07 February 2011

Science at its Best: Danish Education Minister supports European Teaching Festival

(Berlin/Copenhagen, 07/02/2011) From 16-19 April 2011, the Science on Stage festival will take place in Copenhagen. Danish education minister Tina Nedergaard appreciates the festival's purpose to enhance science education in school. Under the motto "Science Teaching: Winning Hearts and Minds", around 350 teachers from across Europe will present innovative teaching ideas and concepts in the fields of science and engineering in workshops, on-stage performances, speeches, and in a fair. How can interdisciplinary teaching and inquiry-based learning be implemented in class? In which way can new technologies be used in school? Numerous projects and experiments will address these questions and cover topics from kindergarten to secondary school. The aim of exchanging teaching ideas is to improve European science teaching and thus encourage more schoolchildren to consider a career in science or engineering. 

Danish education minister Tina Nedergaard explains: "The Danish Ministry of Education warmly supports the idea and content of this festival. It falls in line with the overall goals in "ET 2020": The European strategy for cooperation within education and training towards 2020." On stage and in the fair, projects shown will include Choco-Science, in which chemistry is presented at its best; a show on hearing the light and seeing the sound; high-voltage in the classroom; and experiments with magic fire. 

As the main sponsor of the festival, the Danish Ministry of Education is contributing to the continuation of a series of European festivals which were launched in 2000 by EIROforum, a partnership of European intergovernmental research organisations, with co-funding by the European Commission until 2008. In 2008, under the guidance of Science on Stage Germany, the 27 European countries involved established the initiative Science on Stage Europe and now strive towards alternative funding. More information on visiting the festival can be found at www.science-on-stage.eu.