Envisioning and Co-designing the Future of STE(A)M Education and Research in Europe

While STEM graduates are on high demand, the interest of students to uptake STEM education is not matching industry need, creating a growing gap of experts. Enriching STEM with the Arts, creativity and interdisciplinary approach (STEAM) seems a promising avenue. This research, part of an EU-funded project to develop policies and recommendations for STE(A)M research in the Horizon Europe funding program, is based on a foresight methodology conducted through twelve workshops with a broad range of stakeholders. Results provide evidence of current and future trends and needs in the context of higher education, including the need for career design support and exploration along the learning continuum, more collaborations with industry and civic organization for a systemic change toward challenge-based education, potentially facilitated by AI, and the need to offer and test a variety of interdisciplinary learning opportunities to accommodate learners’ diversity.