Estonia Best Practice Increasing Women’s Participation and Improving their Professional Career in SET
Nº: 1 Name of the organization: QUIN-Estonia
Contact: Anne-Mari Rannamäe E-mail: [email protected] Function: CEO Website: http://www.quinest.ee/eng/index.htm Location: Tallinn Country: Estonia Objective and typology of the organization: NGO
Facts and figures regarding horizontal, vertical distribution of men and women: QUIN-Estonia has only female members (women inventors and innovators and entrepreneurs). The organization is a member of GWIIN (Global Women Inventors and Innovators Network) from April 2003.
Name of the best practice: Network of Creative and Innovative Women Year: 2001 Synthetic description: Enhancing the participation of women in innovation and improving realizing of innovative ideas in female entrepreneurship in Estonia Develop innovative approach creating necessary and suitable atmosphere or landscape for: innovative ideas; identification, analyses and protection of these ideas; marketing, testing and production procedures
Context of the action: QUIN-Estonia was established because: • associations of inventors do not attract women • many women do not consider themselves as inventors (even patent owners) • role of an inventor is very untraditional for Estonian women • to disseminate good practice of Scandinavian female inventors and innovators Researching “Women Entrepreneurs & Innovation”: Making overview about situation of female Entrepreneurship, Mapping problems, Designing possible solutions. Women’s view on themselves needs to be changed: Bringing more women into higher value markets Increasing value of women’s business activities Introducing good role models - women’s success stories How to best mobilize and support women: Supporting women entrepreneurs and innovation (local support system, EU support) Promoting female entrepreneurship at EU level and local level Good European and world practices in fostering women entrepreneurship Creating and developing an European Network for innovative female entrepreneurship Disseminating more information addressed to women only Mentoring of innovative activities and enterprises of women Raising finance for starting & growing business, based on innovation How QUIN-Estonia fosters innovation: Activating women to create ideas (courses, lectures, etc.) Idea contests just for women, girls Seminars just for women (creativity, intellectual property, etc.) Exhibitions of female patented ideas, innovations Knowledge based developing of ideas into goods, realizing them into entrepreneurship (courses, seminars, support systems, network, etc.) Enhancing co-operation with universities, schools to mobilize young people to creative activities
Results obtained so far, impacts on women’s career: Some promoting activities had been taken place, like fairs, exhibitions, Entrepreneurship Days, where women’s inventions had been acquainted. In association with Junior Achievement Estonia there has been promoting activities in schools for adolescents.
Successful aspects:
Estonia Best Practice Increasing Women’s Participation and Improving their Professional Career in SET
Nº: 2 Name of the organization: The Science Centre AHHAA Contact: Tiiu Sild E-mail: ahhaa@ahhaa.ee Function: CEO Website: http://www.ahhaa.ee Location: Tartu Country: Estonia Objective and typology of the organization: NGO (Foundation)
Facts and figures regarding horizontal, vertical distribution of men and women:
Number of Out of them members women Staff 8 3 Advisory board 6 1 Scientific board 11 1
Name of the best practice: Year: 1997 - ongoing Synthetic description: The mission of AHHAA is to introduce science to the whole public. Using interactive and entertaining methods, The AHHAA Centre tries to eliminate fear and prejudice to learning. With the support of Tartu's educational traditions and vast development of information society the Centre hopes to provide every visitor with the joy of gaining new knowledge and pleasant pastime activities.
The Science Centre AHHAA was established as a special project of the Department of Research and Institutional Development of Tartu University (founded in 1632). AHHAA started its activities with a laser show in front of Tartu Observatory on September 1, 1997, and it has had a strong and stable development since that year.
This project however would mark now a significant breakthrough from the project stage to an independent contemporary science centre with up-to-date science communication and display possibilities.
Context of the action:
AHHAA centre organizes a big exhibition every summer during the winter period offers innovative demonstrations of scientific experiments in schools, planetarium lectures, and organizes smaller exhibitions.
In the spring of 1998, the first educational exhibition was organized in co-operation with the Finnish Science Centre Heureka. It was the very first interactive science exhibition in Estonia, visited by 22,000 people.
In 1999, “Aha, Insects!” was held from May to July 1999. The exhibition was organized in co-operation with The Natural History Museum in London. This exhibition was during 6 weeks visited by 60,000 people. During the winter 2000, experiment demonstrations were organized for students. In the turn of the year, another small science exhibition was held, titled “Aha, Time!”.
In 2000, “Aha, Human!” introduced the human being from different medical aspects. With this exhibition AHHAA continued dealing with health issues. In addition to many interactive exhibits, the science theatre and planetarium have been working. 30.000 visitors.
In 2001, “Aha, the Light!” was carried out in Tartu and Narva for about 25,000 visitors. “The Mystery of Ancient Egypt”, an interactive science exhibition from Heureka was displayed from September to February at the University main building in Tartu (20,000 visitors).
In 2002, the AHHAA Science Centre created and organized two science exhibitions, “Sweet Europe” and “Aha, Senses!” The centre continued science lectures using a portable Starlab-planetarium (60.000 visitors on different events).
