Last month, our sister company Geonardo welcomed (virtually) the team for the new project GEO is leading, Outdoor Science Education for a Sustainable Future (OTTER)!
Composed by 8 organizations from 7 countries across Europe, OTTER will aim at using STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) to improve the acquisition of scientific knowledge and skills in young students through outdoor activities, or as we also call it, Education-Outside-the-Clasroom (EOC) methods.
We will connect experts from four different regions (Finland, Hungary, Ireland, and Spain) to create EOC networks that help us run Outdoor Labs where we will carry out many fun activities with students. These Outdoor Labs will share a common theme revolving around issues of plastic waste and recycling in order to build upon recent momentum in tackling related global educational, social, and environmental issues.
After running the Outdoor Labs, we will assess the effects that EOC methods have on EU students, by comparing how these methods differentiate in the acquisition of knowledge and skills versus the undergoing traditional classroom education. This will also give us an insight on how EOC can help increase levels of sophisticated consumption (a consumer who has the knowledge and impetus to purchase a product not just based on its price, but on other factors such as its environmental impact or the ethicality of the production process) and scientific citizenship (a citizen who has a sufficient level of scientific knowledge to enable them to make informed decisions).
Interested?
Then follow the 2.5-years-journey that have just started!
