National STEM platform

The Bulgarian education system has been traditionally supportive of STEM, providing students with numerous opportunities to broaden their experience in the STEM fields outside the curriculum. Currently several non-government and academic organisations are responsible for the bulk of the STE(A)M initiatives in Bulgaria and most of them work closely with policymakers, trying to ensure the sustainability of their initiatives, some of which have been standing for decades and have turned into an institution of their own.

The longest standing form of extracurricular STEM activities have been the various olympiads – mathematics, informatics, information technologies, physics, chemistry, astronomy, mathematical linguistics etc. Bulgaria has been a founding member of most of the international olympiads in these fields and last year founded EJOI (European Junior Olympiad in Informatics). Bulgaria is also one of the few countries, where students receive direct support and mentorship from active researchers. Every olympiad has three rounds- school, district and national, with the more popular fields, such as mathematics and informatics also having additional national competitions. Schools are encouraged to provide extracurricular courses, preparing the students for the olympiads through various funding programmes such as the Operative programme “Science and Education for Smart Growth”.

High school research is another well-established traditional STEM activity, due to the tradition of research organizations in mentorship and access to resources to talented high school students. The High School Students Institute of Mathematics and Informatics has been functioning since 2000, initially modelling its structure and activities after the US Center for Excellence in Education and then – gradually expanding and diversifying its methods. Currently it organizes two annual high school conferences, an interview-based grant initiative supporting high achieving students to participate in international research programs, and an international summer school, which gathered 45 students from ten countries in 2017. The summer school is three week long and each participant is provided with a personal mentor and research topic in the field of mathematics, computer science, ICT or astronomy.

The Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science's current priorities include:

• Involvement of the three interests’ parties in STEM skills intensification – kids/students, parents, school/education authorities.
• Funding for STEM education innovations and interdisciplinary projects development aimed at foster collaborations for sharing and co-creation of new knowledge among High Schools or/and Education Institutions.
• Better STEM through better STEM teachers: fostering change management in education and development of education change management strategies for each High School/education institution.
• Improvement and digitalisation of STEM infrastructure (STEM Labs), facilities, and libraries (digital STEM libraries at High Schools/education institutions).
• Overcoming the inequality and better integration through learning communities and development of STEM knowledge map and paths (STEM BUS Bulgaria).
• Pragmatism, transparency, and visibility of STEM efforts: ideas and contributions of all interest parties can be achieved through the development and sustainability of Open Data STEM portal Bulgaria. 
• Integration with the foreseen EIT community hub in Bulgaria

The National Centre for STEM Recruitment is the Ministry of Education and Research’s national resource centre for recruitment to science and technology subjects. The centre works with everyone involved in recruitment to science and technology. The National Centre for STEM Recruitment (NSR) is an administrative agency of the Ministry of Education and Research.

STEM Learning operates the National STEM Learning Network - the largest provider of STEM education and careers support to schools, colleges and other groups working with young people across the UK. Supported by a unique partnership of government, charitable trusts and employers, the Network is dedicated to raising young people’s engagement and achievement in STEM, and increasing the numbers of young people progressing in STEM studies and into STEM-related careers post-16. We provide teachers, school technicians and others working with young people with STEM-specific, career-long professional development; access to free of charge, curriculum linked resources, STEM Ambassadors and STEM Clubs support; and a wide range of engaging activities with proven impact on outcomes for young people. We also work with employers of all sizes to help them maximize the return they get from their investment in working with young people, teachers and schools.

Founded in 2008, the Centre for CSR Development Ukraine is a non-profit expert organisation in corporate social responsibility. CSR Ukraine has 4 priority areas: CSR in conflict times, business-universities-schools cooperation, social responsibility of municipalities and state-owned companies.Within the priority area of "business-universities schools cooperation" CSR Ukraine works on STEM projects. In 2015 CSR established a National STEM Coalition with 20 member organisations (Universities, schools, companies and research institutes).

LUMA Centre Finland is the network for 13 regional LUMA centres within Finnish universities. The network ensures a national and international collaborative ecosystem to develop mathematics, science and technology education by providing activities and accessible resources throughout the country. The current LUMA ecosystem is a social innovation in which universities, schools, teachers, students, guardians, and industry are collaborating to engage all children and young people from age 3 to 19 in math, science, and technology and supporting research-oriented teachers at all levels for life-long learning. The LUMA Centre Finland promotes and fosters both national and international collaboration between educational institutions from kindergarten to universities, the business sector, educational administration, science museums and centers, teachers’ associations, and the media, as well as all other relevant organizations. The aim of the LUMA is mathematics, science and technology for all. The activities of LUMA Centre Finland reach altogether 400 000 persons (children, youth, guardians and teachers) each year.

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.

The aim of the Estonian Research Council (ETAg) is to support the development and implementation of the national research, development and innovation policies in an efficient way, and to strengthen the social and economic impact and synergy of research and innovation. Amongst other responsibilities, the Estonian Research Council is the coordinating body of the Reseach and Technology Pact – a cooperation agreement between various partners to allow an increase in the popularity of STEM among the youth and society in general, to raise the quality of the education and the appreciation for work in these areas. ETAg invites stakeholders to participate in the initiative and helps schools of general education and companies to find each other and cooperate.

Astra is the national Centre for Learning in Science, Technology and Health in Denmark, established by Law in 2009. Our contribution to society is to strengthen and develop science learning so we train a new generation with strong science competencies. Our vision is that all children and young people achieve science skills that will enable them to express themselves as creative and critical citizens

The National Platform Science & Technology (PTvT) has been commissioned by the Dutch government, the education and the business sectors to ensure sufficient availability of people who have a background in scientific or technical education. This approach has been formulated in the Deltaplan Science & Technology, a policy document on how to prevent shortages in the technology sector. The aims: (1) to achieve a structural increase of pupils and students in scientific and technical education, and (2) to use existing talent more effectively in businesses and research institutes. The goal is not only making careers in science more appealing, but also to introduce educational innovations that will inspire and challenge young people.