Young digital makers – how can we unlock the potential of young people for digital creativity?
Moderator: Ms Annika Ostergren Pofantis, DG Connect, European Commission

Young children and teenagers are innately creative and are drawn to activities through which they can create new objects and artefacts and solve problems. Technology can help nurture creativity both within and outside of school. In the school context, digital creativity can be found in many subject areas, from art, music to sports lessons. Digital making can also be ‘cross curricular’ in its nature which can be both a challenge and an opportunity. Many young people learn digital making skills in schools but off the timetable in lunchtime or afternoon clubs.

The discussion will focus on what steps different stakeholders such as policy makers, digital professionals and parents can take to provide young people with more opportunities to deepen their digital creativity and how education can better engage young people in activities that are relevant to their interests and passions.

Panel:

• Mr Jochen Didden, ICT and Media, Lego education, Belgium
• Ms Sofia Reis, eTwinning teacher, Portugal
• Mr Ross O’Neill, Community Lead, Coder Dojo Foundation, Ireland
• Ms Delphine Schram, ERSILIA project, Le Bal, France
• Ms Kristel Rillo, Ministry of Education, Estonia

Digital creativity and maker skills – the role of teacher education
Moderator: Mr Jan de Craemer, Ministry of Education Flanders 

 Are teachers confident enough to unlock their own creativity? Makerspaces, hackerspaces, tinkering – are these hypes in education or central to the future of good teaching? Much will be determined by how teachers are trained and what opportunities they get to develop professionally.  Technologies change continuously. This poses a challenge to the professional development of teachers. How can teacher training empower teachers for life-long learning in a digital age? What can ministries do to support teachers in fostering digital creativity in the classroom?

Panel:

• Prof Deirdre Butler, STEM Education, Innovation & Global Studies, Dublin City University
• Ms Angela Rees, Media in Action project, Pontydysgu, Wales
• Ms Nina Lindström, Strawbees Sweden
• Mr Oliver Quinlan, Research Manager, Raspberry Pi Foundation, UK
• Ms Karen Triquet, tMail project, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

Building the capacity of schools for digital creativity
Moderator: Ms Antoaneta Angelova-Krasteva, Director, DG Education, Culture, Youth and Sports, European Commission 

 Meet SELFIE: the new self-reflection tool to help schools understand where they are at in technology use for teaching and learning. SELFIE, developed by the European Commission with a team of experts from across Europe, was piloted in 14 countries in Autumn 2017 and will be scaled up to more countries and more languages in 2018.

The workshop will look at questions such as ‘How can digital technologies and in particular digital creativity become part of school culture?” What are the main roadblocks to a better and more pedagogical use of digital technologies in schools?’ and ‘What is the role of parents/carers?’.

Panel:

• Mr Panagiotis Kampylis, Joint Research Centre, European Commission, – DEMO – Introducing SELFIE – self-assessment tool for schools;
• Ms Daniela Sepanovic, Ministry of Education, Serbia
• Ms Rehana Schwinninger-Ladak, DG Connect, European Commission
• Mr Robbie O’Leary, Digital Schools of Distinction programme, Ireland
• Mr Borut Campelj, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, Slovenia

International entrepreneurship and digital creativity
Moderator: Ms Milena Stoycheva, CEO Junior Achievement Bulgaria 

Entrepreneurship is a key driver for job creation, growth and economic prosperity. It unlocks personal potential and can bring innovation of societal interests. Evidence shows that investing in entrepreneurship education has a positive impact on individuals and educational institutions as well as on the economy and society.
In the digital age, being entrepreneurial has close ties with digital creativity and entrepreneurs often use digital means to reach business and personal goals. Promoting entrepreneurship education at all levels of education and fostering an entrepreneurial mind-set are crucial factors to ensure young people are equipped with the skills, knowledge and attitudes needed for employability, active citizenship and new business creation.
This panel will look at good practices from the EU and beyond aiming to foster entrepreneurship and digital creativity.

The workshop will explore the topics of entrepreneurship and digital creativity through answering questions such as ‘How to support young people in developing innovation oriented and entrepreneurial mindset?’; ‘What role should business have in fostering entrepreneurship and digital creativity?’. How can countries – both in and beyond the EU – cooperate more on exchanging good practices in entrepreneurship and digital creativity?’

Panel:

• Mr Joseph Jeong, MIT trained entrepreneurship instructor and Founder of FutureHack Innovators Bootcamp
• Ms Aura Salla, Communication Adviser, European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC)
• Mr Georgi Kadriev, CEO, Imagga
• Ms Linda Frietman, Founder and CEO, Progrez

Mr Jean Deydier, Director, Emmaus Connect, France

Panelists

• Ms Mara Jakobsone, National Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition Latvia and Vice-President of the Latvian IKT association
• Ms Eva Maydell, Member of the European Parliament, Bulgaria
• Mr Adam Micklethwaite, Director of Digital Inclusion, Good Things Foundation, UK
• Ms Amanda Watkins, Assistant Director, European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education
• Mr Stuart Mclaughlin, Senior Regional Manager, Google.org

Panelists 

• Ms Neli Koleva, Director for Public Partnerships, Teach for Bulgaria
• Ms Begoña Arano, Head of Unit, DG Education, Culture, Youth and Sports, European Commission
• Mr Enrico Nardelli, President, Informatics Europe
• Mr Alexander Riedl, Deputy Head of Unit, DG Connect, European Commission
• Mr Martin Kern, Interim Director, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)

Moderator: Ms Denitsa Sacheva, Deputy Minister of Education and Science Bulgaria

Ms Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society.

