The establishment of the “Symbiosis” Ecological Education Center to protect biodiversity.
An elegant modernist pavilion located at the very heart of the picturesque forest is a house for Symbiosis Center for Ecological Education. We offer our guests meaningful and memorable experiences, including our permanent exhibition where you can listen to the stories told by forest inhabitants, various educational workshops for the kids and the families, nature walks led by our educators. We believe that looking at the world from a different perspective makes you see and comprehend more.
National
Poland
The Municipality of Krakow
The Małopolskie Voivodeship
Mainly urban
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
Yes
ERDF : European Regional Development Fund
The Regional Operational Program for the Malopolska Region for the years 2014-2020.
No
Yes
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Kraków Municipal Greenspace Authority Type of organisation: Public authority (European/national/regional/local) First name of representative: Piotr Last name of representative: Kempf Gender: Male Nationality: Poland Function: Director of the Krakow Municipal Greenspace Authority Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Reymonta 20 Town: Krakow Postal code: 30-059 Country: Poland Direct Tel:+48 12 201 02 40 E-mail:biuro@symbioza-krakow.pl Website:https://symbioza-krakow.pl/
The Center for Ecological Education "Symbiosis" is run by the Krakow Municipal Greenspace Authority and located in the very heart of the Wolski Forest - the city forest bought more than one hundred years ago by the City Council of Krakow and offered - for eternity - to its citizens with the view of creating and maintaining the public park open to all.
The center is housed in a picturesque modernist pavilion that since 1990s has been abandoned and neglected. The idea of renovation and creating the centre for ecological education was a grassroots initiative, carried out by the city of Krakow. The project was co-financed with EU funds within the Regional Program of the Malopolska Province for the years 2014-2020. In effect the building was reused and repurposed, given the second life of social impact and educational value. Green solutions, including solar panels, heat pumps, green roof and the idea of sustainability, including reducing carbon footprint, fostering biodiversity, educating for climate change, practicing urban agriculture have been incorporated in the process. The centre features permanent exhibition presenting the life of the forest from the point view of their inhabitants and changing the perspective of the visitors, offering them more significant and emotional experience of nature, deeper comprehension of her inner workings and relations between her parts and the feeling she is so close to them that sometimes it requires just one step to make a bond. We strongly believe that the way to profound changes so needed in today's world starts with love for nature and all her manifestations as well as the deeply ingrained need to perform the simplest actions focused on well-being of the Earth we share with so many beings.
Reusing and repurposing of a neglected building
Applying green solutions in a landmarked building
Raising ecological awareness to protect biodiversity
Building a bond with nature, combating the nature deficit syndrome
Fostering love for nature to comprehend and protect her
A landmarked building – a modernist pavilion built in the Streamline style in 1936 – used to be a trendy restaurant owned firstly by the aristocratic family of Goetz-Okocimski and nationalized after the Second World War. It didn’t survive the economic transformation of the 1990s and since then it was gradually deteriorating. The redevelopment of the building was hinged on environmentally-friendly construction and renewable energy sources. It is supplied with electricity from photovoltaic panels and utilizes heat recovered in heat pumps. Flushing the toilets and watering plants in the garden makes use of rainwater and the green roof provides a biological filter where it is purified. Although the Okocimski Pavilion is featured in the register of monuments and is subject of particular conservation protection, its renovation was based on the concept of a passive house, encouraging energy efficiency and circularity, decreasing emissions and facilitating the use of waste heat.
The green area around the center features a permaculture garden – raised beds, an herb spiral, a composter. It is used both to grow food plants and to carry out educational activities focused on urban agriculture.
The building itself and its green solutions are also the base for educational activities of the centre. We try to show and prove – using our own example – that living and working sustainably is possible, worthwhile and rewarding.
Our goal was to reuse and repurpose the neglected heritage building, applying sustainable solutions and making it green. The idea of sustainability was incorporated in the building itself and the modus operandi of the centre. It also became the basis of our educational activities focused on making people aware how important it is to adopt a new perspective and to change things around us, starting from the smallest and simplest ones.
