Entrepreneurship
Theme: Innovation
Cross-cutting themes covered: Enterprise and education
Name of project: Science and Technology Centre
City: Hamburg
What is it? The Science and Technology Centre promotes innovation among pupils aged between seven and 19, running classroom-laboratories where young people from across the region can carry out hands-on scientific experiments in life science, chemistry and physics.
Who is it? The Science and Technology Centre is part of the Institute for Teacher Training and School Development, managed by the Hamburg School Board.
Where is it? The Centre is located within the Mümmelmannsberg locality, a deprived residential area with a high proportion of high-rise social housing, and a higher than average rate of unemployment and benefits claimants. The Centre works closely with the comprehensive school in Mümmelmannsberg.
Who funds it? The project is financed by the Institute for Teacher Training and School Development.
How does it work? Innovation workshops: The courses run by the centre encourage students to become more inventive and to pursue job opportunities in innovative fields. For example, the Aviation Workshop introduces students to the subject of aviation, giving them an insight into which professions exist in this sector. In the workshop, students learn about the basics of flying and aerodynamics from self-built models and computer simulations.
Innovation careers advice: For older students, the course is supplemented with information on aviation industry jobs.
Anything else? Provides role models for young people: Industry representatives act as role models to the young people visiting the centre. The centre has built up a network of local actors and companies, giving young people the opportunity to find out first hand about career opportunities in innovative sectors.
Overcoming prejudices: The Centre helps overcome prejudices on both sides – young people can gain the confidence to pursue careers they perhaps had not considered before, and employers can get to know potential future apprentices or employees.
What are the results? Wide usage: The courses offered by the Science and Technology Centre are widely used by Hamburg schools, particularly from the local school in the deprived urban area of Mümmelmannsberg.
Is it successful? Role models: Building partnerships with local firms has proved a particularly successful aspect of the scheme, allowing young people to learn first-hand about working in an innovative high-tech sector.
Is the model transferable ? Large elements of this case study are transferable, for example, offering high-technology focused courses to promote an innovation culture among young people. The provision of role models for young people is also transferable.
Locating city-wide initiatives in deprived urban areas, thus giving deprived target groups better access to facilities, is also a replicable element of this initiative.
Building on local competitive advantages? It was relatively easy to establish this Centre in Mümmelmannsberg because there was a lot of space within the school in question. The school was designed nearly 30 years ago for more pupils than are living in this area at present.
What are the barriers to transferability? A partnership approach is vital to ensuring success. Project success depends on the will among schools and local partners to establish such a centre. In Hamburg, there was pressure from science teachers (based at the Institute) to promote science in schools. Project partners were also able to draw on their experience of setting up a similar centre for biology and environmental education, established almost 10 years before this centre. To drive such an idea forward, it is beneficial to establish a group of institutions that are interested in improving science education, in addition to schools.
Access to adequate financial resources and space is also vital. The concept of the Science and Technology Centre depends on public money and is not therefore financially self-sustainable.
The transferability of the model also depends on the school system, which must be flexible enough to allow for school classes or individual pupils to participate in full day courses.
