Etopia will have the first European Steam office from 2025

The Etopia Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology Centre will have its first European Steam office from the second half of January. Located in Zaragoza, it will be led by the Edelvives Group and will aim to generate activities that promote this methodology in order to explore the existing gaps at the educational level so that they are encouraged in schools and generate vocations related to what will be the careers of the future.

The Steambrace project, which will last three years, has 2,884,085 euros of European funding and is based on three key elements: inclusion, reducing the gender gap and positioning Zaragoza as a benchmark in Steam education and technology throughout Europe.

Etopia will be the place where different training activities will be held for students aged 11 to 18, as well as talks for teachers and other professionals. Local and national educational centres, some of them Steam certified, will travel to the site to pick them up.

“The interest of the proposal is a scientific note that will ultimately generate an application that will be used in schools in Aragon, Spain and Europe. The intention of the European Commission with this project is ultimately to develop a methodology that will then be applied in European schools, but that will be born here in Zaragoza,” explained the general director of the Edelvives Group, Javier Cendoya.

A CITY OF REFERENCE

The Mayor of Zaragoza, Natalia Chueca, has highlighted this alliance for the impact it could have on the city. Especially when in the last year more than 40 billion euros of investment have been reported from technology companies that want to set up in Aragon or when the Ministry of Defence sees the importance of creating a technological hub in this environment.

“Our role is to facilitate the generation of these vocations in today’s children who will be the adults and professionals of tomorrow so that the city’s talent responds to the needs of the market and the jobs that are being generated and will be generated in the coming years,” Chueca stressed.

PROGRAM CONTENTS

The programme to be launched by Grupo Edelvives and Zaragoza City Council from Steambrace will consist of a varied number of proposals based on the premise of universality, with the capacity to be introduced in all partner countries of the European Union.

During the next three years, STEAM activities and training will be organised for students and academic professionals. In addition, national and European congresses and competitions will be organised in this area, joining forces to awaken vocations in these fields, with special emphasis on increasing interest among women.