ThinkYoung and Boeing team up to equip young people with the skills of the future

• ?In partnership with Boeing, ThinkYoung will host its 11^th Coding Summer School in Brussels.
• From July 5 to 9, 50 young people aged between 11 and 17 will get lessons in computer programming through five-day sessions with coding experts.
• This year’s students represent 16 different nationalities, of which 50 % are girls, challenging the myth that coding and IT are disciplines that only interest boys.
• This year’s theme will focus on the environment, and how technology and code in particular can have a positive impact on addressing the challenges facing our planet.

The Coding Summer School features an interactive curriculum that includes coding a personal blog or webpage in HTML5 and building a mobile game with JavaScript, as well as a half-day workshop with imagiLabs, an app and social network teaching coding to young girls. The students will also meet with aerospace and technology leaders who will explain why Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills are critical building blocks for rewarding future careers.

Advances in digital technology are having a colossal impact on our economy and society and are profoundly transforming the job market as well as the types of skills required for young professionals. This new reality leads to the need of more skilled ICT professionals in all sectors.

Additionally, technological advancements can aid sustainable development by finding innovative ways to manage waste minimisation, recycling, pollution control and change production processes – this is why this year’s school will train youth in fundamental coding skills, with a focus on the environment.

“The Coding Summer School aims to equip younger generations with digital and analytical competencies to solve societal challenges”, says Andrea Gerosa, Founder of ThinkYoung. “Climate and the environment are important concerns for our young participants, and we are proud to be able to show them how technology can help to tackle these issues, so that they may one day launch their own project!”

“We are very excited to kick off another Coding Summer School with our NGO-partner ThinkYoung this year”, adds Kim Stollar, Managing Director, EU & NATO Government Affairs, Boeing. “This year, we are focusing our educational partnership on a matter that is very important to us as a company – the environment. We have set an ambitious goal for our student participants: how to shape environmental innovation to help build a sustainable future.”

With the first Coding Summer School, launched in 2016, ThinkYoung and Boeing partnered to help young teenagers explore future job opportunities that digital skills could open up, particularly in aerospace. Since then, over 700 children and teenagers have taken their first steps into the STEM world through the Coding Summer School.

Brussels, 1 July 2021