Presented by
Theo Anagnostopoulos
STEMpowering Youth is a unique educational program targeting young students (age 12-17), educators and remote communities in Greece. The programme differs significantly from other STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) activities, since it brings together young students and educators out of schooling in order to work together and develop their ideas into real-life projects that solve local community problems. Educators from remote areas are invited to SciCo’s premises for a comprehensive training on the programme’s curriculum and for acquiring the necessary skills, they will use afterwards, to train young students. Students identify themselves, the most impeding challenges of their community and build their own projects for resolving social and environmental challenges while interacting with local stakeholders. Through STEMpowering Youth, students, work in teams and get exposed to state-of-the-art STEM methodologies including sensors, Arduinos, coding etc., provided by the programme. A digital platform facilitates the above by providing necessary material, showcasing developed projects and fostering communication among educators from different areas who otherwise would not have even met. Through this experience, students feel empowered and acquire critical thinking and problem-solving skills, increasing their future employability and career opportunities.
STEMpowering Youth was recently renamed to “Generation Next” and remains the result of a dynamic collaboration among “SciCo”, a Nonprofit organization leading in science communication, “Vodafone Foundation”, a private corporation and “Ellinogermaniki Agogi” a school with focusing particularly in Science Education.
More information about
Theo Anagnostopoulos, SciCo – Science Communication, Founder and General Manager
Theo Anagnostopoulos is a social entrepreneur, a science communicator and a public speaker. He is the Founder and General Manager of SciCo, an international social enterprise aiming to make science and technology simple and understandable to the public and to various stakeholder groups. He is also the Co-Founder of the “Athens”, “Thessaloniki” “Patras”, “Thessaly”, and “Mediterranean” Science Festivals, “Mind the Lab”, the “School Lab” international teaching platform, “STEMpowering Youth”, “Celebrity Science”. Theo holds a PhD in Medical Genetics from Kings College London and his Post-Doctoral Research work was in hereditary cancer. In 2011 he was nominated by UNESCO Greece for the Kalinga Science Popularization Prize and in 2012 he trained with Al Gore to become one of Climate Reality Project Ambassadors. From 2013 to 2017 he was the President of the Onassis Foundation Scholar’s Association. In February 2017 he won the British Council Alumni UK social Impact Award. He is the first Greek to become an Ashoka Fellow. Theo was a finalist in Falling Walls Engage 2018 with Mind the Lab and the winner of the Mariano Gago Award at “Ecsite” conference 2019 for STEMpowering Youth. Theo has travelled to 92 countries in six continents.