The Science and Technology Centre »Energy« in Karlino – the project of a new geotourist attraction in Western Pomerania

Abstract

Western Pomerania is a region that is known among tourists mainly because of the sandy beaches of the Baltic Sea. Most of the more than 2 million tourists, who visit the region each year, come in summer and head straight for the beach resorts. This leads to a significant space-time concentration of tourism activity, which is not a favourable development in terms of the preservation of natural assets or for socio-economic reasons. The region is perceived as not attractive for cognitive tourism, including geotourism. The eruption of oil and gas in Karlino in 1980 belongs to one of the most interesting events in the recent history of the region. This event has inspired the Karlino municipal authorities to appoint a modern educational museum to commemorate the event and to creatively present the formation processes of energy fuels throughout the geological history of the Earth. The creation of this facility would be an excellent opportunity to popularize geological knowledge among numerous tourists visiting the nearby beach resorts and would also contribute to the socio-economic activation of the residents of the Karlino municipality.