STEM Up Your Future!: Climate Change as a Gateway to STEM Education

In Italy humanistic studies traditionally dominate over STEM subjects, a trend reflected both in the curriculum and in extracurricular activities. The “STEM Up Your Future!” project, funded by Fondo per la Repubblica Digitale (https://www.fondorepubblicadigitale.it/)), addresses this imbalance by using climate change as a central theme to engage students and the wider school community.

Tackling climate change requires study, research, and teamwork in multidisciplinary groups, with STEM disciplines playing a crucial role. The topic spans numerous technical-scientific fields, some of which will be explored through training and guidance activities tailored to the local context in which students live.

The project has a dual aim: i) to enhance knowledge of STEM pathways at both school and university levels for high school students, helping to reduce the gender gap in the choice of scientific study programs, and ii) to increase awareness of technical-scientific careers in both the private sector and public administration.

Through a practical, context-based approach, the project introduces students to a variety of technical-scientific disciplines and guides topics of critical importance for the future. Key areas include:

• Weather and urban climate: studying current and future atmospheric conditions in cities;
• Energy and energy transition: technologies and strategies for a sustainable future;
• Hydrology and territory: water management and soil stewardship;
• Physical geography: mapping and analysing the environment with advanced tools;
• Data analysis: processing and interpreting environmental data.

The planned activities target student training and guidance, teacher professional development, and family awareness. The initiative involves five high school partners located in Milan and Monza (northern Italy), with over 50 participating classes and around 1000 students. For supporting laboratory activities, monitoring stations for the acquisition of weather data (precipitation, temperature, etc.) and hydrological data (evaporation and soil moisture) have been installed in all the schools, and they will remain available even after the end of the project.