Hisa Eksperimentov
Ljubljana, Slovenia

Hisa Eksperimentov (in English The House of Experiments) in a no profit NGO institution that has opened its present doors in May 2000. It is a "hands-on" science centre that offer the visitors science, technology and ecology experiments.

One of the goal of the science centre is to help building a more updated and a richer society, open to exchanges of ideas, whether scientific discoveries, innovations in industry or personal insight. The Hisa Eksperimentov will contribute to build up a society made of inquiring and open minded people, not afraid to admit their limits and looking for answers.

From May 2000 Hisa Eksperimentov developed forty hands-on exhibits and it has been visited by 85.000 persons. Ten different science shows have been constructed and presented for almost 800 times.

The Hisa Eksperimentov attracts monthly more than 2500 pupils from Schools, that can participate to a large range of educational activities. Workshop for teachers, competitions, festivals, travelling science exhibitions and other activities complete the Hisa Eksperimentov offer.

Hisa Eksperimentov collaborates in many different projects at a local and national level. Last two year has participated in United Nation Development Programme Fostering the Knowledge - based society in Slovenia (SVN/02/001/01/A/99).

The Hisa Eksperimentov informal learning approach is complementary to the formal learning School based process. Hisa's didactic workshops have been accepted as a useful tool by national educational institutions. A first officially recognized training course for teachers was held in 2003, and had several repetitions. Topics include merging elements of informal education implemented in science centres into formal education institutions. Also the role of humour as a catalyst in the teaching process was presented.

Hisa Eksperimentov held a strict collaboration with the Department of Physics of the University of Ljubljana, which besides training researchers, also prepares future science teachers. Most of its Animators are University students, that participated to a national project for student's part-time employment.