Our vision
A microbe-zoo
for Innsbruck
A microbe-zoo in the Alps, this has never been here before! MikrobAlpina® should become a new jewel in the Alpine region. The little ones are getting big!
MikrobAlpina is a place where, bacteria, fungi and small animals grow beyond themselves! Here you can see what kind of invisible life surrounds us and lives in us! I hope you will never cease to be amazed!
The creation of this website was supported by the Department of Future Strategy and Sustainability of the Tyrolean Provincial Government.
The purpose of this website is to help stakeholders understand how the transfer of knowledge by MikrobAlpina promotes sustainable economy in the sense of a circular economy.
The location has not yet been determined but the opening is planned for 2020.
The role
of the microbes
Microorganisms are great helpers for humans and the environment. They play a key role in the sensitive interaction of the organisms that populate our planet.
Microorganisms also play an important role in the alpine area. They are very cold- and UV-resistant, they colonize caves, ice and snow and color glaciers red.
We also know them as symbionts of alpine animals that could not digest their fibre-rich food without microorganisms.
Important Tyrolean pharmaceutical and food companies use microorganisms as the basis for their business models. Last but not least, humans harbor ten times more microorganisms than they have body cells.
01
Why?
MikrobAlpina will be an attraction for the public and for educational mandates at all levels.
MikrobAlpina strengthens the sustainable use of resources (alpine nature, water, soil). It integrates itself into the existing and strengthens the attractiveness of the city of Innsbruck and the province of Tyrol. Strong in research, future-oriented and at the same time close to nature. MikrobAlpina is a long-term project and it is based on cooperation (tourism, bio-based industries, universities and colleges). Educational-offers (theme-based programmes for school classes and organized groups), which are continuously expanded and developed, make the exhibition attractive to regular guests.
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MikrobAlpina shows …
- how microorganisms are cultivated and used by humans.
- how fungi contribute to alpine safety as plant symbiosis partners.
- how fungi cause a stir in agriculturally disadvantaged regions.
- why fungi, that become lichens in a symbioses with algae, are important bio-indicators for air quality.
- how to use algae to obtain valuable products.
- that microorganisms live on and in glaciers and ciliates in our waters.
- that there are fungi-breeding ants in the Alps.
- how microbes let fungi, bacteria and even wood glow.
- why chamois and ibex need bacteria and fungi for digestion
- how the human microbiome contributes to health
- how bacteria clean our wastewater
- how antibiotic resistance develops and how it is connected with nature-friendly agriculture.
- how microorganisms produce local specialties such as beer, wine, cheese and yoghurt.
- how Tyrolean companies build their business model based on microorganisms.
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MikrobAlpina promises …
- to be a magnet for science-interested visitors.
- to be an out-of-school place of teaching and learning at the cutting-edge field of biology and our highly sensitive Alpine habitat.
- to provide further education opportunities for teachers.
- to become a place of project-realization for BSc and MSc students of Biology and for teacher trainees.
- to raise awareness of the importance of quality water, as well as careful use of resources.
- to raise awareness of how much microorganisms influence our life.
- to convey the interplay between microbes and humans.
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Who wants MikrobAlpina?
- People who are looking for something new and future-oriented and want to expand their knowledge.
- Institutions of further education and science education
- Health and nature conservation-organisations and -authorities
- Tourism association (new attraction for fungi-interested tourists as well as nature, science and culinary lovers from all over)
- Companies that depend on microorganisms: pharmaceutical companies, breweries, mushroom producers, pizza manufacturers, bakeries, waste water and waste treatment companies, detergent supplier
- Analytical laboratories, environmental technology suppliers and engineers
- Pupils of elementary and secondary schools, who are supposed to deal with microbiological topics according to the curriculum. The small size of the organisms and technical uncertainties of the teachers have the consequence that this topic often does not receive enough attention in the classroom.