The elegant and sleek lines of modernist pavilion, its refined, streamlined shape and delightful proportions as well as the charm and picturesqueness of its close surroundings makes the place where the Symbiosis centre is located a unique one. Openness of the man-made structure to the natural world around it and its immersion in the wonders and mysteries of the Wolski Forest made us realize that we don't want to compete with the sheer beauty of the place but to capture and endorse as much of it as possible in our centre. That is why so much emphasis has been put on the aesthetics and quality of experience of our guests. The original character of the landmarked building has been preserved to the highest possible level. When designing the interior of the centre we relied on natural materials, forms and shapes taken from nature as well as great attention to details and evoking the sense of intimacy. When designing the permanent exhibition we went to great lengths to offer the visitors direct hands-on experience, comparable to some extent to the emotions evoked by nature itself and appealing to various senses – touch, hearing, eyesight, smell.
When working on general concept of the exhibition we relied heavily on storytelling and anthropomorphization of the animal characters telling the stories. The permanent exhibition of the Symbiosis centre is divided into two parts. One is focused on presenting the day life of the forest and its inhabitants, the other – on presenting their nocturnal activities. It is the animals living on different forest floors that are the hosts of the exhibition - the tawny owl, the tree frog and the badger. And it is them that tell the stories from their own perspective, revealing the secrets from their personal lives and appealing to the imagination and sensitivity of the visitors. In effect they become so lovable that both the knowledge of their biology and the feeling that they are very close to us come naturally to our guests.
The renovation of the Okocimski Pavilion has been carried out to provide the maximum possible level of accessibility, considering however the limitations arising due to the fact that that the building is protected as a historic landmark.
The centre is accessible for wheelchair users via the platform adjacent to the main entrance. There are no architectural barriers inside the building, except however for the the lower floor is accessible only from the outside, as there is no lift.
The exhibition labels are written in braille alphabet. Some of our activities may be translated into sign language. Lighting and sound conditions at the exhibition can be adjusted to the needs of the people with different sensitivities. We offer audioguided tours available in Polish, English and Ukrainian, addressing the needs of both the people who don’t speak Polish and persons who are visually impaired.
Some of our activities are available free of charge. Ticket prices are determined at the level assuring affordability. We also offer additional discounts for school groups, people from Ukraine, families with three or more children, families with children with disabilities. We invite groups of disadvantaged people and offer free activities for the elderly people.
Area around the building featuring the playground for children, tables and benches, an herb spiral, raised garden beds, a bike repair station is available freely to all the visitors who can also enjoy hammocks, lounge chairs, painting easels, sports equipment, books and newspapers, outdoor games and various educational activities.
The biggest impact of the Symbiosis centre relies on educating our visitors. We offer experiences, emotions, memories and actually being in nature that get them closer to her and let them build a deeper connection. We provide our participants with hands-on knowledge and plethora of useful hints: how to apply zero waste principle in their everyday lives, how to change their dietary habits and eat healthier food, how to care for their surroundings and appreciate things that are at arm’s length.
Our goal is also to make the Symbiosis centre a place open to everybody who want to discuss and publicly debate the questions important to them. We organized a series of meetings with our educators and external experts focused on them telling about their passions, motivations and interests and how these are going to be reflected in the educational activities of the Symbiosis centre and listening to what our visitors say about their needs, requirements, dreams and plans.
We also invite the citizens to join us on the so called open Saturdays. We want to create a place - using our permaculture garden and infrastructure around the centre - where we can socialize with them, spend some time together and get to know each other while working and playing in the garden, being in the forest, doing yoga or shinrin-yoku.
We also take part in public consultations initiated by the city of Krakow on various occasions.
The idea of creating a centre for ecological education located in the Okocimski Pavilion was a grassroots initiative put forward by the city, climate and nature activists from Krakow. Although the building itself had been abandoned and neglected, its unique location, character and beauty captured the attention of many people, including artists and art curators who carried out very interesting projects in this place. The concept of reusing the neglected heritage building and repurposing it as a centre for ecological education has been later taken over by the Krakow Municipal Greenspace Authority and executed within its programs and policies for managing the green areas in Krakow and greening the city as well as adopting solutions leading to ecological transformation and achieving climate neutrality by 2050. Many of these initiatives are publicly consulted and discussed with various stakeholders in open debates.
