Education

University Kadri Zeka (acronym: UKZ) is a public university that was established by the Government of Kosovo on March 6, 2013. UKZ organizes studies at two levels, Bachelor and Master: There are seven Bachelor and six Master programs. Our university has about 3,500 students. UKZ fosters  the cultivation of critical thinking and the spirit of knowledge for new research. Responsibilities and those new technologies make responsible young people capable of being part of a virtual and global society as well as part of an open labor market.

The teaching process is organized into five faculties: education, economics, law, computer science, and applied sciences. From the social aspect, it is based on several pillars, such as education and knowledge; modern society and fair competition; modern labor markets; and critical, investigative, and active thinking. 

University of Mostar (SUM) is a higher education institution, which organizes and performs university studies, scientific and professional work. It is one of eight public Universities in B&H and the only one where Croatian is used as the official language. It consists of 10 faculties and the Academy of Fine Arts. Today, over 11000 students study at the University of Mostar. The educational process is conducted through 70 study groups at the undergraduate and 77 groups at the graduate and postgraduate level, with 1000 teachers. The University’s mission is best reflected through three basic features:

Education - based on excellence, which through the teaching and research process focuses on students in undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate studies, preparing them to be highly professional, self-motivating and productive experts in both their existing and future activities.

Scientific-research work - based on excellence and integrated in the education process at all levels in order to train new generations of researchers capable of operating and accomplishing in the international research market. The development of the community - due to educational, artistic and scientific research work, the University is the main agitator of the overall economic, cultural and social development both in the region in which it operates and at the national and international level; through its activities, the University promotes the preservation and promotion of the historical and cultural legacy of our community on regional, national and international level.

"STEAM+Albania" is a comprehensive national system of functionalities of "Barleti" University which aims to strengthen and develop the creativity of pupils, students and professionals through encouragement, incentive and motivation, to integrate the component sciences of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics), in the realization of various applied and scientific projects in function of inventions, innovation, high scholastic and professional achievements. All while also providing solutions to the most frequent problems of daily life and comprehensive global developments.

STEAM+Albania is based in 3 important key components: 1. STEAM+ALBANIA Program – Curriculum, training, implemented practical models, capacity building for all STEAM target groups, realization of lessons based on STEAM, contests, competitions, promotional campaigns, etc. 2. National STEAM Center (Steam Fab Lab+ Maker Space) physical environment for support for all categories and target groups of STEAM such as pupils, students, teachers, schools, parents, community, professionals. 3. STEAM+ ALBANIA platform as a 360° information resource center for STEAM. VISION.

Our vision is to shape STEAM education policies and practices that foster economic growth, opportunity, and well-being for all. We work to promote modern and new ways of teaching and learning based on STEAM. We want to encourage thinking differently and nurture learning with a comprehensive system of functionalities in an environment that fosters the opportunity for success. Our mission is to provide them with whatever knowledge and skills they will need in their careers to become independent thinkers and communicators who apply critical theory and creative design to collaboratively solve important issues through integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts/Humanities and Mathematics.

The European Institute for Technologies, Education and Digitalisation (EITED) was founded on August 2, 2019, in Bulgaria. EITED’s Objectives are:

• Encourage and promote the implementation and dissemination of modern educational programs and projects in accordance with the best practices, standards and technologies.

• Encourage and promote the active participation of groups and communities in activities related to the modernization of education.

•  Organize and promote initiatives in the field of innovations in education, technologies and digitalisation in the domain of Industry, Business and the Public Sector.

•  Design and conduct training and do scientific research and innovation activity.

•  Support the creation of active and transparent partnerships and networks of organizations working in the fields of technologies, education and digitization.

•   Initiate, develop and participate in activities and projects towards creating, transforming, data mining and sharing knowledge.

•   Participate and encourage the involvement of civil society in the creation of innovations and interdisciplinary projects related to technologies, education, digitalisation, science, culture, art and sports.

EITED organize the National conference “SMART STEM education and innovations”. In 2021, the participants were more than 30, and the authors were nearly 50. The reports and presentations from the conference in 2022 were more than 50. The conference proceeding 2021 volume was 244 pages, and the 2022 volume was 379 pages. These volumes included research papers and presentations by speakers, teachers, and participants from educational organizations, as well as student STEAM works and STEM poems. During SMART STEM 2023, more than 250 participants joined the event onsite and online. The conference keynote speakers came from the USA, India, Norway, the Netherlands, Australia, and Germany. EITED is a Publisher, since 2019, of the STEM scientific journal "STEM Education, Innovations and Knowledge" ISSN 2815-2883. The journal is the first scientific periodical in the field of STEM in Bulgaria. Up till now, 17 issues have been published including 1057 pages, 194 authors, and 141 scientific, scientific, and practical publications. We, EITED, plan to work on novelty STEM projects in the EU to foster STEM advancement at each educational level. We plan to collaborate in networking events focused on STEM knowledge sharing, knowledge building, and project demonstrations among schools and universities. One of our priority areas is STEM School museum development and digital performance, as well as STEMS, where S stands for Sport, due to the fact that sports impact academic advancements.

