Girls Share Innovations at First Belize STEAM Festival

EDC was honored to work with the Belize Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and Global Partnership for Education to plan and launch the country’s first-ever science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) Festival. The festival was a key part of EDC’s Skills for the Future Program consultation to Belize.

Held in San Ignacio, the STEAM Festival was a resounding success. Young women from across Belize demonstrated their innovative STEAM solutions to address serious challenges in their communities. The event was attended by a large and appreciative crowd of government and community leaders, STEAM educators, STEAM professionals, and family members.

The young women’s STEAM learning and innovation design work began during a two-week STEAM Summer Camp hosted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, and Technology. In addition to dedicated STEAM educators, STEAM professionals played a key role in the Summer Camp. During field trips or visits to the camp, professionals from the following organizations shared their inspiring STEAM work: ASR Group, Hydro Belize, Ministry of Agriculture National Beekeeping Program, Museum of Belize & Houses of Culture, Pro Solar, SMART Belize, Solar Sisters of Belize, University of Belize, Women Artists in Belize, WCS Belize, and others.

An important focus of the STEAM Summer Camp and STEAM Festival was to build young women’s problem-solving skills; engage them in explorations of technology (e.g., robotics, game design), green engineering (e.g., constructing wind turbines), and the intersection of arts and science (e.g., seaweed harvesting for use in juices and cosmetics); and inspire them to enter STEAM fields. The ingenious solutions they designed and prototyped tackle urgent problems such as oceanic plastic pollution, water pollution, waste management, flooding, and housing the homeless.

“We deeply appreciate the Ministry’s vision for this important program,” said Amy West, EDC’s Team Lead. “They know that all young women can help shape Belize’s future through STEAM innovation, if they can engage with Belizean women who have blazed that trail and are doing exciting work for the future of Belize, and they themselves have opportunities to experience such learning. The Ministry’s and IDB’s strategic investment in STEAM learning and career preparation for young women throughout Belize, as well as young men, deserves the highest praise.”

During the festival, Floyd Bolon and Stacy Grant served as hosts and Karla Gonzalez, IDB Belize Country Representative welcomed participants. Chief Education Officer Yolanda Gongora provided inspiring remarks and presented awards for Best Use of Multiple STEAM Fields, Strongest Display of Teamwork, and Best Team Pitch. HydroBelize IT specialist Keila Mai was the featured Keynote Speaker and presented the Best Overall Innovation award.

The STEAM Festival, and the truly outstanding work of the young women, has been spotlighted by multiple national Belizean media outlets including Amandala, Breaking Belize News, and LoveFM. View a live video covering the event produced by LoveFM.

We invite you to learn more about EDC’s Our World Our Work, Youth & Workforce Development, and STEM Education & Workforce Development initiatives.