Universeum Impact Report.

Universeum Science Club where the needs are greatest.

We are moving the business out. During the year, our Universeum Science Club method created 9,540 meetings with children, young people and adults. Through hands-on activities, they get to investigate, experiment and discover how fascinating science and technology can be. Not in our house – out in their schools, cultural centres and residential areas.

In Gothenburg, the collaboration with School as an Arena, the City of Gothenburg's initiative to even out differences in children's growing conditions, is crucial. They know the areas. We have the method. Together, we create meetings with STEM where it does the most good.

"Science Club is experience-based, creates curiosity and commitment in the children and their families. We see that the activities carried out by Universeum are of high quality and they are very popular."
– Anna Grunander, Development Manager at the Primary School Administration and School as an Arena

Iuliana Badica, a doctoral student at the University of Gothenburg, follows the Science Club family. She has observed various activities and interviewed several families. The results are clear: Almost half of the families previously had little experience of science-related activities at home. Now they are participating. Now they are experimenting. Now the children talk about science at home.

"It's been great fun. Especially building robots and being able to pet a cockroach. I love Science club!! ”
– Participants, Science Club Leisure

"Absolutely fantastic experience for everyone and we learned a lot. It was an adventure, too bad it was only four times."
– Family, Science Club Family

Tickets for those who need it.

We donate tickets to organizations that work with families in vulnerable situations. In 2025, we gave 900 tickets to two organizations: Gothenburg City Mission and the Queen Silvia Children's Hospital Fundraising Foundation. We are there for everyone, but not everyone has the conditions to visit us without a little help along the way, which is why we work with organizations that know where the tickets are most useful.

"The tickets that Universeum donates to Gothenburg City Mission mean a lot to the families who take part in them. The visits are something they would not be able to do otherwise due to the financial situation they are in. There is simply no room for activities that cost money. This means that the tickets help children have new experiences, learn new things and that the family can spend time outside the home. Both the children and the parents are often excited and happy after the visits. The children because they have seen exciting animals and learned new things, and the parents because they feel that they have been able to give their children a nice experience together."
– Emma Anderberg, Head of Unit at Gothenburg City Mission

"Thanks to our friends at Universeum, we can offer a little break from life at the hospital when they need it most. The fundraising foundation for Queen Silvia's Children's Hospital is so grateful for the great support we receive from Universeum every year. Sometimes a break from daily life in the hospital is just what you need to get some breathing space. Even if some children are too ill to leave the hospital, siblings and parents can take part in Universeum's magical world for a while and get some joy in an otherwise difficult time."
– Lisa Tisell, Operations Manager at the Fundraising Foundation for Queen Silvia's Children's Hospital

Meaningful leisure time.

An autumn break. Five days. Five different squares in Bergsjön, Hjällbo, Hammarkullen and Biskopsgården. Here, children and families built rockets, explored technology and engineering, and experimented together. Before that, an Easter break and two days in Kulturhuset Bergsjön with STEM activities for children. At the West Sea Week with a pop up in Askimsviken.

We know that it is not enough to have a nice house on Korsvägen, we also have to be where people are. In the immediate area. Where families shop for food and children meet friends. During our holiday activities in 2025, we reached 715 participants in four different districts in Gothenburg.

Gothenburg is really full of geniuses big and small.

A complementary learning environment throughout schooling.

We meet children and young people of all ages, with programs adapted just for them. Can we show that the students we meet have an increased percentage of passing grades in ninth and upper secondary school? No. But we do know that the mechanisms we activate are exactly the ones that predict success. The connection is clear: early STEM involvement → strengthened identity as "someone who knows science" → increased knowledge and motivation. In 2025, we created learning experiences for 7,340 children in preschool, 39,178 students in primary school through 35 different programs and 925 high school students in Future Forum.

Municipal agreements provide continuity.

Through agreements with five municipalities, we ensure that students can meet Universeum as part of the regular teaching. Not dependent on the parents' initiative or conditions. Not by chance. Systematically. In addition to Universeum visits and programmes for pupils, the municipal agreements cover further training, supervision and process management, tailored to each municipality's needs.

"I would like to highlight some parts of our collaboration that are particularly valuable: supervision of our staff in global issues and sustainable development, involvement of Universeum's educators in parallel with working ourselves at home, and access to the learning environment Universeum. All of this is appreciated by both staff and students, and we see that it has an effect and success."
– Anders Hurtig, Operations Manager Primary School at Lerum Municipality

The teachers' competence is key.

