Behind the Meet and Code initiative are the organizing partners Haus des Stiftens für Unternehmen & Non-Profits gGmbH (Haus des Stiftens), TechSoup Europe along with the respective country partners in the TechSoup Europe network and the main donor partner Amazon, which enables the initiative within the framework of Amazon Future Engineer by providing financial support and know-how. Haus des Stiftens is responsible for the initiative and the organization of the charitable project. TechSoup Europe coordinates the funding and operation of the project through the responsible non-profit country partners of the TechSoup Europe network. The TechSoup Europe partners are responsible for coordinating the initiative and selecting the event applications to be supported in their respective countries. Meet and Code was originally developed by Haus des Stiftens, SAP and TechSoup Europe.
Haus des Stiftens is a social enterprise and works with committed companies that want to realise their social responsibility. It focuses on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
TechSoup Europe is part of the TechSoup Global Network. In Europe, the network consists of 25 partner organizations reaching more than 485,000 non-profit organizations in 48 countries. The network equips changemakers with IT products, knowledge, and services so they may benefit from technology and focus on their mission to bring about positive social change.
The goal of Meet and Code is to introduce children and young people to technology and coding. The events are designed to show young people how much fun coding can be, and how it can help bring innovation to life. Participants learn how technology works and how IT affects our daily lives. By exploring a broad range of tech, digital topics, and creative coding, they will be encouraged to develop the skills they need for tomorrow's competitive digital economy.
The EU Code Week initiative was launched in 2013 by the Young Advisors, an advisory group of former EU Commissioner for Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, and is supported by the European Commission. This year, the EU Code Week will take place from 14-27 October 2024.
Meet and Code promotes computer science and technology related events and is specially aligned to EU Code Week. €500 is funded for each event. Meet and Code events commence on 17 June and take place until 31 October 2024. The initiative also supports event organizers and trainers by collecting and sharing content and resources via the Meet and Code Inspiration Library.
The target group for the events are children and young people, who are to be introduced to the world of technology and coding. We focus on youth with underserved and underrepresented backgrounds.
Different social groups, such as schools, IT professionals, companies or computer clubs may plan and implement events for children and youth. To receive funding, the event promoter or organizer must be a charitable organization, such as a school, development association etc.
Event ideas must be submitted online on www.meet-and-code.org between 22 May and 30 September 2024. Organizations are welcome to submit several different event ideas. Every event idea is assessed by the respective TechSoup partner. The best ideas will then receive grant money of €500.
More information about the conditions of participation can be found here.
Possible events include hackathons, coding workshops, lectures, film events, competitions, coding nights, robotics classes - the more creative, the better. The sky is the limit!
Need some inspiration? If you are looking for motivation or free resources for an event, presentation or workshop, visit our Meet and Code Inspiration Library.
The Meet and Code initiative supports digital and coding events in the following countries:
Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, the United Kingdom and Ukraine.
Meet the team behind Meet and Code. We are responsible for the Europe-wide coordination of the initiative.
The European Meet and Code Team. From left to right: Franziska Rhiel, Haus des Stiftens; Nina Reichle, Haus des Stiftens; Valentyna Loban, Haus des Stiftens; Łucja Kornaszewska, TechSoup Europe; Urszula Leszczyńska, TechSoup Europe.
Meet your local team in your country! They ensure that you can easily apply for Meet and Code in your country and always receive all the support you may need during the process.
Enclude team: Marge Fitzsimons
French - français
Dutch - dutch