The semi-yearly General Assembly meeting of the EU STEM Coalition has kicked off today in Tallinn, Estonia. During this two-day event members of the Coalition will exchange their views and experiences, with in this edition specific focus on impact performance assessment practices.
The focus of the Tallinn meeting will be on impact performance assessment. In various settings, the members of the Coalition will engage in discussions based on the mappings of national impact assessment practices that were prepared by each member prior to the meeting.
In addition, the meeting will feature presentations and work sessions by the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT) and European Commission, which will highlight the European dimension of the meeting theme. Estonia is the EU’s highest performer in the field of natural sciences, according to the OECD’s most recent PISA assessment. The factors that have contributed to this remarkable result will be discussed during the key note speech provided by Innove Foundation/PISA Estonia.
The semi-yearly General Assembly meetings of the EU STEM Coalition contribute directly to the effectiveness of national programmes and initiatives aimed at reducing skills mismatch and promoting smart and sustainable economic growth and employment.
Skills mismatch, in particular in the STEM field, is also a major problem for industry and hampers economic growth. Jeroen van der Veer, former CEO of Shell and president of the board of the Dutch national STEM platform stated: “The pace of technological developments is rapidly increasing. Structural cooperation between education providers and industry is key for future-proofing our education systems.”
The urgency of the cooperation between EU member states is recognised by the Estonian Minister of Education and Research Mailis Reps, who stated: ”Decpite the fact that more than 20% of Estonian students are willing to study STEM and Estonia is in good position with this indicator in Europe, it is neccessary to find new approaches to get more young people interesed in STEM. International excange of practices is essential there.“
Background
The increasing pace of technological developments has resulted in a rapidly increasing shortage of STEM graduates in spite of high unemployment (skills mismatch), as well a broader need for more STEM- and innovation skills in non-technical professions.
Several EU member states have successfully addressed this problem by developing national STEM strategies, implemented by national STEM platforms. National STEM strategies are mostly carried out by national STEM platforms; so called ‘triple helix’ organisations – usually created and / or funded by government – that implement a wide variety of innovative education and training practices based on the close cooperation between the ‘triple helix’ of business, education and government.
The EU STEM Coalition is a rapidly growing EU-wide network of national STEM platforms that was formally launched in 2015 by the STEM platforms of Denmark, the Netherlands, Estonia and Belgium. Its two main objectives are to facilitate best-practice sharing between existing national STEM platforms and to support the development of STEM strategies in EU member states that do not yet have one. Today, the network consists of eight national platforms as well as European organisations FEANI, CSR Europe, ThinkYoung, Science on Stage Europe and ECSITE. The EU STEM Coalition receives financial support of the EU through the Erasmus+ programme for strategic partnerships.
More information about the members and activities of the EU STEM Coalition can be found at www.stemcoalition.eu.
Contact: Signe Ambre, phone +372 5884 8398; e-mail signe.ambre@etag.ee