In 2003, “Aha, Laboratory!” was carried out in Estonian cities – not only in Tartu, but in Tallinn, Pärnu, Kuressaare and Narva as well. AHHAA Science Centre started a new practice to work all around the country and got 82.000 visitors per year to different science events, including lectures, demos, science theatre shows, Technology Day events etc. Also a special school program was developed to support the formal education curricula by science centre activities. Since 1997, more than 300.000 visitors have been visiting AHHAA events.
In 2004-2005, Cafe Scientific (is a place where anyone can come to discuss the latest ideas in science and technology over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine)
In 2005, the Science Bus (look at Best Practice No. 3)
Results obtained so far, impacts on women’s career:
Successful aspects:
Estonia Best Practice Increasing Women’s Participation and Improving their Professional Career in SET
Nº: 3 Name of the organization: Estonian Physical Society (established in 1989) Contact: Prof. Kaido Reivelt E-mail: [email protected] Function: Coordinator of the Science Bus Website: http://www.fyysika.ee/efs/ Location: Tartu Country: Estonia Objective and typology of the organization: NGO
Facts and figures regarding horizontal, vertical distribution of men and women: In 2005, 207 members, out of members about 10% are women
Name of the best practice: the Science Bus (dedicated to the World Year of Physics, WYP2005) Year: 2005 Synthetic description:
The Science Bus (dedicated to the World Year of Physics, WYP2005) was organized as a traveling exhibition on physics in collaboration with Science Centre AHHAA and demonstrates it in all main cities of our country.
Context of the action:
The Science Bus is visiting schools and public events and the team members are good advertisers of science, female students and women are part of the team.
To launch an website where general public can read latest news in physics in their native (Estonian) language, also find out about physics and technology in Estonia and about relevant career opportunities.
Organize a series of popular, public and rather unconventional lectures given by our prominent scientists; the general topic might be the past and present of physics and its future challenges.
To produce a series of interactive secondary school lectures that would in following years visit our schools and thus give a drop of fresh blood to the physics teaching in basic and secondary educational system in Estonia.
The interviews in the “Morning TV”, twice in week, one demonstration (fascinating experiment), each time with the story behind it.
Results obtained so far, impacts on women’s career: It is hard to predict, but visible female students and researchers had been as role models for girls (hopefully)
Successful aspects: Through PR work, TV programs, public events, science bus a message about positive image of physicist is created.
Estonia Best Practice Increasing Women’s Participation and Improving their Professional Career in SET
Nº: 4 Name of the organization: The Gifted and Talented Development Centre Contact: Viire Sepp E-mail: [email protected] Function: working at the University of Tartu Website: http://www.ttkool.ut.ee Location: Tartu Country: Estonia Objective and typology of the organization: working at the University of Tartu
Facts and figures regarding horizontal, vertical distribution of men and women:
Number of Out of them members women Staff 6 6 Advisory board 7 4
Name of the best practice: Year: 1965 - ongoing
Synthetic description:
The main aim of TK is to give talented students in math and sciences from all over Estonia guidance in their pursuit for self-realization and to organize additional schooling. TK is an opportunity for self-development for students with deep interest in mathematics, physics (and astronomy), chemistry or computer science, whose local schools do not provide sufficient opportunities for developing their interests.
From the year 2001 TK is responsible for organizing all national Olympiads in mathematics, physics, chemistry, informatics, biology and geography.
Context of the action:
At present, the students of TK are divided into 3 levels:
• Preliminary department (lower level) for students of elementary school who have been selected on the basis of their results in last year's contests;
• Correspondence department (main level) admits students starting from the 10th grade on the basis of an entrance test; the level of difficulty corresponds to specialized classes; • Preliminary groups for international contests (upper level) comprising students with outstanding results in Olympiads and other contests; the work is based on the programs of international Olympiads. The work of TK is carried out mainly via E-mail and ordinary mail. The students are sent study materials together with control exercises. They send their solutions to TK. After checking and reviewing, the solutions are sent back to the students. In addition to correspondence studies, TK organizes lecture days and study sessions, and training camps for the teams of international Olympiads. The number of students in the 3 levels of TK is nearly 1,500.
In order to foster the extra-curricular activities concerning exact sciences in the schools of the republic, TK organizes different contests and quizzes. Annual open contests in solving mathematics, physics, chemistry and programming problems, chemistry and physics quizzes, mathematics quiz “Nuputa” (Figure It Out) for teams of elementary school students etc, have already become a tradition, gathering thousands of participants. Also, TK supervises the international mathematics contest «Känguru» (Kangaroo) in Estonian schools in co-operation with assotiation "L'Kangourou Sans Frontieres".
Results obtained so far, impacts on women’s career:
Successful aspects: Since 1992, when independent Estonia joined the movement of international science Olympiads organized under the umbrella of the UNESCO, Estonian teams trained in TK have won nearly 40 medals and diplomas in international Olympiads.