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Within the project the partners will develop pedagogical material for facilitating the inclusion ofrefugees in educational systems in order to enable social integration and a reduction of unemployment rates of the adolescents concerned.

The objective of the Future Ways-programme is to improve the level of education of young people and to facilitate the transition to higher education in these subject areas. This objective was set by the government, in line with related government strategies for STEM. To support the implementation of the objective, the consortium partners implement a wide range of activites, spanning multiple education levels. These include:

1.  Experience-focused workshops focusing on innovation
2.  Innovative and interactive roadshows that arouse students’ interest in the profession
3.  Company visits at leading organizations
4.  Summer camps with career orientation and skills development modules
5.  Skills development workshops for the cumulatively disadvantaged
6.  Organization of open days at the universities
7.  Training of trainers for staff members
8.  The preparation and methodological guidelines of curriculum integration

The members of the consortium (higher education instituions) took part directly in the activities. For example, iin the design of the high school quiz, where playful yet professional and thought-provoking questions were formulated designed to arouse interest in the topic and technical training. The consortium partners also participated directly in the compilation and implementation of the summer camp program. In the camp, they provided lectures on technical care / engineering t raining, the transport of the future, self-driving and electric vehicles and their effects. The lectures were designed to be understandable for the target age-group. Furthermore, during the one-week camp, students were continuously mentored and participated in teams looking for innovative solutions to future mobility and urban problems. In particular, the interactive presentations and the direct conversation with the students were well-received. Mentors encouraged students by passing on their personal experiences. Students were able to hear first-hand about the courses, new research findings, and opportunities.

STEM is a very large field of work and exploration. With the ARTIFEX project and through the learning platform (see link above), the project attempts to help educators identify their personal strengths and weaknesses with regard to teaching STEM, and to assist them in improving their skills and competences by providing ready-to-use practical workshops. The learning platform offers the following components.

• Self-assessment tool for teachers and educators
  Our ARTIFEX SAT was built and tested by university researchers of Antwerp University and Karlstad University and it helps teachers and practitioners who wish to integrate STEM in their classes and workshops better understand their strengths and weaknesses with regard to teaching STEM in relation to the 21st Century Skills. Based on a short questionnaire, the tool will recommend personalized workshop scripts and instructions tailored to the specific competences and activity areas which an educator chooses to improve. This tool is available in different languages.
   
• Workshops
  The project partners have designed and tested a collection of STEM workshops. Each workshop comes with a set of instructions - difficulty level, group size, materials, activities, timing. STEM is a fun way for students to learn an important set of skills and be better prepared for their future workplace. With the help of the Assessment Tool, teachers can improve their competences.
   
• Good practices, some ideas for policy makers
  Successful STEM education typically requires cooperation between schools, teachers, students, local authorities and communities, and the business. The project has collected interesting cooperation models from different EU countries to help policy makers understand the variety of possibilities when designing STEM policies on a local or a regional level.
   
• Insights
  Read what people who currently hold STEM-related occupations say about their work, their vision for the future of their jobs and sectors, and the challenges ahead. Our go to the website to read about the ARTIFEX research. In a collaboration between the University of Antwerp and the University of Karlstad, Belgian and Swedish teachers were asked about their feelings of competence, and their concerns regarding working in a high-tech informal learning environment.

Coding becomes more and more important in our society. To help increase the level of knowledge on a wide scale Science on Stage focuses on the teachers. They first need to be familiar with coding before introducing their students to this topic.

With our teacher project 'Coding in STEM Education' 22 teachers from seven European countries develop concrete examples and practical advice not only about how to practice coding skills using Arduino, Raspberry Pi & Co. in computer sciences but also in subjects such as biology, chemistry, technology, mathematics, and physics - even if you are no IT expert.

The results were published in 2019 in form of a teaching brochure. The project is proudly supported by SAP.

The healthcare sector is rapidly changing. To ensure the best possible care for everyone, healthcare professionals should adapt to these changes continuously. Zorgpact (Health Pact) is an initiative of the Dutch government that aims to support and strenghten ‘bottom-up’ cooperation in the healthcare field via regional ‘healthcare pacts’. These pacts are action agenda’s for cooperation created by networks of healthcare providers, education institutions and local government.

Building on the successful Techniekpact (Technology Pact) approach, Zorgpact facilitates regional cooperation, monitors regional developments, highlights relevant themes, and boosts best practice sharing between regions. On the national level, Zorgpact supports the regions by mapping legislative barriers, thematic research (e.g. impact of technological developments) and by connecting the initiatives to relevant instruments (e.g. the Dutch regional investment fund for Vocational Education and Training) for the development of new innovative approaches and solutions.

STEM Teacher Academy is a programme of the Dutch national STEM platform aimed at improving the content of STEM courses (and the way it is taught) in secondary education through cooperation with industry. The programme was launched in 2014 for a three year period and contributes to objectives set in the Dutch national Technology Pact and several government programmes aimed at reducing teacher shortages. 

The programme's main ambition is to provide the most up-to-date teaching tools to STEM teachers in secondary education, now and in the future. This ambition is implemented through various activities, including guest-lectures by industry professionals and short-term 'internships' for teachers in technology companies. The programme is structured to build lasting links between technology companies and classroom and builds on existing regionalised networks and programmes, including the VO-HO netwerken (pre-university secondary education) and Toptechniek in Bedrijf (VET).