On 30 April 2025 the Lisbon Council, coordinator of Road-STEAMer, had the honour and pleasure of convening the 2025 Skills Summit: Transforming STEM Education for Competitiveness and Social Fairness.
This high-level event gathered leaders from policy, industry, and academia to explore how Europe can fully harness the potential of STEM education. It was opened by Roxana Mînzatu, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, who underscored the EU’s commitment to making STEM education a strategic priority for Europe’s future. She had important words on the need to improve teachers’ working conditions as a key foundation to revert the negative trends on STEM-related skills in Europe, and promised more focused funding streams to support the STEM Education Action Plan and broader Union of Skills strategy. Then, Gina Vargiu-Breuer, chief people officer at SAP, brought the industry perspective on the need to keep abreast of technological advancements and addressing skills gaps through a culture of continuous learning, transitioning from a knowledge-based to a skills-based society.
As a key contributor to the event, the Road-STEAMer project presented the first version of its STEAM Roadmap of Science Education in Horizon Europe. This milestone document lays out a comprehensive vision for integrating STEAM approaches, blending science and technology with the arts and humanities, into European education and research funding programmes. The roadmap responds directly to the objectives of the recently published STEM Education Strategic Plan, offering practical pathways to embed creativity, critical thinking, and inclusiveness into science education across the continent.
The summit featured a dynamic and insightful debate enriched by contributions from prominent speakers, including:
- Brigitte van den Berg, Member of the European Parliament and Co-Chair of the Intergroup on the Future of Education and Skills
- Joeri van den Steenhoven, Vice-President, Executive Board, Leiden University of Applied Sciences
- Antoaneta Angelova-Krasteva, Director for Innovation, Digital Education and International Cooperation, DG EAC, European Commission
- Martin Allen Morales, CEO, Institute of Imagination, whose presentation highlighted the importance of creativity and imagination, and focused on secondary education, particularly reasoning with the Road-STEAMer approach.
Alongside the Summit, the Lisbon Council also organised a closed-doors expert lunch with a small group of European Union officials alongside education experts, during which our partners at Politecnico di Milano presented the first version of the Road-STEAMer Roadmap. This was an important opportunity to receive expert feedback on how we can sharpen, strengthen, and scale the roadmap, looking at how to turn the ambitions of STEAM into practical, scalable action, identifying any tensions, blind spots, or missed opportunities; and, last but not least, how to build momentum around STEAM drives not just education innovation, but Europe’s broader for competitiveness, resilience, and social cohesion.
Together, we engaged in a high-level, open discussion on how to scale STEAM education across Europe, offering concrete ideas on implementation, teacher training, community engagement, and curriculum design. These contributions underscored the importance of cross-sector collaboration and long-term vision in creating education systems that are inclusive, innovative, and resilient.
The participation of Road-STEAMer in the 2025 Skills Summit marked an important milestone in advancing the project’s mission to establish STEAM education as a cornerstone of Europe’s future.
Diversity and inclusion are not only social imperatives but also key to strengthening Europe’s global competitiveness. In this context, Road-STEAMer stands out as a committed contributor, working to ensure that STEAM education is accessible, inclusive, and aligned with Europe’s strategic vision for a more innovative, equitable, and resilient society.
The recording of the Summit is available here: The 2025 Skills Summit: Transforming STEM Education for Competitiveness and Social Fairness
