In publica commoda

Thomas Oppermann Cultural Forum

2022-05-Forum-Wissen-Schriftzug_XT39985

Welcome to the Thomas Oppermann Cultural Forum

Culture and science under one roof

In Berliner Straße, under one roof with the Forum Wissen (the knowledge museum of the University of Göttingen) and the Biodiversity Museum Göttingen, the University is planning a cultural forum within the next few years to provide a space for the creative interaction of science, culture and the public. Here we will offer members of the scientific community optimal conditions to engage in an exchange with cultural and civil society institutions from the city and region - an essential endeavour for our University.

In recent years, public debates about the importance and role of science have increasingly come to the fore. The lack of recognition of scientific research as well as global initiatives, on the other hand, illustrate a problem that is fed by the fact that the processes of knowledge gaining are no longer generally known and understood. Science communication aims to enable everyone to understand these processes. A broad exchange and a culture of knowledge that engages all parts of our society is necessary in order to negotiate the central challenges of our time and, at best, to solve them in a sustainable way.

Knowledge, however, is equally the basis of all cultural action and creative activity. Cooperation between science and culture as well as joint innovative projects can open up both areas to broad sections of society and stimulate innovation and creativity.



In future, three institutions will form the Forum Wissen: the Knowledge Museum with its basic exhibition and special exhibition areas, the Thomas Oppermann Cultural Forum and the Biodiversity Museum Göttingen. Under one roof, we offer optimal conditions to significantly advance the exchange with the public that is so essential for the University. In the Thomas Oppermann Cultural Forum, culture will act as a mediator between science and the public and, with the help of an integrative concept, bring the University together with actors from cultural and civil society institutions in the city and region and facilitate cooperation between them.

Scientists can present the latest research findings or their working methods, the most modern techniques and methods and openly enter into a multifaceted and critical dialogue with all levels of society. Actors from the cultural and artistic scene can take up these results or methods and illustrate them, test them or put them up for discussion in a way that is beneficial for all sides. The Thomas Oppermann Cultural Forum thus becomes a place where society's potential for innovation, creativity and knowledge is raised.

In order to provide a space for the encounter of culture, science and the public, their creative togetherness, the Cultural Forum will be created in the north wing and on the first floor of the building complex at Berliner Straße 28. With a variety of highly adaptable event and work spaces, this will be implemented and tested in very different formats.

In order to provide a place for this encounter of culture, science and the public, several event rooms, a student laboratory, the historical lecture hall equipped with modern technology, work and group rooms, a stage room as well as a “Kultur-Raum Region” and a planetarium will be created on approximately 2500 square metres.

The implementation of the Thomas Oppermann Cultural Forum is supported by important partners: The Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V., as a municipal association, central promoter and network actor for the regional cultural and museum landscape, will assume curatorial as well as organisational responsibility for the "Kultur-Raum Region" (a room showcasing the region’s cultural institutions), which reflects the cultural diversity of the region, and will act as a key mediator and initiator of cooperation between academia and regional cultural institutions as well as art and cultural practitioners.

Another cooperation is planned with the Dachverband Deutscher Avifaunisten (DDA). As a federation of all ornithological associations in Germany, the DDA represents about 11,000 active birders and is active with research, public relations and policy advice at the federal level.

Together with the Förderkreis Planetarium Göttingen e.V., the current plans also include a cultural and scientific planetarium. It will be used as a planetarium as well as for multimedia presentations and other educational formats. The 360-degree fulldome media technology creates an immersive experience and thus new forms of experience for cultural events, science communication and digital-analogue hybrid formats.

Contact

Baumbach_Kora

Dr. Kora Baumbach
Coordinator Cultural Forum

Tel.: +49 551 39-28264
E-Mail