Code Week 2020 in Germany

Publication date: September 9, 2020

by Nora Perseke, Code Week Ambassador from Germany

Code Week goes regional

Germany has a lot of very enthusiastic coding and digital education programmes that take part in EU Code Week. This year’s focus is on supporting these inspiring projects and helping them bring their activities to the EU Code Week map despite the obstacles of the still ongoing pandemic. 

At the beginning of 2020 (while face-to-face meetings were still an option), we gathered with our partners and supporters to discuss how to form local hubs that connect and promote the coding initiatives in their cities. Only a few hours and thousands of sticky notes later, we had established a plan on how to integrate more projects and strengthen the Code Week Community in Germany.

Code Week Networking in January 2020 with plans for our local networks

It is only with the help of Körber Stiftung, Deutsche Telekom Stiftung, Vector Stiftung and Tinkertank that we can proudly present the brand new Code Week Regional Hubs in Hamburg (well, they are not so new but helped us bring the idea of the hubs to life), Bonn and the federal state of Baden-Württemberg. In those hubs, our partners provide funding for the mostly voluntary event organizers. They build a regional network of schools, libraries, coding and computer clubs, companies and maker spaces. This year’s unique challenge is bringing Code Week online and developing hybrid and virtual formats for kids and teachers as well as figuring out if and how workshops can take place on-site. 

Meanwhile, we have another noteworthy Berlin Regional Hub (which has received no institutional funding but a lot of dedication for digital education) supported by Junge Tüftler. We are hoping to establish more local hubs in the years to come.

Online Opening 10th October 2020 – Let’s celebrate together!

With joint forces, we decided to have a big shared online opening event for Code Week Germany. There will be a live stream on our Code Week Germany website, introducing the work of our regional hubs and presenting all the gorgeous activities that are to come in the following two weeks. As a very special gimmick, we will have homemade IoT-Devices that will connect the cities of Hamburg, Bonn, Stuttgart and Berlin. The device in Hamburg will push the button that starts Code Week Bonn, Bonn will start Stuttgart and so on…

Join us 10th October 2020 at 10:00 on codeweek.de!

The opening ceremony is followed by interactive online workshops supported by our partners and, as an exciting plus, there will be a virtual fair and exhibition of participating initiatives from Hamburg in Minetest, brought to life by Initiative Creative Gaming.

Dealing with the challenges of COVID-19 sparked a lot of new ideas and creative solutions in the field of coding for the greater good. In Code Week 2020, we are looking forward to projects like ‘screening our oceans for pollution with AI’, ‘developing concepts for a more sustainable fashion industry with CoSpaces’ and ‘programming your very own yoga app’ as well as the ‘SDG Arcade Machine’, an upcycling open hardware computer with video games related to the UN sustainable development goals programmed by high school students.

Instagram takeover

Having been part of EU Code Week for quite some years now, I never cease to be amazed by the inspiring work of the Code Week volunteers. They make Code Week what it is – a grassroots movement that brings coding and digital literacy to everybody in a fun and engaging way.

Telling their stories is a great way to reach out to even more people and spread the word about fun coding programmes all over Europe and beyond. In addition to our Facebook and Twitter channels, we are joining EU Code Week on Instagram with our very own Code Week Germany channel. For the weeks to come, we invite the German Code Week Community to take over our Instagram channel. Each week, there will be a new project showing their work not only during Code Week in October but throughout the whole year. We are very excited to see them presenting their own stories and keeping up the Code Week spirit.