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Inspira STEAM is a pioneering project for the promotion of scientific-technological professions among girls. The programme is focused on awareness-raising and orientation actions through lectures ; mentoring by female professionals from the world of research, science and technology. At the heart of Inspira STEAM project are the mentors, who voluntarily bring their day-to-day lives closer to girls and boys (who are 11 years old) through six work sessions during school hours. Through the meetings between the mentor and the girls the project aims to help dispel doubts and objections about the professions in science and technology, clarify their motivations and strengthen their self-esteem to start this professional path.

It's the first time that the group-mentoring technique has been used in a project to promote STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) among elementary school students. The Inspira STEAM-project was developed in response to the need to promote scientific and technological vocations among students and the urgency to do so among girls who are underrepresented in these fields. The number of students who opt for technology training decreases every year. Among female, the figures are even worse: Despite the fact that 54.3% of all students in the Spanish university system are women, their presence in technical degrees such as Engineering and Architecture falls to 26.4%.

The core of the project are the mentoring-sessions. All of the mentors are scientists and technologists active in various fields: academic, business, research, management, etc. During the work sessions, topics such as gender stereotypes and the important role of women and science throughout History are addressed. With these meetings between the mentor and the girls, the aim is to help dispel doubts and objections about the professions in science and technology, clarify their motivations and strengthen their self-esteem to start this professional path. The main objectives of the project are:

• to facilitate new references of nearby female technologists
• to allow boys and girls discover STEAM professions
• to raise awareness of the need for the development of the country to occur between men and women
• career guidance in technology fields
• to make women technologists visible and valuing
• To make known the existing stereotypes so that they do not condition the choice of studies

Solaride is a project for students who want to contribute hands-on to solving our dependence on fossil fuels. To do so, the students are building a working solar car and taking it to the ultimate test run in Australia in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. The ultimate objective of Solaride is to promote engineering and its career options in Estonia.

The project gathers ambitious students from different fields, such as engineers, electronics, mechanics, software etc. from all over Estonia. The project has grown continuously into the size of an average company. Currently there are almost 70 team members. The team also has various prominent mentors from universities and companies to share their know-how with the students. Besides that, Solaride has strong support from cooperation with several Estonian universities and gives participating students the opportunity to gain practical knowledge and compete in an international competition. With this, the project promotes engineering and technology among the pupils and students.

The ultimate objective of Solaride is to promote engineering and its career options in Estonia. As a country Estonia faces a serious shortage of engineers and specialists, now and in the future. The overall aim of the project is to promote STEM career paths through hands-on experiences early on. The promotion of technology and engineering is therefore important to bring people to engineering and have the necessary workforce in the future. The programme also contributes to the development of innovation and science-based economy in Estonia. According to the analysis on the workforce needed in Estonia, in 10 to 15 years, 60% of the occupations are the kind of which we do not have today. Therefore, adapting with new and novel technology is critical.

The Merkuur programme has developed mobile workshops to introduce various trades, techniques and tools in the metal and wood industries to young people and to offer them hands-on opportunities to test the tasks associated with these trades in order to raise their career awareness and competitiveness in the fields of technology and engineering.

Merkuur has two mobile workshops and more than sixty different learning solutions to provide young people with hands-on opportunities to carry out tasks in metal and woodwork, electronics, bionics and many other engineering fields. The Mobile Workshops are self-built mobile classrooms and therefore workshop activities can take place all over Estonia. Schools, vocational school and other interested organizations can request the mobile classroom service at their premises.

In the beginning, the Mobile Workshop service and its activities were provided as a form of non-formal learning. Since 2018, the team has consistently worked on developing partnerships with various educational schools, vocational schools and colleges. Teachers and mentors of mobile workshops organise technology lessons, project days and hobby groups in schools. In addition to daily activities, the team has developed a modern methodological material used to introduce CNC equipment to young people and to implement their new knowledge both individually and in teams, while carrying out product development tasks, testing various material treatment methods and preparing metal and wood products with a real purpose.

The objective is to give young people practical knowledge about engineering and technology, which is measured by the number of kids participating in the activities of Mobile Workshop.

The objectives of the workshops are related to a broader government strategy to raise the popularity of engineering as a career choice due to the fact that Estonia is facing a shortage of engineers, failing to meet the current labour market demand as well as the expected demand in the future. In addition, the programme is associated with the aim to develop a research-intensive economy. By educating young people and giving them early access to hands-on engineering possibilities, it increases the interest of students in starting a career in engineering.

According to Eurostat (see 'data' page) only 22.8% of employed ICT specialists in Estonia are women. In addition, girls are strongly underrepresented in extracurricular STEM courses among children aged 7-12 (for every ten boys, there is only one girl). The HK Unicorn Squad girls-only hobby groups aim to increase the number of girls that show an interest in STEM in this age-group (lower secondary education level) as well as maintaining that interest over time.

The founders of the movement are Kerstin and Taavi Kotka, a married couple, who started a “girls-only” technology hobby-group for their daughter Helena in September 2018, as she was kicked out from the technology hobby group at school given the explanation that the field is more suitable for boys.

