In her opening address, the Minister praised the work of the zdi networks and emphasised their importance for extracurricular support. The awarding of the zdi quality seals makes it clear that the strength of the zdi community lies in the high quality of its programmes, its nationwide structures and also in the continuous, needs-based development of its content.

Quality combined with innovation

The zdi quality seal is awarded annually by the MKW NRW to zdi networks that meet defined quality criteria. These include, amongst other things, a needs-based, target-group-specific programme, strong regional networking and a consistently high-quality portfolio of extracurricular STEM education. This year, a total of 46 zdi networks received the quality seal.

Minister for Science Ina Brandes said: “Training skilled workers is one of the major challenges of our time. The sooner we start to inspire young people, particularly in mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology, the better. We will only be able to tackle major challenges such as climate change and sustainable energy supply if we inspire young people to take an interest in STEM. Dedicated and experienced professionals are doing absolutely outstanding work in this regard within our zdi networks.”

STEM education firmly rooted in the region

The zdi-Zentrum BeST project aims to inspire school pupils from the Bergisch city triangle to take an interest in technology and the natural sciences. Since 2008, it has been run by the University of Wuppertal and funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the North Rhine-Westphalia Regional Directorate of the Federal Employment Agency. Through its extracurricular courses for pupils from Year 7 onwards, run in cooperation with regional companies, the zdi-Zentrum BeST not only creates opportunities to spark young people’s interest in science and technology careers at an early stage, but also offers companies the chance to recruit future talent.