Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has granted his patronage to the 21st SIE Congress, ‘Own the future: Education, your passport to a better life’, to be held in Florence, Italy from 14-16 July 2017. His decision is based on the fact that the theme of the Congress to involve girls in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields is in line with the Council of Europe’s work around gender stereotypes in education.
This means SIE is permitted to show the Council of Europe logo on publicity materials with the headline, ‘Under the auspices of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Mr Thorbjørn Jagland’. It is the first time that SIE has been given this patronage by the Council of Europe. ‘It is a great honour to receive the patronage of the Secretary General in recognition of our efforts to encourage young women to pursue education and careers in STEM,’ says SIE President Elisabetta de Franciscis.