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A young girl sits at a table and builds a technical solution using various components.
Tekla provides all sorts of knowledge and experience to inspire girls to explore technology

Tekla heads to Washington D.C. – and to Södertälje

Published Mar 04, 2019

Just in time for International Women's Day on 8 March, an international version of the Tekla Festival is being organised in Washington DC, in partnership with the Swedish Institute (SI) and the Swedish Embassy there. A Tekla Festival is also planned for Södertälje.

The international festival will be held on 8-9 March in Washington D.C. at House of Sweden, the Swedish Embassy. Two workshops will be held on Friday the 8th, for 30 girls altogether, with an associated lecture that aims to inspire them to pursue their interest in technology. The workshops are open to girls aged from 11-15 who are resident in the area and will be led by a workshop leader from the Tekla community. Sanna Cedergren, Communication and Business Liaisons at GVS is project manager for Tekla.

Sanna Cedergren
Sanna Cedergren, Project manager for Tekla

On Saturday 10th March, a Tekla Dialogue will be held in which Tekla Festival founder, Swedish recording artist Robyn, will participate. The panel discussion will involve decision-makers and representatives from the enterprise sector and academia, entrepreneurs, influencers and others. The subject discussed will concern the problematic of the underrepresentation of women in the world of technology.

- The panel discussion will provide a platform for dialogue and knowledge exchange where the Tekla Festival can not only share previous festival experiences but also learn from other participants. The event can be viewed online. Youtube.com/SwedeninUSA/live

Why internationalise Tekla?

The Swedish Institute is tasked with enhancing the international image of Sweden by creating dialogue and knowledge exchange within subjects where Sweden is world leading. As part of this work, the Swedish Institute offers tool kits containing materials, content and formats to Swedish embassies around the world, that can be used when organising events and exhibitions in the local countries. Tekla has now created a similar Tekla tool kit with workshops and dialogue for this purpose.

- The partnership with the Swedish Institute and the Swedish Embassy in Washington D.C., aims to promote the image of Sweden while at the same time helping to boost the KTH brand internationally. In this respect, Tekla provides all sorts of knowledge and experience to inspire girls to explore technology by building, creating and testing in an environment where all roles are open and accessible to them.

Tekla in Sweden

Planning work has also already started ahead of a Tekla in Södertälje this autumn. The next step will be to find ways to work closely with schools and to recruit local partners there.

- KTH in Södertälje is very positive to this and we intend to pay a visit there soon to look at venues. Vetenskapens Hus (the House of Science, an educational centre for students of all ages from primary school to upper secondary school) will support us in this planning work.

For more information about KTH and Tekla, please contact Sanna Cedergren, sannace@kth.se , project manager for Communication and Business Liaisons at GVS.

Text:
Sanna Cedergren/Marianne Norén

About Tekla in brief

The Tekla Festival has been arranged once a year at KTH from 2015-2017. In early September 2018, Tekla workshops for young girls were held during the Music Tech Festival hosted by KTH. Following evaluation and further development work in 2018, from 2019, Tekla will focus on new partnerships and outreach activities. However, the focus will continue to be on reaching out to young girls interested in technology. 

More information on the international version of Tekla is available here:

Tekla reaches out to girls globally

Page responsible:Marianne Norén
Belongs to: Current
Last changed: Mar 04, 2019