At the Riga STEAM Ecosystem Breakfast, representatives of the Riga City Council together with their partners looked back at the progress made in this field in 2023 and outlined new opportunities for cooperation in 2024 and the near future.
“The priorities of Riga City Council for this and the next two years in STEAM are the improvement of infrastructure and teachers’ further education, close cooperation with the academic sector, the industry as well as the promotion of accessibility and diversity of STEAM education in both general and special interest education. Such meetings with industry representatives are an excellent way to foster mutual cooperation, share experiences, exchange knowledge and generate ideas for new joint projects. These meetings are important, and we will continue to work together. Vilnis Ķirsis.
The overarching goal of the City’s STEAM ecosystem is to inspire and develop learners with the skills and knowledge needed to meet the demands of the future labour market in high-growth sectors including engineering, creative, digital, and life sciences, contributing to the growth of learners as individuals, and of the city and country as a whole.
Representatives of the Department of Education, Culture and Sport outlined the STEAM achievements to date and presented this year’s and future plans to the partners. In 2024, Riga municipality students are expected to strengthen STEAM skills in a pilot project of synergy between general and interest education, which will modernise the learning environment and materials, as well as provide hands-on activities. The pilot project will involve four interest education institutions and eight public schools in Riga.
Also in 2024, Riga City Council plans to organise an event for schoolchildren “Riga Puzzle Day”, which was well attended in 2023, provide support to promote access to interest education, plan climate change days for Riga schoolchildren and teachers, and establish robotics laboratories in pre-schools. The council will cooperate with the centre of curiosity – Futurimo – to organise specialised classes for schoolchildren, as well as to improve the infrastructure of interest education institutions in the field of STEAM curricula and further training of teachers in this area.
During the discussions, industry representatives raised questions about the inclusion of artificial intelligence and its tools in STEAM activities and education, while encouraging more interest in STEAM subjects – chemistry, physics, mathematics, biology. They discussed the need to create a “STEAM School Bag” programme in the near future, similar to the existing cultural education programme “Latvian School Bag”. During the discussions, it was argued that more young women should be involved in STEAM, and their interest in these subjects and fields should be encouraged by developing specific programmes and activities to involve this target group more actively.
The aim of the meeting was to foster mutual cooperation between organisations, municipal institutions, businesses and the academic sector whose objectives include the implementation and support of STEAM initiatives in order to facilitate the sharing of experience, exchange of knowledge and support for STEAM education in Riga.
The event was attended by representatives from Riga Technical University (RTU), Datorium, LMT, University of Latvia (UL), Riga Business School, Institute of Solid State Physics, UL, Riga TechGirls, UL Young Physicists School, RTU Curiosity Centre Futurimo Riga, IT Education Foundation- Start IT, Latvian Chemical and Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs Association and International School of Innovation.
The RIGA STEAM Ecosystem Breakfast was held for the second time together with partners from various institutions and companies.
Information prepared by: Sindija Grāvere, Project Coordinator, External Communication Department, Riga Municipality, e-mail: sindija.gravere@riga.lv
