The STEM park is dedicated, first of all, to children from two to twelve years of age, and its goal is to enable exploration of the STEM fields through fun.

The park has a planetarium, a tangram, an abacus, convex and concave mirrors, an enigma, a board for learning movement, a station for natural sciences, motion along a truncated cone, the Pythagorean theorem with a sundial, and the Solar System 3D. Using these devices, it is possible to leave coded messages, study the sky of the northern hemisphere, explore the solar system, learn basic and advanced mathematical operations, connect the animals of our region and their habitats, study various objects under the microscope, monitor the climate of our region and numerous other activities.

The new park was visited by the mayor of Rijeka Marko Filipović and his associates. Representatives of the Centre of Technical Culture Rijeka, the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Rijeka, and the Višnjan Astronomical Society, that devised the concept of new STEM locations, led the attendees through the STEM park.

As pointed out by Zagorka Prce Veseli, coordinator of the development programmes of at the Centre of Technical Culture Rijeka, the intention was to encourage children and young people to explore and become interested in the STEM field through the park. “We imagined the park to look like a children’s playground, primarily to attract children, and we would like that they stay here with their parents. On each of the placed elements there is a QR code, the scan of which explains what each element represents and how they can be used. STEM encourages creative thinking, logical reasoning, critical thinking and encourages us to perceive the world around us through a scientific approach”, said Prce Veseli and added that various activities would be organised in the new STEM park, inviting all the interested to come to the STEM laboratory at Korzo 2A.

The STEM laboratory is intended for elementary and high school students. It is equipped with eight interactive units that introduce young people to the world of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and technology by exploring the mathematics of tiling, exponential growth, fractals, probability, movement trajectory, the age of plants, various plant and animal preparations, knowledge of the neglected fourth aggregate state of matter, encryption and coding and in this way through fun and research it offers various methods to supplement educational contents from the STEM field.

The laboratory, with prior notice, will be open to all elementary and high schools throughout the school year for the implementation of on- site lessons, and it will be open to all interested citizens and guided visits will be organised.

The amount of HRK 307,750.00 was allocated from the budget of the City of Rijeka for the putting in place and equipping the STEM park and STEM laboratory.

The equipping of the STEM park and STEM laboratory was realised through the STEM(AJMO!) project, and the contents, which aim to further increase the interest of young people in the STEM field, were jointly designed and realised by the project partners: the City of Rijeka, the Centre of Technical Culture Rijeka, the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Rijeka and the Višnjan Astronomical Society.

The STEM(AJMO!) project is aimed at strengthening the capacity of the involved civil society organisations from seven Croatian counties for the purpose of implementing STEM popularization activities among children, youth and citizens.

The implementation of educational workshops as part of the project, which the partners jointly designed and educated themselves, will soon begin throughout Croatia.

The project is implemented with the financial support from the European Social Fund – Operational Programme “Efficient Human Resources 2014-2020”.

By the decision of the Office for Cooperation with NGOs of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, HRK 2,891,292.10 was allocated to the project, of which HRK 2,457,598.29 was provided under EU funds, while HRK 433,693.82 was provided from the budget of the Republic of Croatia.