Former department store in Celje as a centre of fun science

With the help of EU funding the former department store in the centre of Celje has become the largest science and entertainment park in Slovenia where visitors discover the secrets of physics, astronomical phenomena, science, technology, the human body and also “fly” a kite. They learn, do experiments and have fun at the same time. The 4000 square metres area is used for discovering what pulleys are used for, how to fit a person into a soap bubble, how to lie on nails and not get pierced, what robot Teo thinks, how to catch lightning, how to demonstrate our climbing skills even though we don’t know how to climb.

In the first two floors of the Tehnopark, 53 stations have been set up providing information about famous residents and sights in Celje. For example, at the station for building a line from pipes visitors can also learn when the construction of the Celje railway began. Visitors can “take a ride” around Celje on a bicycle in the middle of the Tehnopark while being filmed so that they can watch their ride around the city. Visitors can also observe Celje from the air. Andreja Erjavec, director of Tehnopark, said they developed a kite flight simulator solely for their park. “This is the only simulator of its kind not only in Slovenia but also in Europe. We agreed that a kite would be suitable for Celje as it allows us to choose four points of departure. For example, you can see Celje starting from Celjska koča and land at the airport in Levec. But this is not a classic simulator. It is also didactic as visitors can monitor how potential and kinetic energy change during the flight.”

The third floor offers room for coworking and organisation of workshops and lectures.

 PHOTO: Polona Avanzo

Source: Špela Kuralt, Delo