A girl in safety glasses (one eye blocked) tried to beat the beeps with a steady hand on an 'eye-hand coordination STEM exhibit in Wisbech

Tomorrow’s workforce starts with today’s children

Connecting children with the science, technology and industries shaping their future.

Join the conversation

The conversation at Westminster On 4 November 2026, Cambridge Science Centre brought together guests from Parliament, industry, research and education at a reception hosted by Charlotte Cane MP in the Attlee Suite, Portcullis House.

We want to work with Government, Parliament, industry and the wider science centre sector to explore what more ambitious, sustained early STEM engagement could look like, and how approaches developed and tested in Cambridge might inform practice elsewhere.

Westminster Briefing (pdf download)

Join the conversation

The UK is investing in the industries and technologies that will shape its future.

But building the workforces behind them must begin long before young people reach qualifications, training or recruitment.

At Cambridge Science Centre, we are developing an approach that brings whole sectors together, to create meaningful, connected experiences for children… and exploring what that could mean for STEM engagement across the UK.

Could science centres play a greater role in connecting Britain’s growth industries with the children who will one day shape them?

The future starts earlier than we think

Children begin forming ideas about science, their own abilities and whether STEM is “for them” from an early age.

If we want young people to imagine themselves as part of the industries shaping our future, they need meaningful opportunities to encounter those worlds throughout childhood.

That means thinking beyond one-off activities and individual encounters.

It means building familiarity, curiosity and confidence through experiences children can return to in different settings and at different stages of their lives.

A different model for STEM engagement

Rather than starting with an individual company, a piece of content or a one-off activity, our Programmes begin with a sector. We bring together the people who know that sector best, translate their collective insight into experiences for children and create opportunities to engage with those ideas over time.

PARTNER

We convene businesses, researchers and other experts across a sector, including organisations that might ordinarily be competitors, to explore its science, technologies, challenges and future opportunities.

A girl with long hair looks at a DNA model in the foreground

TRANSLATE

Our team turns that collective expertise into an interconnected Programme of hands-on experiences. Each activity has a purpose, but together they offer a richer, more rounded introduction to the sector.

A boy in chefs hat and a girl with a heat monitor as they make chocolate

ENGAGE

Children encounter these experiences through schools, our science centres, communities and families, building understanding and confidence through different encounters over time.

Understanding what makes a meaningful difference Research and evaluation are built into our Programmes from the beginning.

Our Impact Architecture (see circular graphic), helps us explore how experiences build curiosity, confidence and STEM skills, and how children come to see science as relevant to their lives.

We use what we learn to strengthen and refine our work, asking what works, for whom and why.

Just as importantly, we want that learning to be useful beyond Cambridge Science Centre, helping others develop more effective approaches to informal STEM engagement.

Our Impact

Our Programmes include:

Building a Better Future – built environment, currently running
Your Smart World – connected technologies, AI and DeepTech – starting Spring 2027
Life Sciences will be developed next – to start September 2028

Reaching children where they are

A Programme is designed to meet children in the different spaces of their lives.

A child might first encounter an idea in a school workshop, explore it again through an exhibit or science show, experience another part in their community and continue the conversation with their family.

These experiences are connected, rather than isolated.

And they do not have to remain in Cambridge.

Content and approaches can travel through other science centres and community partners, reaching children who may have fewer opportunities to encounter emerging industries and the people behind them.

Graphic with Cambridge Science Centre in Centre, fanning out with STEM skills leading to Resourcefulness and Confidence, Experiments leading to Exploration and Ownership, and Curiosity leading to Joy and Passion. — Cambridge Science Centre’s ‘Impact Architecture’

From Cambridge to a national conversation

Cambridge has long been a testbed for new ideas… and Cambridge Science Centre sits within one of the world’s most concentrated science and technology ecosystems, where researchers, businesses and universities develop ideas that travel far beyond the city.

We believe our approach to engaging the next generation should be just as ambitious.

Our ambition is not simply to grow Cambridge Science Centre. We want to contribute evidence and experience to policy and best practice, share effective approaches across the informal learning sector and explore how science centres could play a greater role in the UK’s long-term approach to STEM participation and skills.

Science centres occupy an unusual space between industry, research, education and communities. What could become possible if we thought more deliberately about that role?

Join the conversation

PDFWestminster Briefing

PDFStrategic Plan 2026-2031

PFDAnnual Review 2025