Municipal technology centres

Children working with Lego. Photo: Fia Juréen

This is the basic idea behind municipal technology centres - an idea and concept that was developed by the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (Nutek) in co-operation with the Swedish National Labour Market Board (AMS).

Two problems

Two problems for Sweden as an industrial nation form the background to the launch of the centre concept: too few people choose to study technology and science, and too few women enrich the engineering community with their ideas and experience.

Pleasure and joy

Nutek´s idea and concept of the technology centres contains certain standard elements but has also plenty of room for local adjustments. One regular element is a pedagogical approach that builds on the pleasure of creating things with the aid of technology a pleasure that gives inspiration to seek and acquire knowledge.

Fifty percent girls

It is a great challenge to find approaches and methods which promote not only boys but also girls technology development. For this reason half of the places at municipal technology centres are intended for girls and women - this is an integral part of Nutek´s idea and concept.

A motor for pedagogical reorientation

In order to recruit and retain girls a reorientation is required as far as both content and teaching methods are concerned. The whole of society has a lot to gain from a broadening of technical studies, so that more areas may be enriched by the creativity of persons with a technical background. Such areas can be theatre, art, music, and sport, but also science and ecology.

One way of stimulating a broadening of technology as a school subject is co-operation between the technology centres and municipal music and culture schools, nature schools, and science centres. In municipal technology centres it is possible for girls and boys to start their training when they are six years old and continue until they finish upper secondary school.

Children and young people from other cultures are an important target group. For many of them the technology centres can be a way of acquiring knowledge that they were not offered where they lived earlier but is part of the culture of industrial countries.

Attractive meetingplaces

For the technology centres to become educative resources and attractive meeting-places, it is necessary to engage capable and committed instructors and adequate equipment in the form of tools, instruments, materials, books, etc.

Appropriate premises within easy reach are also important as well as opening hours that will suit all categories of people.