Unicorn Squad hobby group is a “ready-to-use” solution. Teaching materials are fully prepared for the lessons along with video tutorials for the supervisor. Also, equipment for certain courses is provided by the programme. Course modules take place once a week. Teaching materials and equipment (e.g. robots and other teaching materials) for certain lessons are sent to mentors in a big plastic box weekly using a parcel machine. After using them, the mentor returns them or sends them to next group according to instructions from the HK Unicorn Squad project manager.

The interest and demand for girls-only technology hobby groups was so big that within two years the movement has engaged 1200 girls (age 7-14) all over Estonia. Active hobby groups are available in almost  every county of the country. The interest keeps on growing and additional hobby groups are constantly opened.

The national program 'Building a School STEM Environment' aims to create new school centers - an integrated set of specially created and equipped learning spaces with a focus on the study and application of competencies in the field of natural sciences and mathematics in state and municipal schools in the country. Each school center will include the following elements:

• physical environment (improvement of the interior architecture and furnishing of existing spaces)
• technology (equipment)
• learning content,
• teaching methods
• management of the educational process.

The main objective of the programme is to create an integrated learning environment for a new generation in Bulgarian schools, which will encourage and support educational innovations in teaching and learning in the field of STEM, creativity and research. The investments will support the introduction of new teaching methods, raising the qualification of pedagogical specialists and creating new educational content in the direction of integrating the subject areas of STEM. The Program is in line with Bulgaria's Digital transformation Policy and National Science Strategy 2017-2030.

To achieve this, the programme is aimed at schools with (already) innovative practices and those with the potential to develop innovations in science, digital technology, engineering thinking and mathematics (STEM). The national program will create "models" in some Bulgarian schools for successfully investing in a comprehensive idea, including learning environment, technology, management, integrated content, qualifications and teaching methods. The 'Education of Bulgarians Abroad and School Network'-directorate is responsible for the implementation of the programmme.

"Rocket 69“ is an educational scientific entertaining TV contest for young people with the purpose to show that STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) can be fun and show that everyone could perform the tasks that are given during the contest, while offering excitement and new knowledge. The name of the show comes from the fact that on 1969 the first man stepped on the Moon. All students starting from age 15 can apply for the show (until university students from 1st or 2nd year of studies). 15 contestants are chosen through casting and the casting process makes up the 1st episode of the show. From 2nd to 9th episode contestants solve the assignments in 3 competitive groups and from 10th episode individually. In the end of each episode one contestant has to leave after 1:1 scientific duel. All assignments require creativity, theoretical scientific knowledge and ability to use it in practices.

In the Grand Finale 2 finalists have to solve complex assignment that will show all their abilities. In the past 3 years the assignment has been to create and build Rube Goldberg machine. There is 1 personal winner who wins a EUR 10.000 scholarship to support his/her studies. The panel of judges consists of host of the show (young scientist) and 3 main judges who are also researchers. The first 9 episodes are shot in a studio specifically built for the show. Starting from 10th episode the locations vary and include science labs and research organizations, STEM companies etc.

All assignments and solutions of the contest are explained with a voice-over, by graphical illustrations during the show and also commented by judges. In addition, the Science Editor offers deeper explanations online for each assignment that can be used as STEM teaching material at school. The show is supported by cross-media approach combining radio, newspapers, internet, Facebook and other social media channels.

Rocket 69 is initiated by the Estonian Research Council in co-operation with Estonian National Broadcasting. The TV contest has been runnning for 10 seasons and will continue its course at least 2 more seasons (until 2022). The ultimate objective of the TV contest is to raise young people's interest in STEM education, professions and career in these fields. The aim of the show is also to engage parents, teachers and public in general (secondary target groups). There are no direct means for measuring the achievement of the objectives though indirect indication is evaluated based on the statistics of popularity of STEM specialties among the students enrolling universities, vocational schools and hobby education. Additionally, feedback from career specialists and consultants is gathered regarding the of (young) people’s interest towards STEM specialties.

The TV contest is produced within the science communication program “TeaMe+” that is developed based on the Estonian Research and Development and Innovation Strategy 2014-2020 “Knowledge-based Estonia”.

The MakersTown is a fair held to showcase makers across Europe. Makers are a new wave of entrepreneurs and Do-It-Yourself experts empowered by Web 3.0 tools, technology and crowdfunding. From 3D printing to robotics, from wearable technology to new ICT, from food to fashion, they are today’s Robert Bosch, Enzo Ferrari or Arthur Guinness.

MakersTown takes place yearly in Brussels, Belgium and is organised by ThinkYoung in collaboration with the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies and various partners from industry, including Google, Intel, ABInBev and Coca Cola. The event is supported by the European Commission and Startup Europe.

Makerstown is the first event of its kind in Brussels bringing together Makers, business leaders and European policy-makers to showcase, share and succeed!

Europe’s manufacturing tradition is getting an update, come to #Makerstown to experience it first-hand!