TeH2O: Bydgoszcz Water, Industry and Craft Trail was created in 2014 within a European Union project called SHIFT-X www.shiftx.eu that aimed at bringing back the glamour and knowledge of the past industries. TeH2O is an industrial thematic trail that unites the history of 15 organically water-centred places in Bydgoszcz. Each story unites the tales of the Bydgoszcz craftsmen, entrepreneurs and city activists with the city growth. The city potential is always brought up by its people.
The name of the Trail - TeH2O – accentuates T as in technology, H as in History and O s in Opening Up for the Past (to a T). The taming of water as an element forms the phenomenon of the Bydgoszcz industrial heritage. Bydgoszcz is a city on the water, a city of the water with its transportation route, a city of water with the energy source, a city of the water with the component in the production process.
The initiative to form a trail was started in 2012 with the cooperation of partners from 5 countries - Austria, Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland. Partners combined the experiences and know-how of public local and regional institutions such as: City of Bydgoszcz, District of Zwickau, Micro-Region Sokolov-East, Association of Mining Tourism in Germany and Styrian Iron Route in Austria plus the expertise came from the University of Graz and Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg in Germany. Partners worked together in the SHIFT-X project entitled: ‘Employing cultural heritage as promoter in the economic and social transition of old-industrial regions’. The eight partners jointly developed, tested and disseminated innovative approaches on how industrial culture can be used for fostering economic development. The highlights and paragons for the works on the Bydgoszcz TeH2O Trail were the already successful endeavours of Śląsk and Lusatia, namely: Szlak Zabytków Techniki Województwa Śląskiego (Industrial Monuments Route in Silesia) and Energy Route in Lusatia.
TeH2O: Bydgoszcz Water, Industry and Craft Trail strives to be unique through its narratives and real life stories.
TeH2O: Bydgoszcz Water, Industry and Craft Trail strives to become the impulse unique through its narratives and real life stories.