2,256 teachers were developed in 2025, through continuing education and teacher evenings.

Lerum municipality is investing in the ability of after-school centres to teach science and technology during the academic years 24/25 and 25/26. When teachers get better tools, they reach hundreds of students throughout their careers.

"I see inspired after-school teachers and happy children. Universeum's Science Club fits perfectly into our development plan, and now more of our after-school teachers want to take the continuing education."
– Principal, school in Lerum municipality

The same applies to the City of Gothenburg, which is raising the competence of educators through Science Club Fritidshem.

"We meet many educators who experience challenges in approaching the subjects and see a need for increased self-confidence in science, technology and mathematics. Here we show that it does not have to be that difficult or complicated, and the participating educators get several methods and ways of working.
– Torbjörn Blanksvärd, educator at Universeum.

"We have received inspiration for our activities. We feel that we can and dare more."
– Work team, after-school care in Gothenburg

Research for scientific inclusion.

Since the autumn of 2025, Ulrika Sultan, Visiting Researcher in Engineering Science at the Department of Science Communication and Learning at Chalmers, conducts applied research at Universeum. A central question in her research is how science centers can contribute to more people feeling at home in a technological world. The goal of the research is to develop new knowledge and concrete methods to make technology education and science communication more inclusive, arouse long-term commitment and broaden the recruitment base for the labour market of the future.

"Chalmers' ambition is to conduct excellent research and education in an inclusive and equal environment. To secure the technical competence of the future, we must work long-term, research-based and in collaboration. This investment is completely in line with that strategy."
– Maria Elmquist, Deputy Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for leadership and equality at Chalmers

Teacher competence development.

2,256 teachers were trained in 2025 in science, technology and sustainable development. A competent teacher influences hundreds of students during their career. That is how system change happens.

"The research is clear: many young people, especially girls, apply for technical education – but too many drop out. That is where we need to put our efforts into action. In everyday life, in the classroom and in the treatment."
– Ulrika Sultan, PhD in Technology Education and Visiting Researcher at Science Communication and Learning at Chalmers

Future forum – before the choice is made.

800 upper secondary school students in year 2 came to the Future Forum 2025. The year before they have to choose a path after high school. They met with Chalmers University of Technology, the University of Gothenburg, SKF, Saab, Volvo Cars and AstraZeneca. Real people. Real jobs. Real answers.

"We're here to look around a bit. It's interesting because when you're in high school, you don't know what you're going to do next, maybe work at Volvo or Saab."
– Jin Saadi, student at Amerikanska gymnasiet

"It can be difficult for you to know what you want to become. It's really nice to get some feedback and a better idea of what to do, when you see others who are already up and running. It's great that we get to come here."
– Hana Abbas, student at Amerikanska gymnasiet

"You get to improve your rhetorical skills by speaking in front of people, it feels like an important thing to learn before working life. And of course, make contacts."
– Simon Frisack, student at Franklin Gymnasium and moderator at Framtidsforum

The right solution in the Innovation Challenge.

Around 300 fifth graders from twelve classes worked on real-world challenges from SKF, Saab and Volvo Cars. Year 5, this is where girls' and boys' interest in technology begins to differ. We catch them right then.

They solved real problems. They saw that their knowledge matters.

"The Innovation Challenge gives teachers opportunities to work with value-creating learning. The assignment and structure pave the way for the students to use their knowledge to create value for stakeholders outside the group, class or school. It becomes important and real."
– Andreas Tärnvind, educator at Universeum

"We see our collaboration with Universeum during the Innovation Challenge as an excellent opportunity to both contribute to the local community and to create interest in STEM subjects among schoolchildren, our future."
– Carla Lif, Head of Sustainability at Saab Surveillance

The business community sees future employees.

Both the Future Forum and the Innovation Challenge are based on mutual benefit – while the students receive guidance and inspiration, universities and companies get the chance to meet future students and employees.

"When I was in high school, there was a lack of contact with the business world, so for today's young people to have the opportunity to directly interact with companies like AstraZeneca is really inspiring. For us as a company, it is both about what we can contribute to Sweden and its young people, but also about the valuable insights we gain about future recruitment and skills needs. This type of meeting gives us a unique opportunity to reflect on our needs together with a broad group of people in a way we rarely do in everyday life."
– Matti Ahlqvist, Executive Director at AstraZeneca in Gothenburg

Everyone meets sustainability.

