 2014