2011-05-31 Museums publish international website for kids about the sea

On June 1, the International Children’s Day, the BalticMuseum project partners publish the website for kids: www.kids.balticmuseums.net.

Children are as future conservationists a very important visitor group for the oceanographic museums. To attract these little maritime researches, a special area was created on the international website of oceanographic museums www.balticmuseums.net. „With a quiz, games and a lot of information about the sea, children shall playfully discover the habitat of water,” explains professor Michael Klotz (Stralsund University of Applied Sciences, Germany). He is the leader of the project “BalticMuseums 2.0” under which the websites were created. Interactivity is one focus of this European project of the oceanographic museums and its scientific partners. The smallest kids can colour pictures of sea creatures online, older ones are invited to catch fish or train their memory. The website for kids was set up in five different languages: German, English, Polish, Lithuanian and Russian.

Since 2008, Stralsund University of Applied Sciences, the German Oceanographic Museum, the University of Szczecin, Gdynia Aquarium, the Lithuanian Sea Museum and the Museum of the World Ocean in Kaliningrad cooperate in the EU-project „BalticMuseums 2.0“. On the website www.balticmuseums.net tourists find all important information about the museums in Stralsund, Gdynia, Kaliningrad and Klaipeda in one place. The project is part-financed with 963.635 Euros by the European Regional Development Fund within the South Baltic Programme. www.balticmuseums.net

2010-12-13 International team discusses multi-media tools in oceanographic museums

Smart phones and other electronic devices offer a broad variety of utilisation options for museums. On the 8 to 10 December 2010 an international group from Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Russia met in Stralsund, Germany, to discuss how to best exploit these opportunities for oceanographic museums attracting both local and international visitors. The meeting was the starting point for the EU project “BalticMuseums 2.0 Plus”. End of September the consortium had received the approval of the EU part-financing amounting to 947.920 Euro. The total project budget sums up to 1.120.200 Euro including the own contribution of the partners. The project „BalticMuseums 2.0 Plus“ will extend the current successful cooperation of the German Oceanographic Museum, Lithuanian Sea Museum, Gdynia Aquarium and the Museum of the World Ocean (Russia) and their scientific partners, the University of Szczecin and Stralsund University of Applied Sciences. In the coming three years an electronic guidance system, a so-called eGuide, shall be implemented in the participating museums.

„Using an eGuide offers visitors an extraordinary museum experience by combining visual, audio and text material“, explains Prof. Dr. Michael Klotz, leading the project at Stralsund University of Applied Sciences. RFID-technology and special devices e.g. smart phones enable visitors to navigate in the museums. Tailor-made tours for e.g. parents with kids make the museum visit an excellent adventure. The content and material will be jointly developed by the partner museums in several languages, thus being able to offer more guided tours in foreign languages. In beginning of 2012 the new eGuides can be given a try, when the museums plan larger-scale tests to gather feedback from visitors and to specify their requirements. Before this date, scientists and educologists are working on developing all content for the system.

Already since 2008, the project group sucessfully co-operates funded by the EU Regional Development Fund within the „South Baltic Cross-border Co-operation Programme 2007-2013“. Within this previous project a joint, multi-lingual online platform, an online ticketing system and a prototype for an eGuide are developed until end of 2011.

2010-03-04 Stralsund University of Applied Sciences led meeting of oceanographic museums in Kaliningrad

From the 23rd to the 27th of February the Stralsund University of Applied Sciences led the third meeting of the BalticMuseums 2.0 project in Kaliningrad, Russia. The Museum of the World Ocean hosted the meeting at its premises in the city of Kaliningrad. The four museums and two universities discussed the further development of a joint strategy of common online activities and future oriented guidance systems for the museums.

The common internet portal is currently set up, making the information of the museums available in five languages. The team of the University of Szczecin, who is in charge of the development of this platform, presented a special kids' section that will enthuse children and adults alike. In the future, museum visitors will be able to comment on the exhibitions and to rate the museums online. Thus, tourists are provided with important tips for their travel planning. “The possibility to buy tickets online completes this offer”, explains Prof. Dr. Michael Klotz, head of the project at Stralsund University of Applied Sciences. All partner museums attract scores of visitors in the peak season, which shall be managed more efficiently by using online sales tools. Available systems were examined in the project both from a technical but also from an economic point of view. As a next step, in-depth meetings at the different museum locations will take place to finalize the overview of demands and local conditions to approve a joint strategy.

The co-operation project BalticMuseums 2.0 is dedicated to the development of innovative technical tools for information and communication for oceanographic museums. Next to the joint multi-lingual online platform and the online ticketing solution the team will realize developments for a future oriented visitor guidance system. The project will make use of the different languages of the partners, a requirement for information tools especially for international tourists.

The project is part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund within the South Baltic Programme.