547,800 people visited Universeum in 2025. All of them faced sustainability issues in our learning environments and programmes. In the Rainforest, the Aquarium Hall and the other living learning environments, they experience both endangered ecosystems and the grandeur of nature. In Vislab, they experiment with research data on climate, urban development and food webs, and in Miniverseum, the very youngest are introduced to sustainability and biodiversity. Through our conservation work, they experience nature conservation in practice. In Wisdome, we visualize what humans cannot overview but need to understand.

Not just information. Experiences that stick and make a difference.

The global goals in schools go deep.

3,425 students with 274  teachers from 527 classes at 36 different schools participated in the Global Goals in school in 2025. The method is powerful: The students become ambassadors. They pass on knowledge about sustainability challenges and solutions to other students, families and groups in the local community. They create real impact. Their competence to act grows by actually acting.

The programme runs over eight weeks, from teacher training via visits to Universeum to the ambassador day, where the students share their results.

The innovation challenge – sustainable cities.

Around 300 fifth graders developed solutions for the sustainable cities of the future. Energy-efficient systems. Circular solutions. Safe environments. Based on the global goals and based on a mission created by participating companies, it becomes clear that we can solve many challenges.

"We came to the conclusion early on that everyone can work with exactly what they want, in whatever constellations they want. Then we put everything on a table, and that's what it will be. It will be a bit cluttered and varied, but I think there are many good ideas! Above all, it has been rewarding to get out and look at things, make study visits and take ideas home with you. The bottom line is that it's a lot of fun!"
– Simon Sellius, teacher at The English School

Universeum After Dark for adults only.

Action competence requires the ability to critically review information and make informed decisions. Universeum After Dark is our arena for adults to explore this.

Over four evenings in the autumn of 2025, we reached 1,909 adult visitors with themes ranging from the science behind bubbles to the future of AI and menopause knowledge. With an 18-year age limit, live music and inspiring talks, we create a place where adults can immerse themselves in their present and future.

Adults who can think critically, understand science and make conscious choices drive social change.

Knowledge that changes behavior.

Zoos are one of the few places where people meet live animals from different parts of the world. That experience creates care, care that is necessary to achieve the Agenda 2030 goals. But lasting change also requires knowledge – about ecosystems, about threats, about what you can do yourself.

Universeum offers four living learning environments and a variety of educational programs on sustainable development and biodiversity. For 547,800 children, young people and adults, the encounter with living nature is the beginning of a lifelong commitment that over time changes both how they think and how they act.

Field projects we support.

Financial means and expertise for:

• Black-headed bushmaster (Lachesis melanocephala). Operated by the IUCN Viper Specialist Group, where Universeum has an animal keeper in its steering group.
• Bicolor tamarin (Saguinus bicolor). Operated by EAZA in collaboration with IUCN.
• Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhinchus). Project managed by Sportfiskarna in collaboration with, among others, the University of Gothenburg and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU).
• Small-spotted dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula). Operated by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Havets hus.

Endangered species survive.

We keep 13 species in conservation programs within European or American zoo organizations. These constitute support populations that can save species from total extinction.

Endangered species at Universeum:

• Linnaeus' two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus).
• Bicolor tamarin (Saguinus bicolor). Acutely threatened. Only found in a small area around Manaus in Brazil.
• Goeldi monkey (Callimico goeldii).
• Brazilian tangara (Ramphocelus bresilius).
• Red-legged nectar creeper (Cyanerpes cyaneus).
• Solar rail (Eurypyga helias).
• Tocotukan (Ramphastos toco).
• Grey-winged trumpeter bird (Psophia crepitans). Highly threatened.
• Moonlight viper (Protobothrops mangshanensis). Highly threatened. Only 300–500 individuals in the wild.
• Ethiopian mountain viper (Bitis parviocula). Highly threatened.
• Blackfin reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus).
• Horned shark (Heterodontus francisci).
• Short-tailed amhaj (Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum). Acutely threatened.

Universeum also holds 19 species that are monitored by EAZA, so-called Mon-T. This means that the population and breeding are closely monitored, either because the species' status in the wild is unclear or because coordination between zoos is needed.