Report Workshop Caves of Han 16 -18 November 2017
Report Workshop Caves of Han 16 -18 November 2017
Many thanks to all participants of the workshop in Han sur Lesse which took place from 16 to 18 November 2017. 70 managers, show cave operators and technicians from nearly 15 countries attended the workshop. The meeting was ceremoniously opened by the Cave Lighting organization team and by the Domain of the Caves of Han (Domaine des Grottes de Han). Brigitte Malou (General Manager of the Domain of the Caves of Han) welcomed the guests and explained the aims of the workshop as well as program and schedule.
The objective of the workshop was to inform on new illumination strategies for underground objects, show caves and mines under different aspects.The topic of the workshop, “A New Era of Illumination”, not only includes the reduction of energy costs through LED technology. It also implies the improvement of management strategies for show caves as well as a creative design of the object, especially since show caves are among the most popular tourist attractions.
Initially, the workshop focused on the informative and innovative exchange between show cave operators and managers. Alexander Chrapko (Proprietor of Cave Lighting) opened the conference with the presentation “A New Era of Cave Illumination”, demonstrating the completed project “Caves of Han” as a business model. The main focus here was on optimizing cave management through LED innovations, under economic, ecological and aesthetic aspects. An other presentation by Cave Lighting (Speaker Vladimir Vashkevich) focused on the specific characteristics of planning and installing the lighting systems in subterranean conditions. Coffee/cake breaks provided the opportunity for personal exchange of ideas and discussions.
Brigitte Malou gave a presentation on the history and the development of the “Caves of Han” (Grottes de Han) project. She especially thanked the Cave Lighting team for the positive results of the project and for rising visitor numbers. After that, Ewa Krywko (Manager of the Caves of Han) made the biggest and most beautiful show cave in Europe accessible to the participants. They couldget a personal idea of the cave and see with their own eyes why future oriented illumination creates so much enthusiasm and why investments in modern illumination technology are so important. Regarding the caves from the touristic perspective, the participants experienced them differently than before. The great thing was that the “wow” factor was there. An other project, the Caves of Remouchamps (Grottes de Remouchamps), also opened its doors for the workshop participants and presented the new lighting system installed by Cave Lighting (Project Manager Leonid Batiuzhenko). A very special experience for the visitors was the above waterlighting, which could be admiredon a boat trip through the caves.
We would also like to thank our partner company HB Laserkomponenten that provided a broad overview of creative scenographic solutions, especially for show caves, such as video mapping and 3D laser (Lutz Bartl). Brad Wuest (ISCA President) and Jean-Pierre Bartholeyns (UIS) explained a further important topic for show cave managers: intelligent and selected use of technologies in the natural world of show caves.
On the whole,the atmosphere was relaxed and comfortable both during the workshop it self and in the evenings. On the last day the participants had the opportunity to visit two further show caves, Cave of Hottonand Cave of Lorette.
Our personal thanks go primarily to Brigitte Malou and the entire team of the Domain of the Caves of Han (Domaine des Grottes de Han): Ewa Krywko, Guy Evrard and Ari Lannoy, who helped us to organize the workshop (delicious meals, nice service, organization of transport, unforgettable excursions through the wildlife park and guided tours through the show caves).
Created by Anna Toplak (Marketing / Sales)
