For decades, Miskolc struggled with an outdated image shaped by its industrial past, and despite its cultural life and proximity to the Bükk Mountains, tourism development stayed fragmented with no clear plan to use its strongest asset: local food.

Change started from the ground up, when local restaurateurs, winemakers, hoteliers and tourism entrepreneurs formed a grassroots network called Bükki Kör. At its centre is the Edible Forest program, connecting forest managers and chefs to bring seasonal wild ingredients, mushrooms, herbs, berries, foraged game, into restaurant menus, turning the region's biodiversity into a storytelling tool for visitors. The movement gained further traction through GASTOUR, Hungary's first international conference on sustainable gastronomy.

The initiative has since built a network of more than 30 collaborating local stakeholders, boosted demand for local products, and strengthened ties between producers, chefs, guides and accommodation providers. It has also embedded social inclusion into the local tourism economy through a partnership with the Szimbiózis Foundation, which employs people with disabilities whose products now appear in hotels and events. The grassroots effort has since been folded into official destination strategy under the city's new identity: "Miskolc, the City of the Bükk."

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