Experience The Forest
Project introduction
The project addresses the lack of social and cultural activities in the town and the surrounding region and encourages maximum innovative use and revival of the cultural monument of the Castle in Kostelec nad Černými lesy, which has been closed for decades. We are now looking for ways toopen the castle to the public. The aim of the project is to revive this cultural monument through a multimedia permanent exhibition focusing on the forestry sector. The project responds to the needs of the local community by preparing a space for a leisure centre in a designated part of the cultural monument. Educational programmes for the general public will be developed in cooperation with the partner and implemented after the end of the project. Educational programmes for pupils of primary schools and kindergartens will be created using forest pedagogy. The proposed project includes, in addition to the opening of new forestry exhibitions, the organisation of cultural activities aimed at community gatherings. There is no similar exposition anywhere in the Czech Republic that would map the forestry area in its entirety. 2 interconnected expositions form a logical circle approaching the forestry area from the tree seed to its protection and processing. Part of the exposition will be dedicated to minorities.The main target group is the public (visitors to the museum and cultural programmes), pupils(kindergarten, primary school) within the framework of educational programmes of forest pedagogy, clients of the leisure centre (parents with children, seniors, citizens).The project will be implemented with the involvement of partners from Iceland and the Czech Republic, who will enter the project either as expert consultants for sharing know-how (Museum of Kopavogur) or as implementers of cultural or community activities themselves (Za Radost). The project responds to the needs of the place and is in line with the priorities of the strategic documents at local and regional level.
Exposition and exhibition
Multimedia permanent exhibition focusing on the forestry sector will be opened in 2023. Uniqueforestry exposition will be showing forest from another point of view, it will enhance and emphasize the role of forest in the human life. The exposition will be mapping the lifetime of the tree, beginning with the tree seed, protection and finally processing of the wood. The first part of the exhibition will be held in the castle and the second part will be done as educational path in the close forest.
Educational programmes for schools
Forest pedagogy is taught according to the Austrian model, and it is executed in the Czech Republic by organizations dealing with the administration of forest properties, forest management or awareness raising on forests and forestry in civil society, and by forestry schools.Forest pedagogy builds up relationship between children and nature, but also can provide knowledge of different study branches – physics, PE, biology, geography, chemistry, environmental education. All activities are held in the forest, are focused not only on children, also on families, seniors, or different groups.
Free time activity hub
In cooperation with the project partner nongovernmental organization Za Radost, z.s. is the free time activity hub running. This leisure centre will be aimed to fulfil needs of citizens, prepare various educational and cultural activities, not only for children, families, but also for elderly people and endangered groups.