05.02.2016 change 05.02.2016

Świętokrzyskie without European Rover Challenge

Photo: Fotolia Photo: Fotolia

The third edition of the European Rover Challenge will not take place in Świętokrzyskie, like the previous ones. The organizing committee decided to move the event to the Podkarpackie province.

European Rover Challenge (ERC) is a prestigious competition of Mars robots, constructed by student teams from around the world. The event, modelled on the University Rover Challenge in the United States, quickly gained popularity worldwide, attracting designers from six continents to Poland.

The first two editions of the ERC held at the Regional Science-Technology Centre in Podzamcze, commune Chęciny near Kielce. The third edition, by the decision of the organizing committee, will be organized in the Podkarpackie province.

"The event evolves" - said director of the ERC Łukasz Wilczyński. He explained that more persons and institutions joined the organizers of the event. He added that it was necessary for the development of the idea of the event.

"It is the natural order of things with any big event that the group of organizers grows (...). Organizing committee has been created that makes all decisions regarding this event" - he said.

Another change is that the third edition of the ERC will be accompanied by a large conference with the participation of international experts. "We need scientific and business facilities. This prompted us to completely change our way of thinking about this event" - he said. He added that the necessary facilities include a large conference hall in the immediate vicinity of the venue.

According to Wilczyński, a great convenience in Podkarpacie is also the proximity of an international airport near Rzeszów. Director of the ERC did not reveal the exact location of the event. "Details will be announced during a press conference in late February" - he noted.

According to Wilczyński, the organizing committee received "a concrete offer from the Podkarpackie province, which included all the things that were needed". Wilczyński emphasized that it is important that the event will continue to take place in Poland." It is important for us" - he said.

Representatives of the Regional Science-Technology Centre in Podzamcze received the news about the cancellation of ERC 2016 at the Centre "with great surprise and great regret" - according to the statement sent to the media.

"We are surprised at not only by the decision itself, but also the form of its communication by Mr. Łukasz Wilczyński - via email. Especially that until the receipt of this decision did not have any signals of a resignation from the location of the events in our Centre" - they wrote.

Director of the Regional Science-Technology Centre Michał Piast told PAP that the document states that the reason for the decision to organize the next edition of the competition in Podkarpacie is the venue location near an international airport and a large conference room for 1.2 thousand people.

Piast emphasised that during the meeting with Wilczyński the autumn of last year he "clearly declared" co-organizing the event by the Regional Science-Technology Centre and financial support for the project.

According to the Piast, the event in Podzamcze proved to be a success - it attracted crowds of people. "The Centre declared committing all its infrastructure, access to gardens and parking lots, area covered with soil for the needs of the competition with mobile energy infrastructure, which we ordered and bought specifically for the rovers" - he said.

"I am surprised and astonished (...). We weren’t given a chance to fight for the ERC 2016 edition" - said Piast and added that he does not rule out future cooperation with Wilczyński with regard to other events.

The Centre in Podzamcze is planning to organize a popular science picnic in autumn, combined with using the infrastructure built for the rover competition, including the Martian track.

"It is a huge loss" - told PAP on Wednesday Jacek Kowalczyk, president of the Regional Tourism Organization of Świętokrzyskie Province and director of the department responsible for the promotion and tourism in the Marshal\'s Office in Kielce. In his opinion, the event had an impact on the image of the region in terms of linking science and economy.

"It is painful (...) that a large event leaves the region. My comment on the matter always is that if a commercial company is an organizer, there are no sentiments. (...) Perhaps these conversations were difficult, but I think that you have to talk differently. Mail or text message before the third edition is not enough" - Kowalczyk told PAP.

Last year’s second edition of the competition was attended by 26 teams from all over the world, including the US, Canada, Turkey, Bangladesh and India. Poland was represented by as many as 13 teams. The honorary guest of the competition was the lunar mission Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland

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