INIK research trip to Bogotá, Bucaramanga and Medellin
In May 2014 as preparation for the planned research project on industrial monuments in Colombia, Sebastian Hettchen and Dr. Lars Scharnholz visited Colombia. The project will deal with the role of the Germans in the industrial development of Colombia. Currently coordination meetings with the Universidad Santo Tomás in Tunja and the Technical University of Freiberg are taking place. During the INIK's visit to the Andes at the University of Tunja the new master's program “Regional development and conservation” was opened. INIK staff is involved in this study course as lecturers.
10.02.2014 INIK meets embassy
Talks on German-Colombian cooperation
Since 2011 the Institute of New Industrial Culture has been working in Colombia, too. After several research trips and projects in the region Boyacá and the capital Bogotá, it is now necessary to strengthen the German-Colombian experience in the field of industrial culture. Therefore at the beginning of 2014 staff of the Embassy of Colombia, Colombian and German experts, and INIK staff met on several conversations in Lusatia and in Berlin. "In the future the common interests will be pursued in greater depth within the context of a transfer project of the Technical University of Freiberg and the Universidad Santo Tomás," said INIK CEO Dr. Lars Scharnholz.
12.12.2013 Schocken department store in the RBB
INIK introduces modern department house building
100 years ago the German-Jewish company run by brothers Simon and Salmann Schocken came to Cottbus and opened a new store there. 1927, 14 days after the inauguration of the Schocken building in Nuremberg (architect Erich Mendelsohn), the building was extended by a remarkable, modern wing by architecture office Stiefler & Koenecke from Cottbus. INIK GmbH has retold the story of the Schocken department store at Cottbus Schloßkirchplatz 5 in the TV-program "Theodor" of the broadcasting Berlin-Brandenburg. You can watch the clip by Dagmar Lembke, Guido Kilbert and Nicole Fröba in the Mediathek on the RBB web site.
15.11.2013 INIK and Urban Creative Poles
INIK - a successful enterprise in the cultural and creative industry (CCI) of a medium-sized city
At the 7th and 8th November 2013 the final conference of the EU project URBAN CREATIVE POLES – an INTERREG IV B project, that is co-financed by the Baltic Sea Region Programmes 2007 – 2013 – took place in the Information-, Communication- and Media Center (IKMZ) of the Brandenburg Technical University (BTU) Cottbus-Senftenberg.
The project URBAN CREATIVE POLES deals with the encouragement and consolidation of the creative industries in medium-sized cities exemplified at the cities of Cottbus, Zielona Gora/Poland, Klaipeda/Lithuania, Tartu/Estonia and Linköping/Sweden. Emphasis was placed on small and midsize companies as well as self-employed crafts persons from different sectors of the creative industry.
The project partners of Cottbus – the chair of City Management of BTU and the Development Agency Cottbus (EGC) - achieved the aim to develop coaching offers for cultural and creative actors, to accompany and support local initiatives and to bring forward the initiation of a cultural and creative center in Cottbus.
For this conference INIK was invited to present crucial factors for a cultural and creative business from its perspective. Likewise INIK took part in a workshop at the 2nd conference day and joined the development of continuative possible course of action. INIK is furthermore interested and explicitly supports the development of a cultural and creative center in Cottbus.
15.09.2013 INIK joins “Day of Industrial Culture in Leipzig“
Opening speech “Industrial Culture – an issue for the City of Leipzig?“
In late August 2013 the Leipzig based “Verein für Industriekultur” invited guests from all over the state to join the very first “Day of Industrial Culture“ in Saxony. After a warm welcome by Prof. Sabine von Schorlemer, State Minister of Science, Heidi Pinikepank of the Institute of New Industrial Culture pointed out during her opening speech that industrial culture is about the past but likewise about the future. „ Particularly here in Saxony culture and industry belong together,“ said Heidi Pinkepank. „Industrial Culture is not only a look back to the heritage of the past. It is an issue of current and future industries in the State as well.“ The first “Day of Industrial Culture” is based on the recommended procedures of the Scientific Advisory Board of Industrial Culture in the State of Saxony published in 2010. The INIK is one of the board’s founder members.
15.09.2013 INIK in Tunja and Bogotá
Searching for traces of German industrial pioneers in Colombia
In preparation of a future research project with a focus on the industrial heritage of Colombia the Cottbus based INIK visited the Cities of Bogotá and Tunja in the summer of 2013. The idea of the stay in the High Andes was to set up an international cooperation among INIK, Universidad Santo Tomás, TU Bergakademie Freiberg and the Bauhausuniversität Weimar. „Together we are planning to look for the traces of industrial pioneers in Colombia. The specific role of the Germans is of special interest in that context“, INIK-‚s CEO Dr. Lars Scharnholz and Alexandra Toro of Universidad Santo Tomás in Tunja point out. „To do so we had lots of talks with different potential partners in Colombia such as some universities, the DAAD, the AHK and the German Embassy in Bogotá.“
20.05.2013 Linares meets Leipzig
Andalusian delegation looks for pilot projects on industrial heritage
To get an idea of the promising Leipzig conversions of industrial buildings, the INIK GmbH accompanied in early May 2013 the Andalusian delegation from Linares during the visit to Saxony. The aim of the visit was to learn from the numerous repair and modernization projects in Plagwitz and Lindenau. The delegation led by Juan Fernandez Gutierrez and Raul Caro-Accino Menéndez visited the Tapetenwerk (guided by Jana Reichenbach-Behnisch) and the Baumwollspinnerei. Dr. Dirk Schaal, Saxon Network Industrial Culture, Manuel Ramos from Sevilla and the INIK supported the delegation with their professional knowledge.
20.03.2013 15 years of Bauhausschule
Architectural tours and a Bauhaus City in Cottbus
During the last week of March 2013 the Cottbus Bauhaus School celebrated its 15th anniversary. Therefore, the students studied the history and idea of the Bauhaus funded in Weimar in 1919. Among other moms and dads the project was supported by INIK-parents. Hence Sebastian Hettchen led a group of enthusiastic children to the Modern Movement buildings in the center of Cottbus. Supported by Heidi Pinkepank and Lars Scharnholz another group of students created an entire Bauhaus City. The Bauhaus School - originally Bismarck School in Cottbus’ August-Bebel-Straße - was built in 1929 by the urban planner and architect Helmut Schröder. The building is one of the most important testimonies of Weimar Modernism in Brandenburg.
10.03.2013 Polska Pofabryczna
INIK find new network partner in Poland
Since March 2013 the Institute of New Industrial Culture INIK GmbH is honorable patron member of Polska Pofabryczna (Postindustrial Poland). The Polska Pofabryczna project aims at widening knowledge regarding industrial culture in Poland. To do so various historic factories haven been photographed. The images are not simple photographic documents but reflect the spatial and aesthetic qualities of the industrial heritage in Poland. Further members of the honorable patronage besides INIK are Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa (National Heritage Board of Poland), Śląskie Centrum Dziedziectwa Kulturowego w Katowicach (Silesian Center of Cultural Heritage in Katowice), Naczelna Organizacja Techniczna (Polish Association of Engineers).
Symposium of EU-project in the historic station of Welzow
The EU-project “Shift-X” invites experts from Germany, Belgium, Poland and the Czech Republic to join the symposium in the old station of the miner’s City of Welzow around 100 km South of Berlin. All participating experts are representatives of different industrial regions in Europe. The idea of the workshop is to enhance the exchange of experiences in the fields of mining tourism and industrial culture management. The hosts of the meeting are EXCURSIO and the Bergbautourismusverein Welzow. The INIK team moderates the symposium.
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