EU Code Week thrives thanks to a vast, international community of volunteers. In this page you can meet the members that are active in your country.
EU Code Week’s backbone is the Ambassadors, the Leading teachers and representatives of ministries of education in the EU and Western Balkans countries – the Edu coordinators.
Find out more about your local community by selecting your country:
Ambassadors
EU Code Week Ambassadors are the main point of contact for Code Week in each country and help spread the vision of Code Week locally. The Ambassadors connect people, companies and communities interested in supporting EU Code Week. They encourage organisers to register coding activities on the Code Week map, and promote the overall participation in EU Code Week. Ambassadors also review and approve activities in their country. Ambassadors also work with their peers in other countries and meet regularly to discuss how to further develop the initiative.
Tero Toivanen
Master of Arts in Education and special education teacher in Karhusuo School, Espoo. ICT-developer trainer for teachers in Espoo. Tutor teacher. Creator of Scratch- klubi (open learning environment for programming), which was awarded in APPS4EDUCATION and Open Finland Challenge 2015 and Python-klubi (open learning environment for learning Python programming). Creator of Scratch_to_Python and Python_from_Scratch in aoe.fi (OER Library in Finland). Creator of SPARQL and Sonic Pi learning materials in teromakotero.fi. Scratch-teacher in various Coding MOOC:s "Koodiaapinen". Chairman in Wikimedia Suomi. Board member in IT-kouluttajat (IT educators).
Mia Skog
Being able to code and create digitally gives children creative superpowers. My name is Mia Skog, and I work as an educational planner at the Centre for Lifelong Learning at Åbo Akademi University. I find the making and design process particularly exciting to carry out with students. Previously, I worked as a biology, geography, and chemistry teacher at a secondary school in southern Finland. There, I had the opportunity to create interactive board games using Scratch and Makey Makey, design sustainable everyday solutions with Hummingbird robotics, or digitize stuffed animals with Microbit. I have also provided professional development for teachers in programming and digital creation in Swedish-speaking Finland, Åland, and Kosovo.
Marianne Seppälä
I’m a primary school teacher from Lappeenranta Finland. I have worked as a teacher over 20 years and I take great interest in how to teach programming in primary schools. I like to try different coding activities with my students and share my knowledge with colleagues. I actively participate in Innokas network, which encourages students and teachers to create new ways to use technology in schools. Being a part of Eu codeweek family, I have the opportunity to learn, develop and share new ideas in coding.
Leenu Juurola
I work as a Project Manager at the University of Helsinki in the Innokas Network, which encourages and supports students, teachers, other school actors, and collaboration partners to create new ways to use technology in the teaching of 21st Century Skills. I manage projects, training sessions, and events that support the development of students' and teachers' digital skills and innovative learning. I've worked in different organizations as a pedagogical developer for more than 20 years, specializing in Science and Technology education, as well as the creation of innovative learning environments and methodologies.
Leading teachers
Leading teachers is an active community of more than 450 educators from across Europe. They help connect schools, teachers and students interested in participating to Code Week and encourage them to organise activities and register them on the Code Week map. The Leading teachers hold professional development webinars in their language and are a reference point for other teachers in the country but also in Europe. They also promote the initiative locally.
If you are a teacher, you can find Leading teachers near you to connect with on the map.
Edu coordinators
EU Code Week Edu coordinators are correspondents in Ministries of Education or other educational authorities and organisations participating in EU Code Week. Edu coordinators strengthen the foundations of the initiative by supporting teachers and schools nation-wide. This includes communication with schools who already participate in EU Code Week to learn about their best practices and share experience. Edu coordinators also support schools that want to participate in the initiative, by providing available resources, learning material and opportunities within the community.
Volunteer for EU Code Week
You do not need to take on an official role in the EU Code Week community to be part of the movement. Everyone can organise activities to teach and inspire people to code, do robotics, tinker with hardware, 3D-print etc. and pin their activity on the map However, if you want to volunteer your time to promote coding and believe in the vision and values of EU Code Week, you could potentially become a leading teacher or an ambassador. .
If you are an educator passionate about teaching and learning how to code as much as we are, you can find out more about the role and benefits of Leading teachers here. Then you can apply to become a Leading Teacher by filling this online application form. Please note that the number of Leading Teachers per country is fixed which means that applications are open only for some specific countries at a time.
If you want to promote coding in your country, check out the responsibilities of Ambassadors and take a quick look at the list of EU Code Week Ambassadors. If there are Ambassadors in your country, please get in touch directly with them and see how you can best support the initiative. If there is no one in your country, you can reach out at info@codeweek.eu.
