The 'Katapult'-programme is one of the flagship initiatives of the Dutch national STEM platform. The programme is focused on developing and supporting sector-based public-private partnerships in VET and Higher Education. Currently, upwards of 7500 companies are directly involved in hundreds of public-private partnerships co-funded by government and industry with a total budget of nearly 200 million euro.

This translation of the impact report, ‘Impact and Added Value’, comes from Katapult, in collaboration with the Talent for Technology Platform (PTvT) in the Netherlands. The figures in this publication are based on a survey conducted in the spring of 2019 among 191 partnerships and the network chart, with more than 300 partnerships and their partners.

On May 30 the European Commission published two communications in which STEM and the EU STEM Coalition are prominently featured. The Communication on a Renewed EU Agenda for Higher Education states that "the Commission will launch an up-scaled EU STE(A)M coalition bringing together different education sectors, business and public sector emloyers to promote the uptake of relevant STE(A)M subjects and modernise the STE(A)M and other curricula, including through more multi-disciplinary programmes and cooperation between relevant faculties and HEI's." The Commission states that the initiative will build on the EU STEM Coalition (see p. 5-6).

In the Communication on School Development and Excellent Teaching for a Great Start in Life, the Commission focuses on the recent OECD PISA survey results. In relation to STEM the commission states that it will: "Support improvements in school level education in science, technologies, engineering and maths (STEM) by promoting best practice in developing links and cooperation of higher education, research, businesses with schools at EU level and effectively addressing gender gaps and stereotypes in STEM, using Erasmus+" (see p. 4).

The EU STEM Coalition is currently exploring with the Commission and various partners how it can support these action points. 

On May 30 the European Commission published two communications in which STEM and the EU STEM Coalition are prominently featured. The Communication on a Renewed EU Agenda for Higher Education states that "the Commission will launch an up-scaled EU STE(A)M coalition bringing together different education sectors, business and public sector emloyers to promote the uptake of relevant STE(A)M subjects and modernise the STE(A)M and other curricula, including through more multi-disciplinary programmes and cooperation between relevant faculties and HEI's." The Commission states that the initiative will build on the EU STEM Coalition (see p. 5-6).

In the Communication on School Development and Excellent Teaching for a Great Start in Life, the Commission focuses on the recent OECD PISA survey results. In relation to STEM the commission states that it will: "Support improvements in school level education in science, technologies, engineering and maths (STEM) by promoting best practice in developing links and cooperation of higher education, research, businesses with schools at EU level and effectively addressing gender gaps and stereotypes in STEM, using Erasmus+" (see p. 4).

The EU STEM Coalition is currently exploring with the Commission and various partners how it can support these action points. 

The EU STEM Coalition is a network of national STEM platforms: organisations that support the coordination and implementation of national or regional strategy for STEM education and labour market. The focus of the network is primarily on the implementation of the national or regional objectives. In other words, ‘how can we translate a policy objective into an effective implementation programme’. These programmes often rely on the close cooperation between the ‘triple helix’ of government, industry and education providers.

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