ESERO Belgium signs agreement with Ministry of German-speaking community and Autonome Hochschule Eupen
Wednesday 24 October 2018, the European Space Education Resource Office (ESERO) in Belgium has formalised its collaboration with the Ministry of the German-speaking community in Belgium and the Autonome Hochschule (AHS) in Eupen, to deliver STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) support to teachers and schools.
The collaboration agreement was signed by Harald Mollers, Minister for Education and Scientific research, Antoine Hubert, director of Succy SPRL, ESERO Belgium operator, and Stephan Boemer, principal of the AHS Eupen, the independent school of higher education in the German-speaking region of Belgium. The AHS Eupen has departments for nursing practice and for teacher training, including pre-service and in-service teacher training for primary level and kindergarten.
To celebrate the signatures, paper rockets were launched by pupils from the Oberstadt primary school in Eupen who built the rockets as part of a design-thinking activity typical of those delivered by ESEROs.
A collaborative project between ESA and BELSPO, the Belgian Science Policy Office, ESERO Belgium is a project that makes use of space themes to support national school education in STEM fields. ESERO Belgium’s offer in the German-speaking community includes teacher training, classroom resources and practical and financial support to teachers for STEM projects in the classroom.
Not only is space known to be an inspirational context in support of school education, it is also one of the priority sectors for Belgium. As one of the founding member states of ESA, Belgium has a long history in space activities, such as in the field of satellite navigation and Earth Observation, and is currently the fifth largest contributor to ESA.
ESERO Belgium is operated by Succy SPRL which partners with important players in the national education field in all three language regions, including regional governments, universities, teacher training colleges, schools throughout Belgium and several research organisations.
In addition to strong national connections, ESERO Belgium will benefit from the experience of the ESERO network across Europe that has been supporting national school STEM education since 2006. The ESERO network currently covers 16 member states through 14 offices.
About the ESERO Project
ESERO is ESA’s flagship educational project targeting primary and secondary school education in Europe. In particular, the scientific and inquiry-based methodology used across the project and the continuous links to advanced space research aims at bridging the gap between the STEM theory taught at school and the real practice of science. Through offices established nationally, ESERO mostly trains teachers so that they can bring space to the classroom and make their lessons more inspiring and effective.
The ESERO objective is to enhance the literacy, skills, and competences of school pupils in STEM disciplines starting at an early age, with the final aim of encouraging them to pursue STEM studies and careers. In addition, the ESERO project also raises awareness about the importance of space activities for modern society and economy and about the large range of career prospects in the space sector.
The European network of ESERO offices is managed and coordinated by ESA and now covers 16 ESA Member States: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.
Preparations are currently ongoing to establish ESERO Offices in Italy, France and Hungary.
Contact ESERO Belgium:
Antoine Hubert
Email: contact@eserobelgium.be
Telephone: (+32) 472 244 687