IDoS 2019 Conference Review
The "International Dialogue on STEM Education" 2019 brought together 100 scientists, decision-makers in politics, economy, civil society and culture, and representatives of leading initiatives worldwide with a focus of their work on early childhood education in the field of "STEM Education for Sustainable Development“ at Robert Bosch Stiftung - Representative Office Berlin, Germany on 5 and 6 of December 2019.
The key question of the conference was: – "How do we empower children through STEM education to contribute to creating sustainable societies?". You can find the programme here.
Keynotes on: "STEM Education for Sustainable Development"
The opening keynote of the 2019 IDoS conference was given by Professor Dr Ilan Chabay, Head of Strategic Science Initiatives and Programmes and Scientific Project Leader of the GSSF and KLASICA projects at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies. His topic: "Launching children on pathways to sustainable futures with curiosity and STEM learning".
A closing and thought-provoking keynote on the topic was held by Dr Ha Vinh Tho, Former Programme Director of the Gross National Happiness Centre Bhutan and Co-Founder of Eurasia Foundation. He spoke about: "Educating towards sustainability: Connecting to Self, Others and Nature".
The Programme Committee preparing #IDoS2019
Within the framework of the substantive elaboration and formulation of the guiding questions for IDoS 2019, a programme committee comprising fourteen international experts from science and practice had been established by the "Haus der kleinen Forscher" Foundation and Siemens Stiftung.
The expertise of the members specialised in the IDoS 2019 topic "STEM Education for Sustainable Development". The task and objective of the programme committee had been to elaborate the IDoS 2019 programme and strategically and knowledgably support the conference.
A group of authors from the Programme Committee also developed an international position paper, clarifying the relation between STEM Education and Education for Sustainable Development. The paper was discussed and adopted at the conference. The wide endorsement it received demonstrates the great international acceptance of the substantive principles formulated in the paper.