News

Launch of Arctic STEM Communities

This summer, the Arctic STEM Communities project, funded by the Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme of the European Union (NPA Interreg) under Priority 3, was launched. The project is led by STEM Húsavík, with support from the Þekkingarnet Þingeyinga (Húsavík Academic Center). It was also the first project to receive funding under the program’s new priority, aimed at strengthening collaboration among institutions in the Arctic. Alongside Iceland, participating countries include Finland and Ireland.

Date

21.09.2023

The project focuses on establishing community-based STEM or STEAM learning ecosystems in two new communities in the Arctic, with a particular emphasis on analyzing the position of girls and women in STEM. Each community, including Húsavík, will also implement a pilot project focused on supporting women and girls in STEM. The University of Galway and the renown LUMA Center Finland are project participants alongside STEM Húsavík, which is leading the initiative. Recently, project manager Huld Hafliðadóttir and project expert Bridget Burger traveled to Galway, where the implementation phase of the project was carried out. In November, they will travel to Rovaniemi in Lapland to replicate the same process.

The project involves replicating the process conducted in Húsavík, although it naturally takes on a different form in another community. The foundation remains the same: providing a professional framework to support STEM and STEAM education both inside and outside traditional educational settings. Both Galway and LUMA bring previous experience and a strong foundation in STEM-related work to the partnership. However, this initiative deepens their existing efforts and connects the diverse stakeholders working to advance STEM education—stakeholders who may not have been closely collaborating before.

In addition, Huld will present the project at the NPA Interreg conference in Skellefteå, Sweden, in November. Dubbed the “science city,” the conference’s theme is NORTHERN SKILLS: Navigating the Future NPA, with a focus on the skills required for the future labor market.

The conference will explore how collaborative projects and communities in the Arctic can support these updated skills and attract and retain the workforce needed in future work environments. This aligns closely with the work being developed in Húsavík, including raising awareness of STEM in the community and highlighting the importance of STEM education.

It is a great honour for STEM Húsavík, with support from the Þekkingarnet Þingeyinga, to lead this project. It represents the beginning of even greater collaboration among Arctic institutions to build strong and active STEM and STEAM learning ecosystems.