Creative pupils and climate-smart families

Nordic CRAFT is short for Creating Really Advanced Future Thinkers. David and Stig from the 8th-grade class at the Niels Steensens Upper-Secondary School in Denmark fit the description perfectly. They are attending the BETT digital education conference (formerly known as the British Educational Training and Technology Show) in London to talk about how their class took part in Nordic CRAFT. Pupils from Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland and Åland also spent months working on digital solutions for climate-smart families. The culmination of all their hard work is the presentation at BETT, which is attended by experts from 146 nations. Stig talked about their class project – a regulator to reduce domestic energy use. Working with the other Nordic classes has been important to them, classmate David chips in.  

“The feedback from the Icelandic class we worked with really enhanced our process and product,” he points out.

“Nordic CRAFT has provided students and teachers all over the region with opportunities to work together on digital and sustainable solutions to challenges faced in the real world. The pupils have brushed up on important skills like teamwork, problem-solving, critical thinking and communication, all of which makes them better prepared for the society of the future,” says Pernille Dalgaard-Duus, senior advisor to the Nordic Council of Ministers, who is attending the conference in London.

Children and young people, education and digitalisation are all top priorities for the Nordic Council of Ministers. The rapid pace of change calls out for children, young people and adults with the necessary competencies and skills to succeed in a digital and changing world. Nordic CRAFT is an important platform for collaboration between pupils and teachers. Its stated aims are to improve digital skills and sustainability, to teach pupils to compete for the jobs of tomorrow and to contribute to Vision 2030 – a green, competitive and socially sustainable Nordic region.  

The pupils are the lifeblood of Nordic CRAFT. Along with their teachers, they have been the driving force behind the creative solutions. Today, it is their voices speaking out from the stage, in videos and on social media. It is no coincidence. It makes perfect sense to involve young people, and it is an important element of the work done by the Nordic Council of Ministers on children and young people's rights in relation to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.