Developing the digital competence of all citizens means mobilising many different players

In recent years, many companies, volunteers, parents and enthusiasts have been creating opportunities for young digital makers within and outside the classroom. The Digital Education Action Plan acknowledges the need to involve a wide range of education and training stakeholders including business, research, NGOs and non-formal education.

What motivates the many different volunteers, including NGOs, public bodies and businesses to get involved in fostering digital creativity? How can we support and scale up this digital-making ecosystem? – these and other questions will be discussed in the course of the panel discussion.

Panelist:

• Ms Anna Dimitrova, Member of the Executive Board, Vodafone Germany,
• Mr Danijel Bačelić, Industry Solutions Executive for Education, CEE Multi Country Europe region, Microsoft
• Ms Maria Brauchle, Scientix, Approaching the digital gap in the classroom
• Ms Ilona Kish, Director, Public Libraries 2020 Programme
• Mr Marc Durando, Executive Director, EUN/European Schoolnet

Education and industry partnerships for creating with technology
Moderator: Ms Maria Todorova, Director, Ministry of Education and Science, Bulgaria 

Many companies, large and small across Europe, are offering digital creativity opportunities to young people. Industry involvement takes many forms: providing staff, mentoring schemes, equipment, venues and funding.

The panel will look at the ways to best encourage more education-business partnerships, so both sectors can benefit and the ways in which limits and restrictions in such partnerships can be overcome.

Panel:

• Mr Svetlin Nakov, Training and Inspiration Manager, Software University Bulgaria (tbc)
• Ms Elena Coman, Programme Director TechSoup, Romania
• Mr Steen Hertzum Kirchhoff, Coding School, Danish IT Industry Association
• Mr Anastas Shopov, Bulgarian Association of Information Technologies (BAIT) and ERP Academy

STE(A)M – how to attract more students to tech studies and jobs?
Moderator: Ms Paolina Gadjulova, Digital mentor, Bulgaria 

A sufficient supply of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills and qualification is vital for growth, innovation and competitiveness in Europe. A mix of social, cultural, economic and educational factors explains why STEM studies and careers can be less attractive for young people. Of particular concern is the persistent under-representation of female students and graduates in many STEM fields. Policy makers, educators and STEM-focused companies are trying to motivate more students to develop an interest in STEM.

The panel will discuss questions such as: ‘What is working and not working in the many STEM promotion activities across Europe? ‘; ‘What is the main added value of adding the ‘A’ in STE(A)M? Is the A in STEAM a synonymous with creativity? ‘and ‘How can we encourage more mentoring schemes and reach students at an early age? ‘

Panel:

• Mr Achilles Kameas, School of Science and Technology, Hellenic Open University
• Mr Alexei Hristov, Chairman, Natural Sciences Olympic Teams Association (NSOTA)
• Emil Kolev, Director, High School Students’ Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgaria
• Ms Elpida Makrygianni, Advisor for STEM Network, Pre-University Engineering Education Outreach, University College London
• Ms Eleonora Pavlova, Teacher, Varna, Bulgaria

Gender equality in digital studies and careers
Moderator: Ms Teodora Raychinova, Digital Policy Consultant, Hanover Communications 

A recent study about Women in the Digital Age highlights the problem of fewer female students interested in participating in the digital sector, be it higher education, jobs or entrepreneurship. Only 24 out of every 1000 females graduate in an ICT related subject – of which a meagre 6 go on to work in the digital sector. The Digital Education Action Plan, launched by the European Commission earlier this year also highlights the problem of fewer female students pursing studies in ICT, science, technology, engineering, mathematics studies and careers. Although the digital sector is rapidly growing, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs every year, the share of women in the sector is decreasing. If more women were to enter the digital jobs market it could improve equality and competitiveness and create an annual 16 billion euros GDP boost for the European economy. The underlining questions remains: what could be done to increase the participation of women in the digital sector?
We will look at whether girls and young women approach digital creativity in a different way to male students and how we can ensure that women have an equal share in creating and shaping the digital world. We will also look at the experience of initiatives dedicated to girls and women, such as coding clubs.

Panel:

• Ms Bianka Siwinska, Executive director of Educational Foundation Perspektywy Poland
• Mr Laurent Roux, European Institute of Innovation and Technology (tbc)
• Ms Carlota Tarin, Consultancy Area Manager, ICLaves
• Ms Sasha Bezuhanova, Founder of MOVE.BG and EDIT network

The role of non-formal education and training in digital creativity
Moderator: Ms Gabriela Ruseva, All Digital  

Many exciting abd ground-breaking activities in digital creation are being driven by the non-formal sector (NGOs, grassroots, community centres, fab labs, libraries, etc.) and many of these take place outside school hours. For some learners this is their only experience of digital creativity. For most, it’s a space for experimentation, learning-by-doing, peer-learning. We look at “digital creativity” from a broader perspective as empowering everyone with the skills they need to create with digital tools according to their needs, so to create anything from a word document or a photo through blogs and discussions, multimedia, etc.
During the session we will look at the added value of non-formal education in teaching digital skills and the ways in which in which such opportunities can reach everyone. Also, the workshop will discuss how non-formal learning can support formal learning and the ways in which the formal learning can support non-formal.

Panel:

• Mr João Carlos Martins de Sousa, Ministry of Education, Portugal
• Prof Jackie Marsh, Makey EU project, University of Sheffield, UK,
• Ms Veronique de Leener, Founder and Director, MAKS, Belgium
• Dr Samia Ghozlane, Managing Director, Grand Ecole du Numérique, France
• Ms Karolina Cikowska, Founder, Girls Code Fun Foundation, Poland