About

Behind Meet and Code

Behind Meet and Code are the founding partners SAP, Haus des Stiftens gGmbH, TechSoup Europe with the respective country partners of the TechSoup Europe network. In 2020, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community (BMI) became part of the project as a partner in the framework of the German EU presidency and beyond, focusing on EU countries. SAP and BMI enable Meet and Code through financial support and providing resources for nonprofits. Haus des Stiftens gGmbH is responsible for the initiative, for the selection of the projects in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as general management of the project. TechSoup Europe coordinates the funding and operations by the responsible managing country partners of the TechSoup Europe network. TechSoup Europe partners are responsible for coordinating the initiative and selecting the events to be supported in their respective countries. Meet and Code was co-developed by Haus des Stiftens and SAP.

Haus des Stiftens, a charitable limited company in Germany, operates the IT portal Stifter-helfen in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The Stifter-helfen IT portal provides non-profit organizations in these countries with product donations and special conditions from well-known IT companies as well as know-how about modern technologies. In Germany, the IT portal was launched in 2008, in Austria in 2012 and in Switzerland in 2013.

TechSoup Europe is a part of the TechSoup Global Network. Together with 24 partner organizations representing many different areas including: capacity building, civic engagement, social innovation, and digital inclusion etc, helping more than 400,000 nonprofits in 48 European countries build their capacity. The network equips changemakers with IT products, knowledge, and services so they may benefit from technology and focus on their mission to make social change.

Goal

The goal of Meet and Code is to introduce children and young people between the ages of 8 and 24 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 Idea

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 9-24 October 2021.

Meet and Code promotes science and technology-related events and is specially aligned to EU Code Week. Up to 500€ is funded for each event. Meet and Code events commence on 1 September and take place until 31 October 2021. The initiative also supports event organisers and trainers by collecting and sharing content and resources via the Meet and Code Inspiration Library.

Target Group

The target group for the events are children and young people between 8 and 24 years, who are to be introduced to the world of technology and coding.

Event Organisers

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 organiser must be a charitable organisation, such as a school development association etc.

Applications

Event ideas must be submitted online on www.meet-and-code.org from 1 June until 8 September 2021. Organisations are welcome to submit several different event ideas. Every event idea is assessed by the TechSoup partner. The best ideas will then receive grant money up to 500 €.

More information about the conditions of participation can be found here.

Event Formats

Possible events include hackathons, coding workshops, lectures, film events, competitions, coding nights, robotics classes - the more creative, the better. The sky is the limit!

Please note that this year Meet and Code is happening online, therefore only online events will be funded. 

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.

Countries

The Meet and Code initiative supports digital and coding events in the following countries:

Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Ukraine.

Our Team

Meet the team members from all organizations that are behind Meet and Code. We are responsible for the Europe-wide coordination of the initiative.

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.