Simplon.co
France
Simplon.co offers free of charge training programmes in the digital sector. It empowers and trains underprivileged and unemployed people to …
Good practice
Imported
★ 76
★ 56
★ 12
★ 72
Future Digital Super Heroes
Belgium · Deurne · Local · See the Belgium profile
The aim of Future Digital Super Heroes (FDSH) is to get young people into work or advanced college education through courses /workshops, trips, technology discovery, coding and guidance in studies and projects. With FDSH children can learn a range of digital skills including how
Details
- Maturity
- Established
- Promoter
- Future Digital Super Heroes — website
- Type
- Service
- Status
- Ongoing
- Target groups
- People with disabilities, Marginalised young people and children, Migrants
- Period
- 2017-08-31
- Region (NUTS)
BE21- Keywords
- coding, engineering, disadvantaged, technology, digital
Context
Future Digital Super Heroes (FDSH) was created in response to the digital divide in Antwerp, with a mission to reach disadvantaged youth and promote careers in technology.
Objectives
FDSH aims to help young people move into work or advanced college education in technology fields through courses, workshops, trips, technology discovery, coding, and guidance in studies and projects.
Activities
FDSH runs age-banded coding and engineering trajectories for children aged roughly 8-14: an under-10/under-12 group learning to code with Scratch, and a 12-14 group learning coding and engineering with Lego Mindstorms, including a lab visit and participation in the Robocup Jr. Belgium competition. Children also learn Python, robotics, and electronics with Microbit. A further 'Under 14' trajectory covering more advanced skills (web design, server-side and client-side coding) was planned to launch from 2020. The programme is delivered as a collaboration between library Couwelaar and Skillz VZW; a one-year course, including trips and workshops, costs €60, reduced to €12 for participants from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Implementation
- Indicative cost
- Low (< €50k) — Participant fee: €60/year standard, €12/year for disadvantaged participants, covering courses, trips and workshops (overall programme operating budget/funders not documented).
- Time to results
- Long (> 3 years) — Ongoing since 2017-08-31; a third 'Under 14' trajectory was planned for launch from 2020.
- Staffing & skills
- Delivered as a collaboration between library Couwelaar and Skillz VZW, connected to the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition and STEM Academie
Conditions for success
- Fee reduced from €60 to €12/year for participants from disadvantaged backgrounds, to lower the barrier to access
- Age-banded trajectories (under-10/12, 12-14, planned 14+) tailored to skill level rather than a single one-size curriculum
Where it fits
- Governance type
- Local library / non-profit (Skillz VZW) partnership
- Scale
- Local (Deurne/Antwerp)
- Income level
- High-income (EU)
Commonly funded by
ESF+ — European Social Fund Plus
Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.
Do you run this practice? Claim it — verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.
Data sources
Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.
- MEDICI / Digital Inclusion Atlas — accessed 2026-06-14
- Practice website — accessed 2026-06-14
- Information source — accessed 2026-06-14
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