Nature/technology – Elevate to premises, equipment, and professional communities.

This call can only be applied by organizations located in Denmark, Greenland or Faroe Island.

Villum Foundation's grant area for Children, Young People, and Science is introducing a new fund of 30 million Danish kroner to support municipalities that wish to enhance teaching in the subject of nature/technology.

Nature/technology is the primary science subject in primary schools. From 1st to 6th grade, the teaching should, based on the children's joy, curiosity, wonder, and understanding of their surroundings, develop scientific competencies, knowledge, and skills. Thus, the subject is central to Villum Foundation's efforts to promote more and better investigative, real-world, and practical teaching in science and technology.

Therefore, applications are now being accepted for a fund of 30 million Danish kroner aimed at improving the physical framework of the subject, the competencies of teachers, and the development of subject-didactic environments in the municipalities.

Since its introduction 30 years ago, nature/technology has faced a number of challenges and has been described by researchers and teachers as a "neglected subject" that has somewhat been overshadowed by the natural sciences in secondary education.

Many schools lack specially equipped classrooms for nature/technology teaching.
A third of the nature/technology teaching hours are conducted by teachers without the necessary academic competencies.
The number of students applying for nature/technology as a main subject in teacher training has dramatically decreased over the years.

Status

Closed

Full budget of the call

DKK 30m

Application amount range

DKK 500,000 - DKK 5.0m

Application

- Open for submissions

1 January 2024

Application

- Deadline for submissions

11 April 2024 14:00

The project should target the teaching of nature/technology in grades 1-6. Therefore, the primary target groups for the activities are children in early and middle years of primary education and their teachers.

Municipalities are eligible to apply for the fund for use in one, several, or all schools within the municipality, preferably in collaboration with relevant partners. The municipality may involve and collaborate with private schools and independent schools.

It is expected that the municipality will be clear about how the initiatives for improved teaching in nature/technology can be continued after the grant period ends.

Applications can be made for rooms and learning environments for nature/technology – including layout, collections, and equipment for teaching. This also covers time for planning and managing the project.

Additional funds can be sought for the establishment and organisation of professional communities in nature/technology at the local and municipal level, as well as for competence development in connection with the project and the school's nature/technology teaching.