Markers United - Belgian-French cooperation for Europe

This event gave young creators the opportunity to exchange ideas around their interest in digital DIY, get to know each other, and create a network of young European creators. A consortium of 2 organizations: Digijeunes, The Creative VOICE respectively based in France, Belgium, is leading the initiative. There were 2 workshops; at each session, all participants from the 2 countries came together via a video conversation from their own computer at home. The aim of each session: explore how creative technologies and digital technologies can help tackle problems arising from environmental and sustainability, health and social reforms that people across Europe are struggling with.

Young participants showed some of the projects they had worked on before. They were able to make their own voices heard on the issues, as well as express the thinking behind their projects and success stories. Another incentive was to motivate young people to continue their involvement in the local creative communities in Toulouse and Ghent, and to open up to the international creative community. Working together meant transcending national borders and value systems.

Three cheers for De creatieve STEM and their French partner Dijijeunes who won the Meet and Code 'Code for Europe' award. The jury praised their international initiative and passionate and original approach. Together with a group of teenagers, they looked for solutions to practical problems of the corona pandemic during 3 online sessions. In Belgium, they created a special mouth mask to ensure social distancing, and the French teenagers went to work to create a smart hands-free soap dispenser.

The aim was to introduce young people to electronic prototyping and physical computing. The emphasis was on letting the young people discover and experience how small and fascinating the step is between inventing and "making" with technology. This is also central to the worldwide 'Makers' movement of which The Creative STEM and their partner are apart.

During the virtual Meet and Code Awards ceremony on March 16th, 2021, the "Markers United" project was chosen as the first winner ever of the "Code for Europe" category of Meet and Code 2020. Congratulations!