News archive

SFÉRA Education Centre shines in Europe at REGIOSTARS 2024! Oct 17th, 2024

SFÉRA impressed Brussels! It was among the 25 finalists of the prestigious European REGIOSTARS competition, announced by the European Commission. In the final round in the category "A Europe Closer to Citizens", it even made it to the top five projects.

 

This competition highlights the best EU-funded projects from all EU Member States that bring innovative approaches and contribute to regional development. And it is precisely SFÉRA´s innovative approach to education that scored with the expert jury and commissioners. The fact that SFÉRA reached the final out of 262 projects from all over Europe was a huge success.   

In Brussels, SFÉRA was presented by Jakub Rychtecký, 1st Deputy Mayor for Education of Pardubice, and David Koppitz, Director of the Centre. "It was an opportunity for us to present the city of Pardubice as a representative of the Czech Republic with its unique educational project and to present it as a creative and courageous city. As a city that acknowledges that education is the future of cities and regions. We very much appreciate the personal meeting and also the diploma from the European Commissioner Elisa Ferreira for the finalists, who, among other things at SFÉRA, appreciated the unique model of public-private cooperation in education with the involvement of professionals from the practice of technological regional companies. I am proud of the whole team. The award goes to everyone involved in the project from the first idea in 2016 until now. The dedication of the spherical team and their creativity contribute to a unique atmosphere that supports thirst for knowledge and offers fun forms of learning," said Jakub Rychtecký, 1st Deputy Mayor responsible for education, who has been behind the project since its beginning and is currently the chairman of the registered association running this excellent educational centre.  

In addition to presentations and talks, the Brussels programme also included meetings with other representatives of successful projects. This was a great opportunity to gain inspiration, but also valuable contacts for further activities. "We have seen a lot of great projects across disciplines that probably would not have happened without European money. SFÉRA stood out here especially for its new approaches to non-formal education for all generations, its novel physical infrastructure set in the unique Automatic Mills and last but not least its great team of enthusiastic and capable people. We appreciate the positive feedback we have received here," said David Koppitz, Director of SFÉRA. 

After its first year of operation, the SFÉRA Education Centre received another important award, alongside the architectural awards it had already won. The centre, built with a significant contribution from the European subsidy and the ITI Hradec-Pardubice agglomeration, has also attracted huge interest from schools and the public. "The Automatic Mills are the true pride of the city. Their architectural value transcends the borders of the Czech Republic and SFÉRA, as part of this complex, really proves to be an absolutely exceptional project. When I was getting acquainted with the projects that entered the competition, I realised how strong SFÉRA was able to compete. It is a huge success and I would like to thank and congratulate all those who brought SFÉRA to life," congratulated the Mayor of Pardubice Jan Nadrchal on the success. 

The Education Centre SFÉRA, which was built on the site of the former flour warehouse in the Automatic Mills, offers a wide range of activities for children and adults. Here you will find a range of courses as for children so for adults, workshops and laboratories aimed at developing creativity, skills and knowledge. Activities include working with materials such as wood, metal and textiles or taking advantage of the wide range of the graphics workshop. Science laboratories provide an opportunity for those interested to explore fields such as natural science, chemistry, physics, IT, and robotics. One of the main draws is the unique Science on a Sphere projection system. In addition, for children aged 5 to 9, there is a spherical playground, a didactic space aimed at developing maths, logic and IT skills. This interactive space helps children to playfully discover the world of science and technology while developing their creativity and manual dexterity. 

 

SPHERICAL MERCH! Oct 10th, 2024

Pens, pencils, notebooks, zipped pockets, a stylish bottle or even a canvas bag?

Pens, pencils, notebooks, zipped pockets, a stylish bottle or even a canvas bag? They are not only a joy for children who buy them while visiting us, but they are also practical for us adults. We would like to thank the enthusiastic and creative minds in Litomyšl for their cooperation - the Czech design brand young_block, the printing company H.R.G, and the Pardubice family brand Avantgard for the bags.

Available for purchase physically in the Sféra at the lower and upper reception.

Pencil 30,00 CZK                      

Sports bottle 130,00 CZK                     

Puzzles 80,00 CZK                     

School notebook 20,00 CZK                      

Textile bag 160,00 CZK                     

Silicone bracelet 20,00 CZK                       

Pencil case black 200,00 CZK      

Pencil case beige 200,00 CZK

Pencil case grey 200,00 CZK

📸Photo: Adéla Fries visual style permanent_office cindy_kutikova.

SPHERE is full of stars! Sep 2nd, 2024

Daria Hvížďalová is one of the great ones, her expertise is artificial intelligence and she has achieved outstanding success not only in our country, but also at the international level.

Daria Hvížďalová is one of the great ones, her expertise is artificial intelligence and she has achieved outstanding success not only in our country, but also at the international level. Among other things, Daria was featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and recently developed the first MBA program in the Czech Republic focusing on AI in business. In Pardubice, she established an AI EduLab Centre. Without any doubts, AI is Daria´s professional field and she sees its enormous potential mainly in education and non-profit sections where it could help significantly. You can read all this and many other interesting insights in our interview with Daria. We are proud to have Daria in our team!

