Science and Universities

STEAMConf Barcelona is an international learning conference based on STEAM methodology. This 9th edition will take place around the Ciutadella Park, in the framework of La Ciutadella Knowledge Hub, an international complex, in progress, of research and transversal innovation around human and planetary health. From 18 to 20 April, the UPF Ciutadella Campus, the Espai Vela, the UPC’s Faculty of Nautical Sciences, the Pasqual Maragall Foundation and the Ciutadella Park will host workshops, activities aimed at students and immersive sessions, as well as ten talks with twelve internationally renowned personalities in the sector.

The STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) methodology focuses on problem solving through the integration of these five disciplines in the teaching and learning process. At this year’s STEAMConf Barcelona, the emphasis will be on deepening the interaction and experience between a growing network of schools committed to educational transformation and cutting-edge science and technology. The common purpose of this edition is to bring the classroom closer to the real world and in search of solutions to real challenges at the same time to activate intergenerational engagement between the adults of today and those of tomorrow.

STEAMConf 2022 is organised by the Science in Society Foundation, the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Pompeu Fabra University, the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Pompeu Fabra University, the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) and the STEAM Programme of the Angeleta Ferrer Institute of Barcelona, in collaboration with the Barcelona City Council, through the Department of Science and Technology of the University of Barcelona.

The STEAMConf Barcelona programme

The event will start with a performative welcome to the participants, a space to share stories, make connections, start the STEAM challenge and start partnerships. This will be followed by 13 immersive sessions; 24 workshops, to explore and deepen with hands, mind and passion specific aspects or ideas of the learning process; 12 local experiences; and 13 sessions aimed at students, to share how they have acquired the knowledge they have learned.

On the other hand, the conference, which opens with a talk by Rochelle Gutiérrez, professor of mathematics education at the University of Illinois (USA) on how to re-humanise mathematics in the face of the uncertainty of today’s world through creative insubordination, also brings together other experts with a long and committed history of bringing the classroom closer to the real world, with a cross-disciplinary approach.

In addition, María del Mar Patrón Vázquez and Nuvia Crisol Ruland; Sunny Down Summers and Alaiana Carter with Randi Williams; Scott Bold with Diane Brancazio and Justin Schmidt; Barbara Donnici with Elèna Sofia Paoli and Patricia Castanheira, will offer conversations from their professional point of view on the relationship between play, science and technology, Big Picture Learning, the arts in educational processes, among many others.