The Research Institute for National Strategy (NSKI) held its 7th interdisciplinary conference on the social and economic situation of Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin on 21–22 November 2025 in Székelyudvarhely (Odorheiu Secuiesc), Transylvania, Romania. The highlighted theme of this year’s event was: Borders and Connections in Space and Time.

Presentation on the B-prepared Project

This year, Zsolt László Márkus, Head of the eLearning Department at HUN-REN SZTAKI, was invited by the conference organizers to present the latest results of the B-prepared project during the opening plenary session. His presentation was titled:  “Climatic and Environmental Boundaries in the Carpathian Basin”. (Preparing the population for the impacts of climate change in the Carpathian Basin within the framework of the B-prepared Horizon project through the tools of game-based learning.)

Interactive Side Event Featuring B-prepared Innovations

A key accompanying event of the conference was an interactive showcase of the B-prepared Horizon Europe innovation project’s products, held in the elementary school building of the Tamási Áron High School in Székelyudvarhely. The demonstration was open to interested students, conference participants and local residents.

Throughout the day, visitors—supported by developers from the eLearning Department—were able to explore:

• the IM-prepared smartphone application,
• thematic walks presenting past disaster events,
• augmented reality (AR) games designed for these walks, and
• a virtual reality (VR) game. 

During the demonstrations, visitors received assistance with downloading the smartphone app and navigating the completed thematic walks, with special emphasis on the “Flood Memorial Trail in Udvarhelyszék.” Participants also had the opportunity to try the AR and VR games created so far within the project. 

Because only one device was available on-site for trying the VR game, a pre-registration system was set up to schedule attendees. Additionally, visitors were encouraged to share their comments, experiences and feedback—valuable input for improving the project’s products and preparing their final versions.

Attendance and Institutional Representation

The nearly 120 attendees of the conference represented five countries and more than 50 research institutions. The chief patron of the event was Dr. Tamás Sulyok, President of Hungary, and its patron was László Palkovics, Government Commissioner for Artificial Intelligence. The conference is part of the Hungarian Science Festival program series.