• The center will allow youth to best connect with STREAM subjects like science, technology, reading, engineering, arts, and mathematics

Arab News

RIYADH: A new center for science and technology called “ilmi” will be launched in Saudi Arabia to encourage scientific curiosity among youth in the kingdom as well as develop their skills, Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.

The center created by Princess Sara bint Mashhour bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud will allow youth to best connect with STREAM subjects like science, technology, reading, engineering, arts, and mathematics.

“ilmi will be a beacon of creativity, learning and accessibility,” said Princess Sara, the wife of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as quoted by SPA.

The new center, the name of which translates to “my knowledge” in Arabic, will be a fully accessible Science Discovery and Innovation Center.

The ilmi center will be located at Mohammed bin Salman Nonprofit City in Riyadh and set to open in 2025. It spans 27,000 square meters and reflects the city’s goals to embody creativity and sustainability through integration in its natural surroundings and extensive landscaping, and to make use of natural light.

The project aims to inspire and empower young people across Saudi Arabia to explore and create, as well as to tackle challenges hands-on, SPA said, adding ilmi’s core is a unique approach that seeks to project a detailed, quality picture of how young people across Saudi Arabia best connect with STREAM subjects.

Princess Sara said ilmi “will offer all Saudi Arabia’s young and lifelong learners the ability to realize their potential, further drive advances in the Kingdom, and help shape the future. Together, I hope that we will all create ilmi, and inspire and support our next generation.”

The project is a philanthropic, non-government initiative incubated and supported by the Mohammed bin Salman Foundation (Misk) as one of its subsidiaries, and will operate in partnership with Mohammed bin Salman Nonprofit City.

The center will host planned permanent exhibitions that will be based around three core themes: Our World, Our Selves, and Our Inventions. In addition, it will focus on issues including space, ecosystems and AI.

The center will also host a variety of installations, events, talks, performances and learning partner programs designed to build a new STREAM community in Saudi Arabia.

ilmi will offer an integrated digital platform combined with a series of pop-up learning experiences across Saudi Arabia. These will start to go live this summer, and aim to get youth, parents, families and friends of all ages and abilities excited and engaged in STREAM before ilmi’s physical home opens.

Also launching soon will be ilmi’s online offering, which will feature a series of exciting, gamified design challenges that explore key STREAM concepts, connect them to real life, and invite participants to come up with creative responses as part of a competition.

To support this initiative, ilmi will also hold a series of live activations that will explore the STREAM content behind each digital challenge and encourage families and friends to work together to create and build solutions live.