110+ girls and boys between 15 and 18 years from 21 nationalities joined the 2022 edition, entitled “The New Now – You are the Future of Aviation” on-site. The aim of the event was to stimulate the imagination and creativity of young people, and to encourage them to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by raising awareness about opportunities for careers in technical companies and transport organisations, in which women are classically underrepresented. More than 350 students and young people followed the live stream via digital platforms such as YouTube and CareerFairy.
“It’s not about what you say is possible, it’s about what you show is doable”, said an enthusiastic and charismatic electric flying racing car pilot, Lexie Janson, one of the role models who took the floor during the morning session. Lexie spoke alongside Nadja Keist (an air traffic controller), Mona Seeberger (helicopter pilot, technician and instructor), Charifan Osso (an aerospace engineer and glider pilot) and Hania Mohiuddin (an aerospace engineer).
In the afternoon, the event featured educational and fun activities such as learning to fly via flight simulator provided by the Newton Project, flying drones within a special “flight zone” set up on the day by Drone Masters, and an experience of air traffic control provided by EUROCONTROL and Skeyes.
In parallel, a career fair, involving 25+ exhibitors, was organised to give the young participants the opportunity to talk to a wide range of aviation professionals to understand how to transform a passion for aviation into a job, and what type of professions and career paths are available to them.
This event was possible thanks to the active contribution and involvement of aviation experts and representatives from many aviation companies, non-profit organisations, universities, air traffic control centres, the European Commission (DG Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, DG MOVE), all united in a joint effort to demonstrate that building a gender-balanced aviation sector is possible.
The A4G event marked the end of the “Newton Room” experience at EUROCONTROL, which officially started on 3 October. For ten days, the Agency welcomed Belgian local schools and 250+ French, Flemish and English-speaking students for cutting-edge classroom simulations, with 2 mobile classrooms staffed by 20+ enthusiastic EUROCONTROL team members, who had been trained as teachers and flight instructors by First Scandinavia, our leading partner in this project.
Both initiatives are part of EUROCONTROL commitment to ensuring a diverse, gender-balanced and inclusive workplace.
