« ViteMeir on wheels" will be continued
Head of Corporate Market at Sparebanken Sogn og Fjordane, Jan Petter Vadheim, handed over the gift of NOK 750,000 to ViteMeir on wheels. The mediators Sandra, Iselin, Eskil and ViteVero rejoice over the gift.
Over 3,500 students have passed through « ViteMeir on wheels" will experience a science show or learning program during the fall of 2023. Of course, we must continue with this when we receive feedback like "This is the world's best science class!", says the outreach manager at ViteMeir Åse Neraas .
ViteMeir is located at Kaupanger in Sogndal municipality, but is the knowledge center for the entire Sogn og Fjordane. The distances in Sogn og Fjordane create challenges related to time when both travel and programs must be carried out during a school day.
- The distance doesn't make it reasonable for everything to happen with us in Kaupanger. The experience you get when you visit us at ViteMeir cannot be fully replaced by us traveling abroad, but by going on tour with " ViteMeir on wheels" allows far more students to benefit from our offer. ViteMeir will in any case be the science center for the whole of Sogn og Fjordane, so we are therefore investing in further developing it. ViteMeir on wheels," says Neraas.
"This is the best science class in the world!"
From the end of August to the beginning of November, over 3,500 students from the municipalities of Sunnfjord, Stad, Kinn, Høyanger, Hyllestad, Gloppen and Stryn have received visits from ViteMeir and have been able to carry out learning programs or experience science shows. With the exception of Sunnfjord, these are municipalities that do not have a fixed usage agreement with ViteMeir .
- Many of these students would probably not have received an offer from us otherwise. It is therefore extra rewarding to receive feedback like the one we received from a student from Eid who exclaimed "This is the best science class in the world!", says Neraas.
Project support has made it possible
To carry out such tours, ViteMeir dependent on special funding, either by the municipalities paying for the offer or by other actors providing the funding. In 2023, a pilot project was first carried out at the end of February, where facilitators carried out learning programs for nine school classes over the course of two intensive days at Campus Verftet in Førde. The experience was good and the feedback from students and teachers was that this was something they wanted more of. Sunnfjord Municipality has now signed a new user agreement with ViteMeir The usage agreement will from now on include both visits to ViteMeir and that ViteMeir comes to Sunnfjord to hold learning programs.
Funds from the Research Council financed the tour's activities in Stad. Here, the activities were linked to the Research Days, which this year had an energy theme. In addition, donations from Tekna have financed « ViteMeir "on wheels" their tour activities in Kinn, Høyanger, Hyllestad, Gloppen and Stryn. Here the tour has reached over 1700 students.
Øyvind Heimset Larsen in Tekna Sogn og Fjordane is busy with sustainability and recruitment.
- We work for good education, Sustainable Development Goal 4, by recruiting for science subjects with active support for ViteMeir , Reodor initiatives and we encourage all science and engineering studies in the region. In this work, we use Tekna's internal announcements for Community Funds very actively. We already have a new application for funds that, together with other good forces, can expand and renew the initiative in 2024.
Will be allowed to tour again in 2024
ViteMeir aims to cover all municipalities in the old Sogn og Fjordane county over a period of two years, including both visits to ViteMeir at Kaupanger and « ViteMeir "on wheels" in other places in the old county. Vestland County Municipality has allocated funds for the purchase of mobile installations that will help make the offer on wheels even more exciting.
- Our goal is for this to become a permanent part of our operations and for the offer on wheels to include both science shows, learning programs and not least science center installations. For example, we are very excited that we will eventually be able to take students on a visual journey to outer space in a mobile planetarium, says outreach manager at ViteMeir Åse Neraas .
Tekna turns 150 in 2024 and wants to mark this by contributing to activities that can stimulate interest in science throughout the country. They are doing this through their own anniversary project with science centers. Each of the 13 regional science centers will receive a donation of NOK 150,000 to implement educational programs for grades 5-7.
- Tekna Sogn og Fjordane is proud that the 2023 project in Sogn og Fjordane has inspired the national initiative. We look forward to marking both Tekna 150 years and Tekna Sogn og Fjordane 85 years in 2024, says Heimset Larsen.
Åse Neraas by ViteMeir is extremely pleased with the gift for 2024.
- This gift will make it possible to continue with " ViteMeir on wheels" in 2024, and ensure that even more students can take part in science center education. And it goes without saying that it is very nice that what we have achieved together with Tekna in Sogn og Fjordane may have contributed to a better offer for the districts and the rest of the country too!
Long-term commitment
The Savings Bank Foundation of Sogn og Fjordane has been involved ViteMeir their commitment to wheels and applauds the focus on the entire Sogn og Fjordane region. They have recently made a donation of 750,000 kroner to « ViteMeir on wheels" for the period 2024-2028. The donation comes from the surplus of Sparebanken Sogn og Fjordane. The goal is to reach middle school students in municipalities that have a long travel distance to the science center.
- We want to support this project so that as many students as possible in Sogn og Fjordane can benefit from the expertise at the science center. By ViteMeir By bringing learning programs and traveling to schools, we can reach many students in an effective way, says Jan Petter Vadheim at Sparebanken Sogn og Fjordane.
- This gift could be decisive for « ViteMeir on wheels" and the offer we want to put in place. We believe that the municipalities will see the benefit of such an investment in science for their students, and we will enter into a dialogue with them to invite them to join the project. This is a gift that will benefit many children and young people, concludes Åse Neraas .