2009-10-08 Information about Oceanographic Museums soon in several languages

Four oceanographic museums in the South Baltic region have decided to create a joint multi-lingual online portal for international tourists. Last week the partners worked out the content of this website in a project meeting in Gdynia, Poland. The workshop was led by the Stralsund University of Applied Sciences and the University of Szczecin. The online information platform is part of the European project BalticMuseums 2.0, that is run by the oceanographic museums from Stralsund (Germany), Gdynia (Poland), Kaliningrad (Russia) and Klaipeda (Lithuania) in co-operation with two scientific partners, the Stralsund University of Applied Sciences and the University of Szczecin.

Especially the process of translation and the choice of languages available on the future platform was in the centre of discussion of the 25 participants of the meeting. Apart from English, German, Lithuanian, Polish and Russian, Chinese will be one of the selectable languages. „This is a growing market in the tourism sector,” confirms Prof. Dr. Michael Klotz, head of the project at Stralsund University of Applied Sciences. The joint online portal shall attract international visitors to the museums from March 2010 onwards.

The co-operation project BalticMuseums 2.0 is dedicated to the development of innovative technical tools for information and communication for oceanographic museums. Next to the joint multi-lingual online platform the team will realize an online ticketing system for the museums. Furthermore developments for a future oriented visitor guidance system are planned. The project will make use of the different languages of the partners, a requirement for information tools especially for international tourists.

The project is part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund within the South Baltic Programme.

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2009-06-04 Start of international EU project at Stralsund University of Applied Sciences

Stralsund University of Applied Sciences is participating in the today starting kick-off meeting of the BalticMuseums 2.0 project in Stralsund, Germany. During two days the 20 participants from Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Russia will lay the foundation for the three year lasting co-operation. The BalticMuseums 2.0 project was granted a European co-financing of almost one million Euro. Together with five partners from Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Russia, the university will develop innovative technical information and communication tools for oceanographic museums.

„The consortium will generate joint technical solutions, that are of a great benefit for all partners“, confirms Prof. Dr. Michael Klotz, leader of the project at Stralsund University of Applied Sciences. By co-operating with two universities and four oceanographic museums a cross-border network will be created, offering great potential for the transfer of knowledge and technology.

The team will design and realize a joint multi-lingual online platform as well as a ticketing system. Furthermore developments for a future oriented visitor guidance system are planned. The project will make use of the different languages of the partners, a requirement for information tools especially for international tourists.

2009-05-26 Projektstart an Fachhochschule Stralsund für EU-Millionenprojekt

Vom 4. bis 5. Juni findet in Stralsund das erste Projekttreffen des EU-Projektes BalticMuseums 2.0 der Fachhochschule Stralsund statt. Erwartet werden Teilnehmer aus Deutschland, Polen, Litauen und Russland, die in verschiedenen Workshops Fragestellungen für zukunftsweisende Informationsangebote der Museen diskutieren. Unter Leitung der Fachhochschule werden in dem Projekt BalticMuseums 2.0 innovative technische Informations- und Kommunikationslösungen für Meeresmuseen entwickelt. Mit dem Veranstaltungsort im OZEANEUM in Stralsund präsentiert sich sogleich der weitere deutsche Projektpartner und Mitinitiator, das Deutsche Meeresmuseum.

Das Projekt wird durch die EU im Programm Südliche Ostsee mit knapp einer Million Euro teilfinanziert und ist somit das größte Drittmittelprojekt der Fachhochschule.

Das Hochschulteam um Prof. Dr. Michael Klotz (FH Stralsund) und die Projektpartner werden sich mit der Entwicklung einer gemeinsamen, mehrsprachigen Online-Plattform sowie eines Ticketing-Systems beschäftigen. Ein weiterer wichtiger Bestandteil ist die Entwicklung eines Konzeptes für ein zukunftsweisendes Besucherleitsystem. An der Fachhochschule Stralsund wird dieses Projekt durch das von Professor Klotz geleitete Stralsund Information Management Team (SIMAT) umgesetzt.

2008-07-22 EU funds granted for BalticMuseums 2.0 project

The consortium of two universities and four oceanographic museums now received the approval of its project application „BalticMuseums 2.0“ for European funds in the „South Baltic Cross-border Co-operation Programme 2007-2013“. The six partners from Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Russia will develop innovative technical information and communication tools for oceanographic museums. The project duration is projected being three years starting in October this year.

The „BalticMuseums 2.0“ project was one of four successful project applications, chosen out of 17 projects. The application convinced the jury, that granted a co-financing of almost a million Euro. The project budget amounts to more than a million Euros due to the additional own contribution of the partners.

The idea for a tighter co-operation of oceanographic museums in the Baltic Sea region was generated by the consortium lead by the Stralsund University of Applied Sciences (Germany), to solve joint technical challenges.

The consortium will design and realise a joint multi-lingual online platform as well as a ticketing system. Furthermore developments for a future oriented visitor guidance and information system are planned. With the intended results of the project the attractiveness of the museums will be increased, especiall for international tourists. As the partner museums are a main touristic attraction in their respective region, the project will contribute to the economic development in that area.