New perspectives for the STEM education landscape in Jena

Jena already offers a wide range of programs for children and young people in the fields of mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology (STEM for short). How the STEM education landscape can be further developed was the focus of today's network meeting in the historic town hall.

Around 50 stakeholders in STEM education accepted the joint invitation from witelo e.V. and the city's education department. "We have many strong players in Jena whose offerings radiate far beyond the city limits," said Dr. Christina Walther from witelo - the network of science and technology learning locations in Jena has been in existence since 2012. "Nevertheless, many ask whether we are actually reaching enough children and young people. There are ideas here for combining STEM content with art activities, for example. The network meeting is a good opportunity to meet new partners and initiate collaborations," says Walther. In total, more than 70 partners are now involved in the network with their extracurricular STEM learning opportunities.

Head of Education Johannes Schleußner welcomed the guests, who contribute their wide-ranging repertoire of ideas and initiatives, "be it through self-developed offers for young people, as multipliers or as politicians who tirelessly campaign for STEM education". Schleußner took a look at the steps taken so far: "Back in 2016, the Jena City Council adopted our STEM strategy, which took the approach of reaching an agreement with politicians on what STEM education is worth to us - including financially." The plan for the current year is to submit an updated STEM strategy to the city council. In addition to the link between STEM and art and culture, the integration of the tourism sector is also one of the central themes of the new strategy. Among other things, the participants considered which experiences and stories can be told about STEM learning locations.

New STEM offers were also presented: Stadtwerke Jena Netze GmbH presented the new trailer workshop under the motto "Screwing instead of Daddling", which employees use to drive to school playgrounds. The Imaginata has now been known as a place of learning for 30 years. Christian Neumann, head of the Imaginata station park, gave an insight into what is planned for the anniversary year and presented how the station park will continue to develop with a focus on sustainability and renewable energies. In the technology club at Ernst Abbe University, the focus is on having fun tinkering, trying things out and experimenting. The program was largely initiated by Professor Dr. Matthias Förster, Vice Dean of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at the EAH. Professor Dr. Timo Mappes, founding director and head of the German Optical Museum Foundation, reported on what is currently under construction behind the fences at Carl-Zeiss-Platz.

Head of Education Schleußner thanked the departmental team led by Christine Wolfer, Head of Youth and Education, and Education Manager Stefanie Teichmann as well as Dr. Christina Walther for the successful organization of the meeting. The latter had already advised the administration in the run-up to the event. Above all, however, Schleußner thanked those involved for their ongoing commitment to making the STEM education landscape in Jena even more attractive.