Flemish STEM Platform

Background

The STEM platform is an independent group that advises the STEM Steering Committee and the government of Flanders about the STEM Action Plan. The members of the STEM Platform are appointed by the government based on their expertise and their ability to create a broad support base for STEM. These members share the concerns about the too short amount of youngsters that are interested in STEM studies and are willing to share their knowledge, experience and network in order to meet the set goals of the STEM Platform. They do so by giving advice and suggest priorities for the STEM Steering Committee.

Strategy

STEM is embedded across four domains at the policy level. In addition, there is a governance that implements the STEM Agenda 2030. In this STEM agenda, attention is paid to STEM literacy and STEM specialists. The focus is also on STEM courses from 5 to 100 years old. There are also many STEM initiatives at the regional level. The main problem is fragmentation. The STEM platform follows up on the agenda and acts as a link between the stakeholders in the field and the people at the policy level.

Since we are not an executive body but mainly have an advisory role, our greatest merit lies in making STEM visible to the members and parties of the Flemish Parliament. On the other hand, we try to be a connecting role with the operational parts of the field and to follow up on the STEM agenda 2030.