About the project
Let’s STEM! project, which will bring together seven partner organizations in one place, is aimed at strengthening the capacity of involved civil society organizations from seven Croatian counties for the purpose of implementing STEM popularization activities among children, youth and citizens.
At the state level, scientific literacy is inadequately approached, which has consequences for our economy, demography and society as a whole. Our students achieve below-average results according to the PISA survey in all three areas – young people’s interest in STEM occupations is low, either due to lack of interest in the field itself or because the field itself seems too complex and unattainable. According to a Cedefop survey from 2018, 65% of young people believe that a career in the STEM field requires too much investment in education, while 23% of them are undecided about continuing a career in the STEM field because of its difficulty. The formal education system fails to respond in a timely manner to the changes in society that depend on science and technology, which is why curricula are outdated and students are left at the “mercy” of their professors’ enthusiasm.
Recognizing these needs, together with our partners we applied Let’s STEM! to the public call “Strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations for the popularization of STEM” (UP.04.2.1.10) from the European Social Fund, Operational Program Effective Human Potentials 2014 – 2020. By the decision of the Office for Associations of the Government of the Republic of Croatia from June 25, 2021, a decision was made which determined that HRK 2,891,292.10 was allocated to the project, with 100% co-financing from the European Union.
Representatives of the civil sector (teaching staff, employees, management, volunteers) from Primorje-Gorski Kotar, Istria, Karlovac, Zadar, Split-Dalmatia, Međimurje and Brod-Posavina counties involved in this project will improve their knowledge and skills for the implementation of the STEM popularization program, learn about examples of good practice, develop new methodologies for working with end users, and design and implement concrete activities with citizens.
As a result of strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations, from June 29, 2021 to June 29, 2023, through the Let’s STEM! project, partners will form 20 topics for 100 multi-day workshops and 10 topics for 60 one-day events that will be piloted for 3,000 children and young people. They will also hold a Makeathon, organize a STEM picnic aimed at popularizing STEM among citizens from the wider Rijeka area, build a STEM park and equip a STEM laboratory that will remain as permanent installations aimed at popularizing STEM.
For more information about the project, feel free to contact Zagorka Prce Veseli, the project manager, at zprce@ctk-rijeka.hr.
The project holder is Centre of Technical Culture Rijeka, and the project is carried out together with partners: Astronomical Society Višnjan, Connect IT association for the development of information and communication technologies, City of Rijeka, Međimurje IT Club Čakovec, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Technology in Rijeka, Association of Technical Culture of Zadar county, the Technical Culture Association of Karlovac and the Technical Culture Association of Split.
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