From 8th to 10th November 2023, the kick-off meeting of the new Erasmus+ project Development Lab was held in Šiaulių, Lithuania. At the meeting, partner organisations defined details related to project management and individual partner tasks, work schedule and details of the implementation of the initial project activities, which include the creation of a manual for teachers and its testing in partner schools.

In addition to participating in the meeting, our hosts, representatives of Šiaulių Technical Center for young people, introduced their premises and activities they implement in their communities. This gave us valuable opportunity to share ideas and experiences concerning implementation of STEM and STEAM related activities in partner organisations and in national contexts. We also visited “Sauletekio” Gymnasium, another DevLab project partner, where we got the chance to learn about similarities and differences between Lithuanian and Croatian high school education. In this high school, students have at their exposal a superbly equipped STE(A)M laboratory, a rugby field, a quiet room for meditation and rest. As a part of their school activities, students learn to sew and cook, and they can spend their free time playing billiards, chess or table tennis in the school corridors.

We also participated in the final event of the Makeathon competition, organized by Šiaulių Technical Center, in which high school students designed AI solutions for the improvement of their city. The winning team, which designed a language mobile application, won a prize of 500 euros.

Development lab project is financed from the Erasmus+ program and is implemented through 12 months. Project coordinator is Šiaulių tëršinės štravīvos centras from Lithuania, while partners are Technical Culture Center Rijeka (Croatia), Ljudevit Adamić Gymnasium Rijeka (Croatia) and Šiaulių “Saulekio” Gymnasium (Lithuania).