This year, the Eszterházy Károly Catholic University, Observatory and Science Experience Center in Eger, as well as the newest visitor center of the Bükki National Park Administration (BNPI), the Bükki Star, hosted the XI. The Role of Planetariums and Demonstration Astronomers in Education Workshop.
The purpose of the workshop was to give the associations, organizations, businesses and individuals involved the opportunity to present the educational tools, methods, projects and any experiences of their planetarium or demonstration observatory, such as Richárd Novák - the former head of Bükki Csillagda - On the first day, in his presentation entitled Idea to Reality, he told the participants about the establishment of Bükki Csillagda.
The conference was broadcast live on the Facebook page of Galileo Webcast, so the presentations can also be watched back. The lecture just mentioned on this link: https://www.facebook.com/galileowebcast/videos/123... approx. can be viewed from the 50th minute.
At the opening of the second day of the workshop, Mrs. Kálmán Rónai, director of the Bükki National Park Administration and as host, briefly explained the activities and basic tasks of BNPI, mentioning ecotourism, of which the recently handed over Bükki Star is an integral part.
- The establishment of the Bükki Csillagda was a gap-filling investment, since no astrotourism facility like this has yet operated from here on the Danube. The Bükki Csillagda provides visitors with a unique experience both day and night by centering the trio of science, experience and interaction. When choosing the location, in addition to the dark sky, we also took nature conservation aspects into account, since we are in the heart of the national park, at an altitude of 630 meters above sea level, and it was important not to destroy habitats, he explained. It was said: the Bükki Csillagda received 37,000 visitors in the six months after its opening, which met the annual target - this also shows how much interest the facility is attracting. He said about the further goals of the visitor center: the BNPI, and within it the Bükki Csillagda, would like to establish and continue active professional collaborations with the astronomy profession, and this workshop also provided an excellent opportunity for this; furthermore, it was set as a goal to involve the Bükki Csillagda's professional tools in various research works, and negotiations are currently ongoing.
- We know that if we want to continue to maintain this standard and the level that this visitor center now offers, then we need continuous renewal and many, many constructive ideas, and the resources provided by the European Union can help us in implementing these - he added. Kálmán Rónai.
The detailed program of the event and the list of speakers can be found HERE. You can also watch the events of the second day on the Galileo Webcast Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/galileowebcast/videos/131...
Erika Varga-Verebélyi (in the middle), the astronomer of the Bükki Csillagda and the head of the astronomy exhibition, presents the astronomical card game she created to the interested participants of the workshop
