The Museum of Science and Innovation will encourage children and young people to invent

Nataliia Pavlyshyn, LVIV POLYTECHNIC CENTER FOR COMMUNICATION
Назар Подольчак

The Museum of Science and Innovation, which has analogues only in Kyiv, will soon appear in Lviv as well. But while the renovation work continues and the team is working on ideas to fill the space, everyone has the opportunity to support this breakthrough initiative and take part in the development of not only the city, but the Ukrainian science in general. Fundraising takes place at the StartEra crowdfunding platform.

– Such a Museum of Science and Innovation should be of interest to children in the first place. Therefore, we try to create a place where they will form a taste for invention. We have signed an agreement with the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development to establish such a museum on the basis of Lviv Polytechnic, at 7 Sichovykh Striltsiv Street. Interesting is the fact this space will have several components. We want to equip the two floors not only to give an understanding of various interactive processes, but also to create positive emotions for children aged from 6 to 14. We want to show that science is not just numbers and formulas, but many exciting processes. So this space will be filled with objects for interaction. Of course, some of the exhibits will be intended solely for contemplation – we will demonstrate the achievements of Lviv Polytechnic in the past, so that our visitors understand the longevity of science, that it did not arise suddenly, but that there are traditions and values, – said Nazar Podolchak, Director of Tech StartUp School and Science Park, Lviv Polytechnic, who initiated the creation of the Museum of Science and Innovation.

Most of the exhibits that will fill the museum are modern equipment, in particular the one manufactured in the Science Park, in the Tech StartUp School of Lviv Polytechnic, to demonstrate the competitiveness of the University.

– Within the framework of cooperation with the Small Academy of Sciences, we agreed that the expositions will be mobile. We will bring them from other cities. In general, several more such museums are planned to open, so we will be able to update the exhibitions frequently. We hope that this place will become a center of interest for the most talented children who want to make science. Due to the fact that Lviv is a tourist city, children who come here on excursions and want to gain new knowledge and emotions can also come to this museum. We plan that this will be the main acquaintance for them with Lviv Polytechnic, so that they become part of the academic community, – added Nazar Podolchak.

The filling of the museum will be gradual. It is planned that the opening will take place when at least two floors are ready for viewing – and this is more than 2,000 m2.

Two more floors are planned to be turned into a creative center, where children can stay, learn and invent something. It will be a complex object.

– First of all, we completed the work with documentation for the creation of this center, and submitted to the State Regional Development Fund a project worth UAH 25 million to repair two floors, as well as to establish creative centers – design and estimate documentation, room design and concept, – says Director of Tech StartUp School. – Our partners from Projector School and architects from IARD are ready to take over these premises. Another serious challenge is the exhibits – they are very expensive. So we set up our team with Tech LabInno and its representatives will go to Warsaw to the Copernicus Science Center to see what we can make on our own.

We also offer sponsors to arrange rooms which will be called by their names. It would be interesting for some companies to bring their own equipment, provided that it corresponds to the concept of the museum – we are interested in biotechnology, IT, robotics, automation, physical, chemical, and environmental phenomena. We also have an idea, together with Israeli companies, to organize their representation of achievements in these areas.

The creative center will work together with the Department of Education and Science of LRSA and the Small Academy of Sciences, involving Polytechnic trainers who work there.

– We also want to make a project to create a cafe-experimentation, where children could not only eat, but also produce some new products in the field of cooking and greenfood. We have worked on a project with the Association of Food Industry Enterprises, which several grants will be submitted to. That is, we use various opportunities to implement this. In addition, we would like to open a separate room that would cover the protection of human rights, – summed up Nazar Podolchak.

You can read more about the idea of the Museum of Science and Innovation on the website of Tech StartUp School.

To financially support the establishment of the Museum of Science and Innovation