ZukLOS transfer conference provides impetus for extracurricular educational work in Upper Lusatia.
On July 14, 2022, more than 60 stakeholders in extracurricular (STEM) education in Upper Lusatia, school principals and teachers, representatives from the regional economy and politics as well as experts from regional development and business associations took part in the ZukLOS transfer conference of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (HSZG) and Dresden University of Technology in Zittau.
The purpose of the transfer conference was to present and discuss the initial project results of the BMBF-funded project "Zukunftslernort Oberlausitz - Analyse und Entwicklung außerschulischer MINT-Bildung" (ZukLOS). To this end, seven workshops offered participants the opportunity to exchange ideas and network. One workshop, for example, explored the question of how school education can be specifically enriched by extracurricular educational offers and what needs both actors in extracurricular learning locations and teachers have when it comes to implementing extracurricular offers for school classes.
Non-school stakeholders were able to present their educational offers in a gallery walk. The spatial models created as a result of the design workshops were also on display. The room models were created in two workshops in which young people developed their ideal future learning location using future technologies such as a 3D printer. The workshops were held by Constitute e. V. with young people from the Station für Technik, Naturwissenschaften, Kunst - Weißwasser e. V. in October 2021 and in April 2022 with trainees from Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co. KG in Görlitz and were scientifically supported by the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences.
The conference was accompanied by an expert in extracurricular education. In two keynote speeches, Professor Dr. Martina Flath, scientific director of the Competence Centre for Regional Learning at the University of Vechta, and Dr. Michael Pries, spokesperson for the Extracurricular Learning Committee of the Didacta Association, reflected on the project results as Critical Friends and made recommendations for the further development of the extracurricular education landscape in Upper Lusatia.
The contents of the transfer conference, the project results and the resulting recommendations for action for the region's extracurricular educational landscape are now to be summarized in a next step, published in a brochure and made available to all interested parties.
The BMBF-funded "Zukunftslernort Oberlausitz - Analyse und Entwicklung außerschulischer MINT-Bildung" (ZukLOS ) is being carried out under the project management of Professor Dr. rer. pol. Sophia Keil, Vice-Rector for Education and International Affairs at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, in cooperation with the Technical University of Dresden. The aims of the project are to record the current status of extracurricular STEM education in the region, derive recommendations for action for the further development of the educational landscape and develop and promote new educational opportunities. In this way, STEM-related problem-solving skills of children and young people are to be promoted in the long term.
