On Friday, 5 July, at the LAMPA Conversation Festival, which will take place in Cesis, Latvia, everyone will have the opportunity to get acquainted with the opportunities offered by the Science and Innovation Centres (IC) in the STEM field, participate in interactive activities and take part in a science theatre performance.
Science and Education Innovation Centre (ZIIC) of the Liepaja Education Board and the Daugavpils Innovation Centre (DIC) will participate with their offered activities in the Norwegian tent held by the Ministry of Finance.
On 5 July at 18.00, on the Norwegian tent stage ZIIC will host the performance “Science Theatre Performance”. During the performance, festival visitors will be able to explore the fascinating world of STEM with actor Pēteris Lapiņš, who combines acting with his passion for physics and chemistry.
At the same time, on 5 July, throughout the day at the Norwegian tent, ZIIC and DIC representatives will offer a variety of interactive activities for the festival’s visitors. ZIIC will invite visitors to explore such topics as nature and environmental research, educational technology and digital production. Visitors will be able to explore teaching and research tools as well as good practice examples of how educational innovations are implemented in Liepāja. DIC will offer visitors to test their knowledge of STEM fields in interactive quizzes, try out various technological equipment and engage in other activities, learning more about the opportunities offered by innovation centres.
In the festival activity “miniLAMPA”, the Space Discovery Centre (KIC) in collaboration with Research Latvia will offer visitors the opportunity to perform various tasks and find out what each of us can do for the development of the space. On 5 July, from 16.00 to 17.30, the discussion “Latvia as a space superpower?” will take place on the Cēsis stage. The discussion will look at how Latvia can become a major player in the global space industry and will analyse Latvia’s achievements in space research and technology development to date, as well as possible challenges.
The Norwegian tent stage discussions and activities will be streamed live on the European Economic Area and Norway Grants Programme (EEA/NFI) Facebook page. More information on the activities offered by the IC can be found on the LAMPA website as well as on the EEA/NFI Facebook page.
With the support of the EEA/NIF, four innovation centres were established in Latvia – in Liepāja, Daugavpils, Cēsis and Ventspils. The aim of these centres is to promote young people’s knowledge development and career choices in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields. In total, more than EUR 7 million was invested in the implementation of the Innovation Centres projects, of which 85% was co-financed by EEA/NIFF and 15% by the State Budget. Each Innovation Centre was developed in its own thematic area of specialisation: the KIC in Cesis – space discory topic , the DIC – in entrepreneurship and career development in STEM, the ZIIC – in environmental sciences, and the science centre VIZIUM in Ventspils – in life sciences and information and communication technologies. The main target groups of the Innovation Centres are pre-school children, pupils, students, teachers and families.
IC projects have included the development and implementation of educational programmes for learners and educators to acquire and develop STEM knowledge, teacher training in STEM and teaching methodology, workshops, off-centre events, science camps and other activities, setting up co-working spaces and co-labs and providing free access for learners and educators, covering transport costs to ensure access of Latvian learners and educators to the Innovation Centre’s educational interactive activities and other activities. The implementation of all projects was completed in April this year.
IC’s participation in the festival marks the end of the European Economic Area and Norway Grants Programme activity “Innovation Centres” in Latvia.
The “Innovation Centres” activity is one of the components of the Research and Education Programme, financially supported by the EEA/NIF. The programme is implemented in Latvia by the Ministry of Education and Science and the State Education Development Agency.
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