Today, Wednesday 30 June 2021, the second focus group within the “Science Connecting People” project was held at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Zagreb. The first focus group was held earlier this year, on 14 February, also at the Faculty of Architecture.

The FabLab association is implementing the “Science Connecting People” project in cooperation with the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Zagreb, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture of the University of Zagreb, the Ruđer Bošković Institute, the Višnjan Astronomical Society, the Profesor Baltazar association, CARPE DIEM – the association for encouraging and developing the creative and social potential of children, young people and adults, the Croatian Interdisciplinary Society, the “Svi smo protiv” open computer workshop, the “Mehatronik” association for the popularisation of technical culture, the ZEZ cooperative and Krapina-Zagorje County. The aim of the project is to create networked action among all relevant stakeholders in order to build a stimulating environment for the development and advancement of the STEM field, by strengthening the capacity and cooperation of civil society organisations and through joint action by all stakeholders in shaping public policy in the STEM field.

Both the first and the second focus group were moderated by Kristina Careva, PhD, an expert in participation. The participants were Kristina Duvnjak from the Bioteka association, Krešimir Čanić as a representative of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, Marko Petančić and Lucija Prstec Smolčec from the Carpe Diem association, Tanja Djaković from Školska knjiga, Marijo Zrna from the Nikola Tesla Technical Museum, Petar Čuček from the Višnjan Astronomical Society, Roberto Vdović, MSc, from the Faculty of Architecture in Zagreb, and representatives of FabLab.

The key topic of this focus group was undoubtedly the question of funding and the long-term sustainability of organisations engaged in popularising science and the STEAM field. Associations, as the most common organisational form bringing together actors in this type of activity, are for the most part, it was concluded, financed through project-based logic and significantly less through donations and economic activity. Those present agreed that the path towards long-term sustainability in fact lies in changing the structure of these funding shares, by reducing the share of project-based funding and increasing revenue from economic activity and donations. As the representatives of the Carpe Diem association observed, the question of the sustainability of associations working in this field is not only a financial one but also a staffing one, because a greater drain on human resources leaves organisations unable to continue their quality work within their core activities.

The second question to which the focus group paid particular attention concerned the age structure of users, that is, of the target audience for popularising the STEM field and science in general. Should the target audience, and children in particular, be strictly divided by age? Members of the working group raised the need for peer learning, that is, for avoiding reliance on existing taxonomies and models of work. It is precisely through the efforts of associations that new ways of rethinking education, and of practising it, can be tested, allowing the most promising concepts to be implemented in formal educational processes in the future.

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.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•