Future center man - nature - technology - science

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The future center for people - nature - technology - science ( ZMTW ) was an ecologically oriented adventure park that was operated from 2000 to 2013 in Nieklitz in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania . The theme of the park was bionics and eco-technology .

Under the motto “Learning from nature” or “Nature as a teacher”, the wealth of ideas of nature and possible applications and implementation in technology were presented using large models. Nature should be used as a source of ideas for solving ecological, ecotechnical and organizational problems of human beings, thereby making progress in the field of sustainable development. The contents of the combined exhibition and science center included phenomena of technical biology (nature as a technician) and the transfer to possible fields of application of technology (ecotechnological advances in humans).

Structure and awards

The founder and engine of the ZMTW was the biology professor Berndt Heydemann . He not only designed the concept for the center, he also took care of the procurement of funds and donations from a wide variety of sources that made it possible in the first place. Heydemann also used his private fortune to build this center.

The ZMTW was highly praised by the experts. The Environment Minister at the time, Wolfgang Methling , said in March 2004: “The Nieklitzer project is an impressive teaching and exhibition center, which vividly conveys the diversity of nature with its constructions and functions and shows its potential uses in technology. (...) But you go one step further: You not only show how nature works and also make it understandable for people who are not scientifically trained. You also undertake very successful efforts, true to your credo 'Bionics - the ingenious engineering office of Nature ', to use nature as a model for design and equipment - shapes and to learn from it. I can very well imagine that these approaches will mature into economically viable business ideas and create jobs in sustainably managed companies. "

In 2005 Heydemann received the environmental award of the Federal Environment Foundation for the creation of this center .

Crisis and closure

However, the general public reacted less enthusiastically. The number of visitors remained far below the number Heydemann had hoped for. While Heydemann expected around 200,000 visitors a year, 17,000 actually came in good years. The attendance of school classes was also much smaller than Heydemann had hoped. The offer to organize seminars and advanced training courses in the center was hardly accepted.

The ZMTW generated only a small amount of income. Its operation was only possible if grants were continuously made. As long as Environment Minister Wolfgang Methling was in office, this was done. The situation changed fundamentally after the state elections in 2006. Methling left the state government and the Ministry of the Environment was abolished as an independent department. From now on, Agriculture Minister Till Backhaus was responsible . He was much more skeptical of the center than Methling. Backhaus complained that the center would not achieve “any useful scientific results”. In addition, Heydemann was not able to create proper where-used lists. The whereabouts of more than 200,000 euros in funding remained unclear. Thereupon Backhaus decided in spring 2008 to end the funding of the ZMTW by the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. This decision was supported by the entire state government.

Heydemann then continued to operate the center without state funding. He sought donations from a wide variety of sources and, as before, used all of his private fortune for this center. However, the financial situation gradually deteriorated.

At the beginning of 2013 Heydemann tried to “move” the center to Schleswig-Holstein in the Duchy of Lauenburg district. He hoped for the political support he was denied in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania from the new, social democratic state government under Torsten Albig . The state government examined his plan, but ultimately rejected it because the project would be "not sustainable in the long term" for financial reasons. In addition, it was not even possible to “relocate” the center. At most, some of the exhibits could have been dismantled and reassembled elsewhere. The buildings were fixed to a specific location, and the forest nature trail and the plantings could not be moved to another location without loss of substance.

In the summer of 2013 Heydemann was no longer able to pay the social security contributions for the centre's employees. The responsible Guild Health Insurance Fund North applied to the court for insolvency for the foundation that operated the center. Insolvency proceedings were then opened in September 2013. The insolvency administrator appointed by the court saw no possibility of continuing to operate the center under the given framework conditions. In October 2013 the ZMTW was closed, the remaining employees were fired.

After the closure, the site quickly fell into disrepair. Neither Heydemann nor the insolvency administrator ensured that the secluded property was properly guarded. Thieves dismantled what they thought was useful, vandals smashed the window panes and ravaged the interior of the buildings. The paths overgrown, the whole area deteriorated.

Heydemann had to witness the failure of his project, in which he had invested a lot of energy and all of his private fortune. He died on April 6, 2017.

New start and realignment

In the summer of 2016, a newly founded cooperative consisting of around 30 people acquired the property of the former ZMTW. The plan is to build a model of a sustainable society, from a self-sufficient energy, water and wastewater infrastructure to residential units, leisure activities and the cultivation of our own food, to technology development and production of small series in workshops. The concept in detail is still being discussed in the cooperative, which is also open to new members. The ZMTW in the form designed by Heydemann will not continue the cooperative.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from October 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.umweltschulen.de
  2. ↑ https://www.dbu.de/projekt_08390/01_db_2409.html
  3. ↑ http://presseservice.pressrelations.de/pressemitteilung/umweltminister-methling-neues-highlight-im-zukunftszentrum-nieklitz-150855.html
  4. ↑ https://www.dbu.de/2418.html
  5. ↑ http://www.dokumentation.landtag-mv.de/Parldok/dokument/24762/zukunftszentrum-mensch-natur-technik-wissenschaft-zmtw-nieklitz.pdf
  6. ↑ http://www.nnn.de/nachrichten/uebersicht/doch-landeshilfe-fuer-oeko-park-id4494306.html
  7. ↑ http://www.fr.de/latestnews/schleswig-holstein-wird-heydemann-projekt-nicht-unterstuetzen-a-665844
  8. ↑ http://www.svz.de/lokales/hagenower-kreisblatt/finanznot-im-zukunftspark-id4079111.html
  9. ↑ http://www.svz.de/lokales/hagenower-kreisblatt/jurassic-park-von-nieklitz-erwacht-zu-neuem-leben-id14398156.html
  10. ↑ http://www.svz.de/lokales/hagenower-kreisblatt/jurassic-park-von-nieklitz-erwacht-zu-neuem-leben-id14398156.html

Coordinates: 53 ° 29 ′ 7.2 ″  N , 10 ° 53 ′ 49.2 ″  E