For the last several years, Bulgaria has had an enormous advancement in STEM. There is a high potential for STEM practices in Bulgaria based on the intensive development during the last years of IT academies, robotics clubs, and open spaces for collaboration. Moreover, the growing number of events focused on STEM skills development is adding value to the positive trends. These events are hackathons, codethons, technology contests, and others, that stimulate on the one hand generation of new “fresh” ideas and on the other hand boost collaboration among the STEM community. The National STEM contest in High Schools, named “Who is SUPER STEM in your school?”, was held for the first time in 2017, and in 2022 the contest gathered more than 1300 participants – teachers, students, and parents. The Ministry of Education Youth and Science (MEYS) has many activities, stimulating STEM development in Bulgaria. For example, during the 2023/2024 school year, the high school students in professional classes are expected to be 39,319, and those in profiled classes – 25,664. A total of 1,477 STEM classes are planned for the academic year 2023/2024. Of these, 953 will be professional, and 524 will be profiled. There are many STEM trainings organized for teachers, that are certified by MEYS. The National STEM Center at the Ministry of Education and Science is a major provider of professional development for teachers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The center coordinates supports, and consults the construction and development of a STEM environment in every Bulgarian school, creating a model for learning, qualification, and working with research methods and tools. The activities of the Center aim to bring Bulgarian education into the international rankings for education and achievements in STEM and to give all young people the opportunity for motivation and career development in the field.

Riga Technical University (RTU) is the premier internationally multidiscipline technical university in Latvia. RTU is purposefully evolving to become the fourth-generation university that offers not only high-quality education, but also provides for excellent research and sustainable valorization, as well as smart digitalization. RTU also plays a major role in the development and implementation of STE(A)M initiatives in Latvia. These include initiatives focused on

a. Fostering motivation and interest, including:

• RTU Children and Youth University – to stimulate the interest of children in STEAM subjects by offering 2nd - 9th class scholars informal education lessons thus to show them their future study and career opportunities in the fields of engineering. RTU Children and Youth University is a member of the EUCU.net network, which unites and promotes cooperation between children and youth universities in Europe and elsewhere in the world.;
• RTU Children and Youth Science Center – to create an interest in engineering and natural sciences through entertaining science exhibition and workshops for providing a “hands on experience”. The opening of the center is planned for the beginning of the year 2023;

b. Creating MOOC's for STEAM subjects, including:

• Project “STEAM Lyceum” – to create MOOC’s for high school level subjects of mathematics, physics and chemistry to make them accessible anytime and anywhere for scholars and first year students. Project is being developed in a cooperation between RTU, Employers' Confederation of Latvia and private sector represented by mobile telecommunications operator and market leader in Latvia – LMT, who has already gained expertise of successful collaborations with the government, academic and startup ecosystem partners. It is planned that the Chancellery of the President, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Economics could be involved in the preparation and provision of the STEAM Lyceum. The project launch is planned for the middle of the year 2023;

c. Building community and support systems for high-achieving students, including:

• RTU Engineering High School (EHS) – is the first general secondary education establishment in Latvia that has been founded within the framework of a university. It is the place where the most talented Latvian schoolchildren will be able to acquire the study courses in exact and natural sciences at an advanced level to get prepared for the engineering studies. At EHS, special attention is paid to the integration of engineering studies and scientific research activities into the study process. The school cooperates with several leading companies from the private sector;
• RTU Talent Program – offers the best students of Latvia and graduates of EHS a place financed by the state budget in the chosen study program, an individualized study plan, lectures and seminars for the improvement of personal skills, as well as individual mentoring. The full training cycle of the RTU Talent Program has been developed for 4 years. The content of the program is designed to offer, in parallel with the formal study process, the opportunity to acquire an individual study program that is adapted in terms of content and intensity. When designing the training program, special attention is paid to enabling young people in each of the Talent programs to grow not only as professionals and develop their careers in the future, but also to become stronger as individuals;

d. Identifying issues in the STE(A)M talent pipeline, including through:

• Participation in conferences/forums – on current issues in the field of education involving leading stakeholders (The Parliament of Latvia, Ministry of Education and Science, The Ministry of Economics etc.)

University College London (UCL) is one of the premier universities in the UK, with a strong emphasis on research covering all areas including Science, Engineering and Medicine. UCL has been consistently ranked as one of the top universities in the world. UCL has 30 Nobel laureates, 11 academic faculties, over 45,000 students and over 14,000 employees. The first university in England to admit women on equal terms with men in 1878; the first to admit students regardless of race, class or religion; and to offer systematic teaching of Medicine, Law and Engineering. Today, UCL holds a Silver Athena SWAN Award (framework to transform gender equality in higher education) and a Race Equality Charter Bronze Award. UCL Engineering is proudly international with 6756 staff and students from over 120 nations.

UCL consistently pushes the boundaries of pedagogy, through its award-winning teaching, research and education engagement. UCL has the 1st Laboratory devoted to Engineering Education, is 2nd in research power in the Research Excellence Framework and have been awarded with the Higher Education Academy Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence. UCL Engineering has developed a strong reputation for schools engagement. Gender equality and inclusion is one of the faculty’s strategic priorities. UCL's award-winning 50.50 Engineering Engagement Initiative has created a step change in the representation of girls, women and ethnic minorities in STEM programmes. Its activities are free and open to all and we insist on 50% participation of girls in all our programmes.