In the process of planning and implementing of the project partnerships were developed, including one with Landscape Park Complex of the Małopolska Region - public authority managing the protected landscape area (Bielany-Tyniec Landscape Park) where the Symbiosis centre is located and one with University of Agriculture in Krakow focused on academic collaboration resulting, among others, in researching and producing the soil profile of the neighboring area.
In our everyday work we also rely on partnerships, mostly with academia, including the Institute of Biology of the Jagiellonian University, with institutions of a similar character, including the Cogiteon Science Center in Krakow, and organizations located in proximity of the centre, including the Małpolska Institute for Culture.
We have also shared our experiences on a European level. We hosted, along with the Villa Decius Institute for Culture, a peer learning visit within the framework of the Cultural Heritage in Action project.
A huge and diverse array of disciplines and knowledge fields has been applied when designing and implementing the project, including:
Basic biology, botany and zoology.
Forest sciences.
Study of relations in complex ecosystem, including mycorrhiza and trophic chains.
Phenology of the plants of moderate climate.
Soil morphology and geology.
Study of dead wood microhabitats.
Ethology, study of behavior of animals.
Morphology of plants.
Identification of plants.
Dendrochronology - analysis of tree sections.
Urban agriculture and permaculture.
Bee-keeping.
Centre for ecological education arranged in a renovated, reused and repurposed building that - once beautiful and popular - has been abandoned and neglected.
Successful applying of green and sustainable solutions in a landmarked building under conservator's protection.
Unique combination of direct, hands-on experience, appealing to various senses - touch, smell, eyesight and hearing with multimedia installations making good use of current technology.
The narrative line of the exhibition based on anthropomorphization of the four characters – the tawny owl, the tree frog, the badger and the beech tree. They told their stories from their own point of view, revealing the secrets of their lives, and forming relationships with the visitors.
Combining nature and ecological education with culinary workshops, artistic activities, bushcraft and survival training, working and playing in the garden into one interdisciplinary experience
Using materials and resources available in the immediate neighborhood of the centre – only borrowed from the forest and returned afterwards.
In every city in the world there are buildings – public and private ones – which share the similar fate. They used to be modern, beautiful, and trendy but over the years they declined and ceased to be used. The case of the Okocimski Pavilion and the Symbiosis centre shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that such structures can not only be revitalized with great effectiveness, while using innovative, pro-ecological solutions, but also be given new, socially useful functions. This experience can be transferred internationally going beyond the scale of only regional importance.
The following should be considered:
Focusing on renovation of historic buildings and adopting the goals of sustainable development tend to be a better solution than building new ones and is always worth considering as an option.
Fostering creation of education centres based on the idea of interpreting cultural heritage and anchoring in local history and natural environment is of crucial importance for shaping and strengthening ecological awareness.
Encouraging outdoor education is a great way to help combat nature-deficit disorder affecting today’s children and young people.
Scientific research and our own findings proving that the nature-deficit disorder is a huge threat both for children and adults and the only viable cure seems to be the Vitamin „N”: reconnecting with nature prescribed in large doses.
Current trends in pedagogical sciences showing that old methods of teaching, created and possibly having been useful when the world was different, are obsolete now and should be discarded as soon as possible.
Scientific research and our own findings showing that being in nature has a great effect on our mental and physical health.
Inspirations drawn from Montessori approach and Waldorf education focused on self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play.
Method of heritage interpretation.
Climate change: educating and making people aware that even their tiniest actions count.
Loss of biodiversity: educating and making people understand - during our workshops and activities - how important pollinators are.
Noise and light pollution: educating and making people aware - during our night walks through the forest - how heavily polluted by noise and light it is.
Food self-sufficiency: growing your own food in a permaculture garden.
Reducing consumption, encouraging reuse: using our own example.
The initiative was started in 2016 and its hard investment phase - renovating of the building and applying green and sustainable solutions - was completed in 2019.
The Symbiosis Center for Ecological Education was opened in February 2020, then closed temporarily due to pandemic, and opened again in 2021, ready to celebrate its third birthday this month.
It is now fully operational, planning strategically its near and distant future.
