This study focuses on the current service/care difficulties and challenges that social institutions in Hungary are facing during their daily operations; how they can react to them utilizing their internal resources, mechanisms, and capacities; and what concrete, tangible needs and demands are emerging in terms of methodological professional support, potential forms, interventions, and direction for professional development. A total of 24 general and 55 specific service and operational problems were identified and assessed in eight different service areas (family and child welfare services, family and child welfare centers, respite care for children, care for the homeless, addiction intervention, care for people with disabilities, care for psychiatric patients, specialized care for the elderly, and basic services for the elderly). The empirical base of the study uses a database of 201 online questionnaires completed by a professional target group working for social service providers in two counties (Győr-Moson-Sopron and Veszprém), representing 166 social service providers. The questionnaires were completed between November and December of 2022. The findings will be used to develop a professional support and development problem map. Social institutions face complex and serious service/care difficulties and challenges in their daily operations. Three distinctive basic problems clearly stand out in both severity and significance from the complex set of factors assessed. The biggest problem in the social care system is clearly the complex challenge of low wages, followed by the administrative burdens in the ranking of operational difficulties, and the third key factor was the psycho-mental workload of staff.

This research examines the impact of the project ‘Development of Science Experiential Education Programs and Science Experiential Centres’, implemented by the Mobilis Science Center in Győr between 2017 and 2021. The professional and societal relevance of the program and research lies in the growing importance of STEM disciplines and careers worldwide in recent decades, ensuring a long-term supply of skilled workers. A vital tool for this is the development of curricula that meet the needs of the 21st century, as well as the innovation of teaching methods in science subjects. The research involves a review of the literature on experiential science teaching and subject attitudes, the role of science centers, and relevant project documents. The present research, involving 592 students, focused on attitudes toward technology and science, openness to STEM careers, and the experiences and memories of participants in the student lab theme days. The results of the statistical data analyses confirm the effectiveness of the experiential education methods used in the theme day sessions, as the students’ openness to STEM careers is higher for those who participated in the sessions compared to the non-participants. There are significant differences in the attitudes of girls and boys participating in the program toward science subjects. The results suggest that the success in stimulating interest in science was mainly due to the experiential nature of the sessions. Moreover, the research found that the project led to the strengthening of the participants’ personal and social skills. This study is the first to look at the impact of the project. The results shed light on how teaching STEM subjects using experiential pedagogical methods can contribute to the long-term effectiveness of Széchenyi István University’s enrollment efforts and lead to the economic success of companies in a region facing a significant labor shortage in STEM careers.