2024 Gliwice
Sustainability and efficient waste management are key challenges of modern cities. Gliwice (Upper Silesia, Poland) has taken up this challenge by transforming an area next to a former, now defunct landfill into an innovative Center for Environmental Education (CEE). The initiative, implemented by the city’s Waste Management Company (WMC), is a prime example of combining practical and educational functions.
The Center for Environmental Education is one of the components of the Waste Management Enterprise, which also includes the Selective Municipal Waste Collection Point (SMWCP).
Who would have thought that a landfill could set new standards in environmental awareness and education, offering interactive experiences for schools and families. This was the goal set by the founders of CEE in Gliwice.
Hence it was A+V’s task was to design and implement multimedia systems that would allow the transfer of knowledge in the most attractive way possible.
According to the creative concept of Vidifilm, A+V designed and implemented audio-visual solutions consisting of: sound system, LED screen, transparent touch screens, projectors with screens and management system.
The Center for Environmental Education in Gliwice attracts visitors’ attention from the first step into the facility. Suspended from the lobby ceiling, the LED cylinder is one of the most attractive and distinctive elements of the facility.
Two multimedia counter clocks are displayed on the LED cylinder. One speeds by counting the global daily consumption of waste, while the other laboriously records recycling. This intriguing multimedia installation is an alarming image of our impact on the planet, prompting visitors to reflect and act.
The multimedia room at the CEE is one of the most used spaces – this is where visitors to the Center begin their tour. The room is mainly used for film screenings, creative recycling workshops, as well as meetings and conferences.
We have equipped it with a high-end Sony projector, guaranteeing clear images and vivid colors, and an Adeo frame screen of cinematic size 3.5m x 2.24m.
Dedicated exhibition stations have been prepared in the Exhibition Hall:
1. Waste production
The central installation, a scenographic pillar, deals with the amount of waste produced per month by each group, and is a contrast to a sad truth that can literally leave the visitor stunned. Through graphic interpretations, the visitor can see how the “ball of waste” grows – From a single family of four, through a block, a neighborhood, to the whole of Gliwice. The sphere, located on a pole, is a visualization of a particular fraction of waste, which is the most abundant and is currently a major environmental burden.
2. Segregation
In this interactive part of the exhibition, visitors will learn how to properly segregate waste, in their homes.
The Segregation Panel has been equipped with a labyrinth (mock-up), an analog game that educates visitors where specific waste should go. At the bottom of the installation, small containers have been placed, and above them, there is a selection of illuminated waste samples, which should be segregated according to the colors of the highlighted holes (symbolizing garbage bins).
The content is also presented on a transparent MKM Display touchscreen, which is designed to familiarize visitors with the construction of the garbage truck and its most important functions.
3. Waste in the environment
This part of the exhibition reveals the shocking truth about our impact on the environment – from forests, to the depths of the oceans, to the farthest reaches of space. Wherever man has reached, he has left a footprint in the form of plastic, microplastics and waste.
An interesting installation is an interactive display screen in the form of a washing machine door, where, with the help of animation, we discover the shocking truth about how everyday laundry unknowingly feeds an ocean of plastic particles.
The second part of this area is an analogue magnifying glass. It allows visitors to look into the stomach of a turtle – a symbol of oceanic fauna, with a miniature museum of plastic debris found in the bodies of sea creatures.
Through the use of AV technology, these stations encourage reflection on human impact on the environment.
4. PSCMW – Point of Selective Collection of Municipal Waste
In this zone, an interactive display has been prepared that reflects an image of what the SMWCP looks like (with descriptions of the various elements of the installation), with content displayed on a iiyama touch screen.
Right next to this screen is a state-of-the-art display screen in a stage-set TV, as if from the 1970s, displaying a video referring to the point of Second Life of Things, which operates under the idea of zero/less waste.
5. Bulky waste sorting station
At this station, equipped with a banner MKM Display touchscreen with a player, visitors will learn about the process of shredding bulky waste, such as furniture.
6. Silesian Recycling Center
The Silesian Recycling Center is a place where waste from home segregation is transported to. In the next step, rubbish is sorted mechanically and manually, and then sent to external recyclers.
This exhibit consists of two 32-inch iiyama touchscreens:
This station focuses on demonstrating the value of proper segregation and on making visitors realize that throwing waste in the trash is not the end of its life. It is just the beginning of a long and fascinating journey to become a new product, a piece of art or even energy.
7. Landfill model
Touch the screen and the model comes to life.
In this part of the exhibition, an interactive mock-up of the landfill combined with a 32-inch iiyama touchscreen presents a miniature of the entire company’s site and all installations . This allows visitors to understand every aspect of the Waste Management Company.
8. Test your knowledge
At the end of the tour, the organizers prepared a multimedia quiz on an LED screen, for the visitors to test the level of knowledge gained after visiting CEE. As a curiosity, we will add that the questions are read by a famous Polish lector and news presenter Krystyna Czubówna.
With the youngest visitors in mind, the Environmental Education Center also features an interactive space equipped with an infokiosk with iiyama touchscreen. Here, children under 5 can familiarize themselves with the topic of waste segregation through:
This futuristic space of the Center for Environmental Education in Gliwice caters to the needs of all visitors, regardless of age, mobility or perceptual ability. With its state-of-the-art and engaging audio-visual systems, CEE is also proving that environmental education is not only important, but can be exciting. As Confucius said: Tell me and I will forget. Show me, and I will remember. Let me do, and I will understand.
The Center for Environmental Education in Gliwice is:
The end result is that CEE in Gliwice is like a living organism thanks to its multimedia exhibition. Industrial elements, education and interactive entertainment, as well as conference space can coexist, thanks to audio-visual systems and modern LED solutions. This is a fantastic example of commercialization of an urban facility with a beautiful idea.
Practice meets theory here, and routine waste segregation is transformed into a fascinating journey towards a sustainable future, proving that ecological innovation goes hand in hand with technology.
Vidifilm, Sony, Edbak, BrightSign, Crestron, Adeo, Apple, Audac, QSC, iiyama, Yamaha, Dell, Sigma Delta, Botland, Extron.