Thematic Systemic Network “STEM as a driver of development”
Project Implementation Period: April 1, 2024 – December 31, 2024
Project Funded by: National Foundation for Civil Society Development
Total Project Value: €80,000.00
Project Description:
The “STEM as a Driver of Development” project is a continuation of the previous activities of the association through the SCOPE project, in which a consortium of 11 partners worked on several elements with the goal of developing a thematic STEM network as a driver of society.
Building on this experience, the association continued to reflect on the role and operational methods of civil society organizations in developing the ecosystem for the popularization of STEM as a driver of development. The reflections were informed not only by the experience gained from working on the SCOPE project but also by the experience gained from participating in projects promoting STEM funded by the European Social Fund, as well as experiences from international projects, study visits, and more.
The goal of the support is to contribute to the creation of local ecosystems through collaboration with various stakeholders. The project will provide proposals for public policies on the role of civil society organizations in strengthening the popularization of STEM through collaboration with stakeholders, especially in institutional education, and through continued cooperation with higher education and scientific institutions. The project will include thematic conferences and roundtables on strengthening the thematic network and the contribution of STEM to community development and local ecosystems. The project will also focus on developing quality standards for implementing STEM workshops, organizing science-popular events on STEM topics, advocating for public funding opportunities for the activities of civil society organizations in the STEM area, and publishing results of STEM-related activities in the media
Activities in 2024:
- Thematic conferences and roundtables on STEM in collaboration with higher education institutions (5)
- International conference “Science Connecting People”– Building local ecosystems for STEAM as Driver of Development
- The round tables, or structured dialogues, were held on the following dates:
- June 7, 2024 – Petnja
- July 8, 2024 – Technical Museum Nikola Tesla
- July 15, 2024 – online on the Association of Towns portal
- September 26, 2024 – House of Europe
- Development of quality standards for conducting STEM workshops and for civil society organizations conducting STEM workshops (1)
- Organization and coordination of science-popular events on STEM topics with at least 10 stakeholders (10)
STE[A]M event calendar: - Advocacy for the opening of public funding opportunities for the activities of civil society organizations in the STEM area (4)
- The meetings were held with representatives on the following dates:
- October 4, 2024 – Island of Prvić
- November 11, 2024 – Garešnica
- December 13, 2024 – Dubrovnik
- December 23, 2024 – Novska
- Media publications on the results of STEM-related activities (20)
- …