Science Education Centre (ZEC) Kontija
Kloštar (Vrsar-Orsera)
The Science Education Centre (ZEC) Kontija is designed as a „house in nature“ having a solar energy system and its own water tank. It is meant to be a permanent centre of education in the field of natural sciences and engineering, primarily for young people (pupils and students), promoting the use of laboratory equipment as well as modern teaching and experimental methods, and it has the ambition to become a unique centre of excellence in the future.
At the same time, ZEC Kontija is an information and education centre for the local population, guests and tourists visiting the protected area of Lim bay and Kontija forest and a central point aimed at organising and disseminating innovative tourist and sports arrangements.
The Centre also offers support to the Natura Histrica public institution in its activities related to the management of protected areas in the Region of Istria.
The Centre comprises a multiple purpose multimedia space with a classroom having a seating capacity of about 40 persons, a space for the accommodation of lecturers and participants involved in training sessions and seminars (up to 40 persons), accommodation space and sanitation facilities accessible to disabled people, office and meeting space, space for laboratory work, space for bicycle storage and repair. In the area of Kontija forest there is also a 3.2 metre high freestanding bouldering wall, a tactile/reflexology path, a classroom consisting of massive wooden labyrinth-configured benches, a roofed area having massive wooden benches and tables suitable to hold workshops and training events or to rest, interactive educational content about nature and a bike parking area.
The main idea behind the Science Education Centre (ZEC) Kontija is man’s return to nature.
