STYLE
The Ostrava Science and Technology Center
Innovation in Education, Technology and Industry
Popularization
There is no question about the fact that the
Science and Technology Center in Dolní
Vítkovice is one of the most innovative
projects of the Moravian-Silesian Region.
The construction, whose opening ceremony
on the premises of Dolní Vítkovice took
place in September 2014, welcomes
hundreds of thousands of visitors yearly and
ranks among the members of the prestigious
Czech Association of Science Centers, and
is generally also considered to be one of the
most modern science centres in Europe.
The Science and Technology Centre
methodology has bet on the interactive
approach in informal education. “On an
area of more than 14,000 m2 the visitors
find hundreds of interactive exhibits, a 3D
cinema, Children’s World for the youngest
as well as labs and workshops with modern
equipment serving as a shared space for the
schools from the Moravian-Silesian Region”,
explains Jakub Švrček, the Science and
Technology Center director.
As a centre of informal education, the
Science and Technology Center has gone
even further in its programme content. To
meaningfully respond to the needs of the
region, it has joined forces with a number
of the most significant companies of the
Moravian-Silesian Region and hand-inhand with them created new educational
projects not only for all the school-grade
pupils but also for the wider public. Today
what we find here is an exposition of the
largest producer of steel in the country
-- the ArcelorMittal company the famous
energy firm innogy. All the expositions are
part of the educational activities every day
and the Science and Technology Center
lecturers use them in their classes for
schools. One of the projects the Science
and Technology Center holds annually,
in conjunction with the Confederation
of Industry of the Czech Republic, is
the Living Library of Jobs event. Here,
elementary school pupils (especially
8th and 9th grades) are able to directly meet
the representatives of mostly engineering
companies from the region and discuss
the possibilities of future employment on
the market. “The Living Library of Jobs
is getting more and more popular for its
recruitment potential of future employees.
It is up to the companies themselves
how entertaining or to the point their
presentations of the given professions
are, and over the years the event has only
proved it is a great model”, adds Jakub
Švrček, stating that every year both the
schools and the existing and new partners
are becoming more and more interested
in participating. For their educational
activities the Science and Technology
Center was awarded the OKD Foundation
Prize in November 2018.
An ultramodern building, designed by
the renowned architect Josef Pleskot, is
characterised by a striking mirror façade.
It is located in the very centre of the
industrial Dolní Vítkovice and one of its
aims is to promote and educate in the
areas of science and technology. The
Science and Technology Center is open
daily in every season, apart from the
Christmas holidays.
POSITIV ǀ 4/2018 57