From Genoa’s Drawing Boards to Real-World Classrooms

On February 11th, the global community celebrated the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a day dedicated to smashing stereotypes and advocating for equal access to STEAM fields. For the EITIC-EU consortium, this date served as a powerful reminder of the project’s core mission, perfectly echoing the momentum and enthusiasm generated during the recent transnational meeting in Genoa, hosted by Scuola di Robotica.

With the foundational resources now developed, the project is stepping into its most vital phase: leaving the meeting rooms and entering the classrooms. To ensure a smooth transition, the upcoming timeline focuses purely on implementation, creativity, and public outreach.

Bringing Ideas to the Classroom

The spring months are dedicated to the pilot training sessions. The primary goal here is to test the newly created educational resources in a real-world environment. Rather than focusing on reaching rigid numerical quotas, the essence of this phase is to collaborate closely with local teachers to see how the methodology (guided by Colegiul Tehnik Nikolau) resonates with the students. Each partner will translate the materials and bring these lessons to life locally, gathering qualitative feedback that will help refine and perfect the final tools.

Following the pilot sessions, the focus shifts to student empowerment through the Ideas Competition. The framework for this initiative is being designed by EPAL, while EDUQUEST will bring it to life visually with creative, engaging promotional materials for the schools.

The concept is simple but impactful: students will be challenged to design a leaflet presenting their own STEAM-based idea to solve a social issue. These proposals will then be evaluated by designated STEM role models. The driving force behind this competition is to ensure a strong, enthusiastic participation of young girls, showing them that their ideas have real value. As an added inspiration, local winners will be invited to present their concepts at the upcoming public events.

Reconnecting to Evaluate and Plan

To maintain strong collaboration, the consortium will gather in Romania this June. This meeting serves as a crucial checkpoint to discuss the outcomes of the school pilots, evaluate the students’ reactions, and align strategies before presenting the project to the wider public.

Looking further ahead, the final in-person gathering for the consortium will take place in the Greek capital. Hosted by EPAL Ymittou in Athens, this concluding meeting will provide the team with the opportunity to officially wrap up the project’s core activities, reflect on the journey, and finalize the closing strategies.

Sharing the Vision 

As the project matures, the focus naturally turns toward the wider educational community. The Multiplier Events are designed to share the project’s successes with educators, female role models, and schools across Europe.

These events will roll out progressively rather than all at once. Scuola di Robotica will launch the first event before the summer break, followed by the respective events from EDUQUEST and EPAL. By early autumn, all local dissemination activities will be complete. Finally, Cibervoluntarios will host the grand closing event, celebrating the collaborative effort and the lasting legacy of EITIC-eu in making STEAM education more inclusive and inspiring for the next generation.

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Ultimately, the true impact of EITIC-EU is grounded and highly practical. We know that a single two-year project won’t erase the gender gap in science and technology overnight. However, what we are building is a permanent, tangible toolkit, tested, translated, and ready for teachers to simply pick up and use in their everyday lesson plans. The real success of this initiative lies in those quiet, classroom moments: when a student realizes that problem-solving isn’t a «boys’ subject,» or when a girl in a rural school hears from a female engineer and thinks, I could do that too. By providing schools with accessible methods and connecting them with real role models, we are steadily dismantling old stereotypes and leaving behind a foundation that will outlast the project itself.