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Natural History Museum and Research Institute Author: inż. arch. Karolina Derlicka Supervisor: dr inż. arch. Ksenia Piątkowska Reviewer: dr inż. arch. Marek Gawdzik
The motivation for choosing this topic for my thesis stems from a belief that there is a need for change in our education system and a need for creating more science related job opportunities for the talented scientist that we have but are often forced to seek employment abroad. One may argue that it is a time period too saturated with museums, but while it may be true for the art museums, science museums are a different matter. Poland does not have a proper natural history museum and while we do have a variety of specimen and objects, they are scattered in small museums and institutes or not exhibited for public viewing at all. The idea of creating a Polish Natural History Museum was first introduced with the establishment of the University of Warsaw, then pushed for more in 1818 by a zoologist Feliks Jarocki, who had an amazing collection of specimens, but unfortunately Poland being under the partitions, it was impossible to carry out. The topic came back after Poland regained independence and in the 1930s Marian Spychalski created a project for the museum but it was never realised. After the World War II, there were several locations in Warsaw and outskirts that were considered for housing the collection of over 7 million specimens, but again nothing came out of it and it was stored in a warehouse, where it remains today with only members of the Polish Academy of Sciences having access to it. By having the project have two main functions of a museum and a research centre, it answers both the problem of education and job opportunities in science. Museum as part of the project offers education to children at all levels a hand on experience in natural sciences, teaching in a way that is impossible to recreate in the classroom. School field trips, special classes at the museum and lectures would supplement the classes giving the children a better understanding of the processes described in textbooks. It would serve as an encouragement to the new generations to pursue science and technology related subjects. Studies show that a visiting science centres are among the top five stimuli to pursue science
careers, right next to parents, teachers, science toys and the media. The Research institute on the other hand is an answer to the problem of proper job opportunities for scientists in Poland. By combining the two, the result is an institution that not only motivates and inspires young people to pursue science but could possibly give them a job in the future. It also opens up the possibility of showing children how real scientists work and for internship programmes that give the invaluable experience. Many of institutions around the world already combine the two functions, like the California Academy of Sciences where nearly 50% of the building is dedicated to the Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability with over 100 research scientists working there. In light of currently important topics like the loss of biodiversity, climate change and political conflicts over the water and food supply, creating an institution dedicated to researching, exploring, documenting and educating is an investment for centuries to come. Placing the institution in a seacoast city is also not accidental - a science hub located literally on the verge of Baltic Sea could also prompt conversation and actions necessary for saving the partially deteriorated and further endangered ecosystem. It would also be prudent to incorporate the Gdynia Aquarium which right now occupies a building in need of renovation. For Gdynia it would mean becoming a symbol of scientific research on both the national and international level. Supplementing the already existing institutions such as the Experiment Science Centre and the Gdynia Aquarium by locating the Natural History Museum and Research Institute in Gdynia would lead it to becoming the place to be for science oriented people, a magnet for the smartest and the brightest.