UCL Engineering has developed a strong reputation for schools engagement. For 2022-2023 some of the major initiatives and programmes that we are planning are:

• STEM Literacy programme in primary schools with Royal Society and STEM Learning (national scale)
• STEM Learning & UCL Engineering ENTHUSE Programme for secondary schools (London)
• UCL Engineering Mentoring Programme for 11-17 year olds (regional and national scale)
• Virtual Work Experience for 15-17 year olds with Institution of Mechanical Engineers (national scale)
• Research Placements in UCL Engineering Labs for 15-17 year olds with In2Science (national scale)
• STEM Action Research Project with teachers on social mobility in STEM with Royal Academy of Engineering (national scale)
• Green Engineering Careers with Tomorrow’s Engineers & NEON (national scale)
• Teacher CPD and teacher placements with STEM Learning (London)

Areas of UCL's expertise include:

• Inclusion and Gender Equality. Advising policymakers and different stakeholders on inclusion and gender equality in STEM. Developing strategies and designing interventions in partnership with government and STEM education organisations (national & international).
• Connected Curriculum. Working with STEM organisations, government and industry in designing and delivering curriculum based STEM resources and activities linked to real-world engineering.
• Teacher Professional Development. Working with STEM organisations and industry to upskill and train teachers and STEM Ambassadors, through training programmes and teacher placements.
• STEM Career Pathways. Developing and delivering materials, resources and programmes that raise awareness in young people of the exciting and wide-ranging careers and degrees “in” and “from” STEM. Offering skills bootcamps, speed-networking events and work experience placements to help them develop employability, entrepreneurial and digital skills.

The University of Ljubljana is the oldest and largest higher education and scientific research institution in Slovenia. The university was founded in 1919. It has approximately 38,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and employs approximately 6,000 higher education teachers, researchers, assistants and administrative staff in 23 faculties and three arts academies. The University of Ljubljana is renowned for its quality social and natural sciences and technical study programmes, structured in accordance with the Bologna Declaration. Its projects keep pace with the latest developments in the areas of arts, sciences and technology at home and abroad. 

In response to shortages of STEM skilled people in Slovenia, the University of Ljubljana is involved in a range of outreach activities. These include:

• Quadhelix cooperation activities with schools, Industry, NGOs and Government
• STEM activities in MakerLabs and FabLabs
• Organisation of summer and winter schools and CAMPs for children in elementary and secondary school
• Preparation of a national STEM strategy (in cooperation with other stakeholders)
• Organisation of trainings for students, parents and teachers
• Raising awareness about STEM careers and role models

UPSTI is the "Union of Professors of Sciences and Technology for Industry". It was created in 1982, and gathers a network of more than 1,000 persons, professors, engineers and industrial partners, worldwide. The professors in UPSTI are in contact with more than 50.000 students, and the industrial partners come from more than 23 sectors. UPSTI's objective is to create more and structural elationships between education and industry. UPSTI has strong relation with French government and administrative education representatives, and works with government to create the education of the future. It participates to all the science and technology debates, and tries to make some proposals to improve the education in France for adapting the teaching curriculum and the training of professors.

Óbuda University is the second largest technical university in Hungary with 13000 students, 6 faculties, 3 doctoral schools and 3 campuses. Óbuda University, the legal successor of Budapest Tech – or rather its legal predecessors: Bánki Donát Polytechnic, Kandó Kálmán Polytechnic and the Technical College of Light Industry – was established on January 1, 2010. Óbuda University has the only Engineering Education Centre in Hungary and has a strong relationship with industry for already ten years, which is the foundation of skill oriented learning. In 2014 the university launched the work-based dual education program. Most candidates in this program are from the faculty of IT engineering. It is a mission of the University to make higher-education more accessible in regions without higher education institutions, therefore a “higher education centre for community based studies” is established in the city of Salgótarján.

Óbuda University is the founder of the Hungarian STEM platform and is member of the EU STEM Coalition. Having long term experience with education-industry collaboration and the organisation of a variation of science competitions and activities, Óbuda University is well suited to boost a national pilot programme in Hungary.

Science on Stage is Europe’s biggest network from STEM teachers for teachers. The ultimate goal of the non-profit organisation is to improve science teaching by supporting the teachers’ personal exchange about good practice teaching ideas at national and international educational festivals, teacher training or via teacher exchange programmes. By raising the motivation of their teachers more schoolchildren will be encouraged to consider a career in science, ICT or engineering. Launched in 2000, Science on Stage reaches about 100,000 teachers and teacher trainers in 30 countries. A network of National Steering Committees in these countries provides the interface to their national science teaching communities. Moreover non-European countries have the possibility to join the Science on Stage network as ‘Associate Members’, spreading good practice teaching ideas for STEM around the globe. Science on Stage Europe is the umbrella organisation that supports its member countries with the realisation of their activities and connects STEM teachers with enthralling teaching ideas across borders.