France

A new organisation focused on school-company cooperation in the French region of Bretagne was launched on December 10, 2021. The launch follows an EU STEM Coalition Taskforce meeting in Fréhel, France in which several international best-practices were presented and evaluated by the working group.

The new not-for-profit association was formally launched under the name 'Bretagne Entreprise Jeunesse' (BREJ) by the representatives of the participating organisations. In its statutes the objectives of the association are established as:

1.  Support young people in their job orientation, discovery of the professional world and transition to the labour market,
2.  Allow companies to meet with and contribute to the world of education (schools, colleges, high schools, higher education and training centres) and 
3.  Allow teachers, trainers and guidance counselors to interact with the world of business in the region of Bretagne

During its inaugural meeting, it was also decided to continue to develop STEM-oriented activities under the already existing STEM Bretagne-label (created by the members of the working group prior to the launch of BREJ).

After a successful first (fully digital) meeting in which more than 15 organisations from the fields of Government, Education and Industry in the region of Brittany (France) presented their initiatives and objectives, a follow-up meeting was scheduled for August 27-28 in Fréhel (Bretagne). 

The objective of the meeting is to take the next steps in the development of a region-wide 'coordinating programme' for school-company cooperation in the field of STEM and entrepreneurship education in secondary education. The programme will be modelled after existing programmes in the Denmark, Spain and the Netherlands (presented by EU STEM Coalition members in the first meeting). The first day of the meeting programme will be focused on teachers, who will be able to join the presentations and discussions via video link. The second day of the programme will be focused on the role of industry as well as governance and financial aspects of the initiative. 

Following a successful first (fully digital) taskforce meeting on June 12, 2020, a follow-up meeting (in person) was scheduled for August 27-28, 2020 to explore a possible pilot programme with the organisations and key-stakeholders involved. The objectives and detailed agenda will be published soon.

The first two taskforces aimed at a possible Jet-Net-inspired programme in the region of Bretagne, France have been scheduled. Due to COVID-19 measures, the first meeting will take place completely digitally on June 12, 2020. Several EU STEM Coalition partners prepared virtual presentations about their Jet-Net programmes and experience. At the meeting a wide range of key-stakeholders from the region of will participate.

If successful, a follow-up meeting (in person) will take place on August 27-28, 2020 to continue the development of a pilot programme. 

A full meeting report will be posted in this taskforce dossier directly after each meeting.