The most important award, that is, the Grand Prix prize awarded during the14th edition of the Society of Polish Town Planners competition for the best urban and architectural projects in Poland was awarded for the development of educational infrastructure in naturally valuable areas administered by Geopark Kielce.
The Geopark, in operation since 2015, is Poland's first geological landscape park, representing the richness of inanimate nature values combined with animate nature and cultural heritage. The award-winning development by JJ Studio of Architecture Janusz Janik (development concept) and 2Gstudio (development design), which was carried out in 2016-2019, consisted of two key investment tasks. Firstly, it was about protecting and utilizing the natural resources of the Reserve and Kadzielnia Park; secondly, the same activities were carried out at the Wietrznia Reserve with the retrofitting of the Geoeducation Center. The overall cost of the expansion was more than 13 million zlotys, of which more than 11 million was subsidized by European Union funds.
Wietrznia Nature Reserve
Photo: K. Pęczalski © Geopark Kielce
tourism, education and protection
Both sites, i.e. the Kadzielnia Nature Reserve and Park and the Wietrznia Nature Reserve, generate the most tourist traffic and attract a total of several hundred thousand visitors every year. Thus, they are also the most vulnerable to possible negative impacts on the sites of protected plant and animal species, and the existing infrastructure protected them only partially. Hence, the main task of the investment was to channel tourist traffic and build educational paths.
Educational paths and a viewing point in the Wietrznia Nature Reserve
Photo: K. Pęczalski © Geopark Kielce
In the justification of the competition jury, which consisted of representatives of the Board of Directors of the Society of Polish Town Planners, Presidents of Local Branches of the Society of Polish Town Planners, President of the Chamber of Architects of the Republic of Poland, Małgorzata Pilinkiewicz, and President of the Association of Polish Architects, Bohdan Lisowski, we read that:
The Grand Prix was awarded for the realization of a multifaceted spatial project, which included the creation of off-road infrastructure for nature conservation, education and tourism in the post-mining areas of Wietrznia and Kadzielnia, located in Kielce. The areas of former open-pit rock mining were transformed into a tourist and educational area making full use of the natural potential with new recreational infrastructure. Spatial activities have had a positive impact on the channeling of tourist traffic in naturally valuable areas and on raising the environmental awareness of users. The Competition Jury appreciated the entirety of revaluation activities carried out periodically under the project "Expansion of educational infrastructure in naturally valuable areas administered by Geopark Kielce".
View of Kadzielnia Park
Photo: K. Pęczalski © Geopark Kielce
UNESCO for Geopark?
The Kadzielnia area, which is one of the most famous cave, or karst, areas in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, with 25 caves and rock shelters, has been expanded, among other things, by connecting by footbridge the passageways located in the eastern and western parts of the former pit. This provides an opportunity to circle around the Geologists' Rock and admire the reserve from all sides, while using new educational boards.
Kadzielnia Nature Reserve and Park
photo: K. Pęczalski © Geopark Kielce
On the other hand, the construction of an educational path in the typically strolling Wietrznia Reserve, where panoramas of the Swietokrzyskie Mountains can be observed from vantage points, has been combined with the retrofitting of the Geoeducation Center, the design and construction of the Geological Garden of Experience and the modernization of the permanent exhibition in the Geoeducation Center. The latter is envisaged as a modern center with the use of 3D and 5D technologies, including by creating a multisensory cinema-capsule. As the director of Geopark Kielce Miroslaw Hejduk emphasizes, also commenting on the award granted by the Society of Polish Urban Planners:
These activities are also part of the broader partnership initiative Geopark Świętokrzyski, coordinated by the Municipality of Kielce - Geopark Kielce and implemented in cooperation with the municipalities: Chęciny, Morawica, Nowiny and Piekoszów. The initiative has a chance to obtain the prestigious UNESCO World Geopark certificate this year.
Geological Garden of Experience at the Geoeducation Center
photo: K. Pęczalski © Geopark Kielce
sustainable tourism
The large expansion project of Geopark Kielce undoubtedly fits into modern spatial design standards, moreover, it has the potential to participate in the development of sustainable tourism, more specifically, geotourism aimed at learning aboutlocal geological and cultural heritage, minimizing the negative impact of tourism on the environment, while helping to generate employment opportunities for local residents.