SFÉRA Among the Main Stars of Europe! Aug 8th, 2024

Regiostars competes across the European Union to recognize the most successful EU-funded projects. The jury carefully evaluated all the applications, which this year saw a record number.

Regiostars competes across the European Union to recognize the most successful EU-funded projects. The jury carefully evaluated all the applications, which this year saw a record number. Only 25 finalists were selected from nearly 300 applications, and SFÉRA Pardubice is among them. 

The winners will be announced in October this year. So, keep your fingers crossed. And if you'd like to support us, public voting will be open from 2 September 2024 HERE.

The Sports Park Pardubice will start on Friday, 2 August, 2024 and we are a stand number ONE Aug 7th, 2024

The Sports Park will be a great debut for Sféra. Moreover, we will be number 1 stand, so everything will begin here! 

The Sports Park will start this Friday, 2 August, 2024, with the opening ceremony heading to the area of the Automatic Mills. We have prepared a special commented tour of the Sféra´s premises in the evening of 2 August, 2024 from 8.30 pm. Tickets will be available at the Sféra´s reception. 

The Sports Park will be a great debut for Sféra. Moreover, we will be number 1 stand, so everything will begin here! 

There will be lots of events taking place during the Sports Week. Children will have a chance to try dozens of different sports, both on land and in the water. There will be a number of competitions and races, such as the Gladiator race, the charity Foxconn run, Science point run by the University of Pardubice, A Day with the Integrated Rescue System, A Day with the Pardubice City Police or a popular running race “You can't escape the colors.”  

And we can´t be more excited! We will come up with our special merch made for the event, which will be available for purchase at our stand or at the reception.  

The event will end on Sunday, 11 August in the Na Špici Park with a legendary music band for children named Mixle in Piksle.  

The organizers of the Sports Park are Deep vision and together first. Nevertheless, there is a number of partners not only from Pardubice.  

At our stand, we will provide free drinking water with lemon and mint. Also, you will have a chance to compete against a robot in kicking a ball to the goal. We are grateful to the Stäubli technological company for the opportunity to present the robot.  

In addition, for the Sports Park cards holders, we are offering a 10% discount on all children's and adult´s courses for the 2024/2025 school year. 

See you in the Sports Park! 

STEPS UP TO THE SUN at station no.1 with spherical merch Aug 6th, 2024

STEPS UP TO THE SUN at stand 1 with spherical merch, which was created especially for the number one sporting event in the city - the Pardubice Sports Park.  

From Saturday, August 3 to Sunday, August 11, 2024, visitors will have a chance to try different sports not only in the Automatic Mills, but also in the Na Špici Park. The Sports Park Pardubice is a follow-up to the highly successful event of the Olympic Park Pardubice in 2016, which was attended by over 350,000 visitors over 17 days. And so, in cooperation with sports clubs, a new Pardubice tradition was created - nine days full of sports during the second week in August in the beautiful surroundings of the park.  

This year, we are proud to be a part of the event. The opening ceremony itself will take place on the grounds of the Automatic Mills, with a festive parade starting at 5pm at the statue of Jan Kaspar. The whole program will start at the Automatic Mills at 6 pm. We are expecting interesting exhibitions, music, medal winners' awards and one surprise. 

This year is an Olympic year - thanks to the streaming of the Olympic broadcasts on big screens, we will be transported to Paris in two places - in the fanzone in Na Špici Park and in the Automatic Mills. The fanzone will run, like the Sports Park, from 9am to 6pm from Saturday 3 to Sunday 11 August, while the Mills will start streaming on Friday 2 August and their streaming will last until 10pm. 

From Friday 2 August, our new special merch will be sold at the SFÉRA reception. A bottle, wooden puzzle, bracelet and other spherical specialties🌏will be sold starting Saturday at the spherical booth right outside the building or inside at the reception.  

Sports bottle: 130 CZK 

Wooden puzzle in a bag: 80 CZK 

Bracelet in two sizes: 20 CZK 

Standard merch: 

School notebook: 20 CZK 

Spherical pencil: 30 CZK 

Cellulose zipper pencil case in grey/black/natural color: 200 CZK 

Textile bag: 160 CZK 

We are looking forward to seeing all the sports enthusiasts who will come to us to complete the first challenge called "STEPS UP TO THE SUN".  

 

 

 

SFÉRA turned into a space station! Aug 5th, 2024

SFÉRA has turned into a space station! Our little space travelers will have a week to get everything they need to save life on Earth.

SFÉRA has turned into a space station! Our little space travelers will have a week to get everything they need to save life on Earth. During this, they will try creative crafts, conduct scientific experiments and do a number of outdoor activities while having a lot of fun and experiencing an adventure. 

All our day camps are sold out. There are only a few last vacancies for the Spherical Odyssey from August 5-9, 2024. So, if you are looking for last-minute fun for your children, don't hesitate and sign them up. You can register HERE

Our team is looking forward to welcoming your children to Sféra.