The National Food Chain Safety Office (Nébih) has expanded MiniPolisz, an indoor entertainment park in Budapest’s city centre, with two new thematic areas. The Office is also involved in the interactive park’s experiential education programmes. The collaboration between the Office and the park enables children to learn about responsible pet ownership, the veterinary profession, food chain safety and even forest fire prevention.
Following the principle of learning through playing, children aged 3 to 12 can discover the adults’ world in a miniature city among lifelike installations scaled to children’s size. The collaboration is an excellent opportunity to expand the toolset of Nébih’s awareness programmes.
“The Ministry of Agriculture and Nébih have set the objective of making the entire domestic food chain risk-free within the Food Chain Safety Strategy. The development priorities include, among many other things, the connection of the sector to the world of modern education and training, and the establishment of active public relations”, Minister of State for Food Chain Supervision Róbert Zsigó said on 22 September at the MiniPolisz opening ceremony.
The two new thematic areas, a farm and a veterinary clinic, provide an excellent opportunity for children to gain an insight into the work of farmers and vets.
At the official opening on Saturday, in addition to Minister of State Róbert Zsigó, managing director of MiniPolisz Xénia Gabriella Máté also praised the partnership between Nébih and the children’s park, emphasising that “cooperation is not restricted to the two new thematic areas, but Nébih professionals also help in providing free, experience-centred, interactive lessons to groups of pre-schoolers and students. This way, Nébih’s awareness-raising material taught in pre-schools and primary schools is also being integrated into the experiential education programme of MiniPolisz”.
On behalf of Nébih, national superintendent for animal welfare Dr. László Pallós greeted those present and said: “It is never too early to start education for responsible pet ownership. Hungarians keep lots of pets even in European comparison, so we consider it particularly important to continue the awareness-raising activities that we have pursued for many years in this area. Our awareness-raising programme is for both present and future pet owners in an attempt to promote a culture of responsible pet ownership in Hungary.”
After the speeches, the participants had the chance to try out the new educational toys and installations of Nébih together with Kristóf Simon, the “Mayor” of the children’s city. The children were very excited to wear the official inspectors’ vests to professionally examine food and store hygiene. They had the chance to put out a forest fire at the Firelife forest fire prevention stand, and learn about cattle husbandry, feeding and milking. In the spectacularly equipped mini vet clinic, everybody felt like real veterinarians. They were able to examine various animals, learn about the importance of microchips and even issue prescriptions.