On Thursday, 18 February 2021, the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Zagreb hosted the first of three planned focus groups within the project Science Connecting People (SCOPE), co-financed by the European Social Fund and led by FabLab, the association for the promotion of digital fabrication.  

This is the first in a series of activities planned under the project, whose shared goal is to create a stimulating environment for the development and advancement of the STEM field and for joint action by all stakeholders in shaping public policy in the STEM field. 

The focus group was moderated by Kristina Careva, PhD, an expert in participation, and the participants were welcomed at the outset by the Dean of the Faculty, Professor Bojan Baletić, PhD. 

The members of the focus group are: Krešimir Čanić (science populariser), Petar Čuček (head of the educational programme of the Višnjan Science and Education Centre), Kristina Duvnjak (executive director of the Bioteka association), Tanja Djaković (mathematics and physics teacher, former assistant minister of science and education), Marko Košiček (expert adviser at the Ruđer Bošković Institute), Helena Matuša (deputy director of the Zagorje Development Agency), Tina Marković (head of the Support Centre at CARNET), Aleksandra Podrebarac (head of the Youth Centre in Grabrik and of the VolonterKA volunteer centre), Dunja Potočnik (senior research associate at the Institute for Social Research), Marin Trošelj (co-founder of STEMI.Education and initiator of the School of the Future project), Roberto Vdović (president of the FabLab association, science populariser and scientific coordinator of the project) and Marijo Zrna (public relations and visits coordinator at the Nikola Tesla Technical Museum). 

The first focus group discussed the role of the letter “A" (art) in the acronym STEAM, that is, the (un)importance of placing art within the STEM field. The discussion also covered the target groups at which science popularisation is aimed and the various methods of popularising science appropriate to the target groups identified. All participants made an outstanding contribution to the discussion, for which we thank them!

At least two more focus groups will be held as the project continues. Each focus group will be accompanied by public opinion polls and survey research as well as by individual and group discussions, all with the aim of framing the hypotheses for the scientific research. 

The most relevant data for lobbying and advocating for the needs and the necessary changes in the STEM field are undoubtedly those with a scientific basis; scientific research is therefore a prerequisite for drawing up guidelines for the development of public policies and for conducting structured dialogues with decision-makers. 

The “Science Connecting People” project will run until the end of September 2023, by which time a thematic network in the STEM field will have been established and public policy guidelines for the development of the STEM field in Croatia will have been presented to decision-makers.

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