PULSE-ART will produce compelling evidence illustrating the positive impact of arts in education for the enhancement of cultural expression and awareness (CAE). At the heart of this initiative lies the concept of integrating art, culture, and heritage institutions, including museums, galleries, cultural centres and overall CCIs, into the educational framework. This integration aims to effectively address the deficiencies of the educational system, hindering the improvement of CAE through the arts. Reference materials will be created and integrated into the Arts in Education for Cultural Awareness Observatory, including a Competency Framework, a Professional Development Programme and a self-reflection tool, which will be validated and tested through 7 case studies in 7 countries using different art techniques with a lifelong learning perspective. Collaborative Hubs between educational institutions, spanning all levels of education, and art and cultural heritage organisations will be created to bridge the identified gaps through innovative and tailored methodologies of arts in education, leveraging the expertise and fostering partnerships. PULSE-ART will guarantee the inclusion of all Children & Young people, with the overarching objective of fostering democracy and civic engagement throughout Europe. Multi-stakeholder engagement at different levels (European, national and local), capacity building, co-creation and mutual learning are key elements of PULSE-ART. The consolidation of local partnerships through the case studies will allow accounting for different educational systems and local contexts, embedding intercultural, inclusivity and gender aspects in the research, while the use of a variety of art techniques in different contexts will enrich the validation of the produced methodologies, products and research outcomes. National action plans and a European policy brief will inform policies to support the inclusion of arts in education to increase CAE.

<< Objectives >>The main goal of the project is to empower educators to promote gender equality in STEAM fields and highlight the importance of inclusion and diversity in STEAM for a sustainable future. The overall goal can be summarized in 2 main objectives: O1:Create ready to use educational resources and provide training that promotes inclusion in STEAM , for ages 14 and above O2: Promote awareness about the importance of engaging young women in STEAM in order to secure a sustainable future.<< Implementation >>Initially the state of diversity and inclusion in STEM in each partner country will be identified. A toolkit that will include ready to use educational resources along with a storybook, that will highlight women's stories working in STEAM fields today in different cultural settings around Europe, will be developed and tested. Finally a training programme for educators will be designed for both online and in person training<< Results >>The project's main results include The Blooming toolkit that will include inspiring stories from STEAM women of the past and adapted scientific articles for younger ages. The Blooming Storybook will be developed using storytelling techniques to showcase stories of modern STEAM women of today. The storybook will include lesson plans that can be used in any classroom. A training program for educators

The Education for Sustainable Development and STEM Education are 2 major priorities for the EU.As climate change, overpopulation, and inequalities begin to take their toll on our planet and on global human development, the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) emerged as a response in order to change attitudes and behaviours and mobilize people around the objective of Sustainability.On the Other hand, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education is key for an increasingly complex knowledge-based society. “Knowledge of and about science are integral to preparing our population to be actively engaged and responsible citizens, creative and innovative, able to work collaboratively and fully aware of and conversant with the complex challenges facing society” (Science Education for Responsible Citizenship, EC, 2015). Both Sustainable Development (SD) and STEM should be addressed from an early age. At school, children must be motivated to learn maths and science and to imagine working in these fields, and to learn about sustainability and develop attitudes and behaviours that are in line with the UN’s SD Goals. The dominant approach to STEM Education and Education for Sustainable Development in schools is still teacher-driven. This in part is responsible for the students’ lack of interest in pursuing STEM studies and careers and for not exploring to a greater length the genuine interest of children in SD topics.In this context, education of STEM and Sustainable topics must take on new models with a higher prevalence of experiential learning and that can bring together schools and other actors in the local community.The project MiniOpenLabs proposes to set-up and test a different methodology with a higher prevalence of experiential learning and relying on the collaboration between science and technology organisations, enterprises and civil society, to ensure relevant and meaningful engagement of all societal actors with science and increase the uptake of science studies, citizen science initiatives and science-based careers, employability and competitiveness.The main goal of the project is to set-up and test an open community and hands-on approach to Sustainable Development and STEM Education of children (6-12 years old), comprising:•MiniOpenLabs: the MiniOpenLabs are small laboratories, open to the local community, where children, under the guidance of teachers or other educators (including parents), may engage in STEM-based projects on sustainable development. •Activity Book: this Book will contain a set of STEM-based projects on sustainable development that may be carried out in the MiniOpenLabs.•Workshops: includes creating guidelines and running different events to capacitate teachers on the MiniOpenLabs approach and to involve the local community on STEM education activities.•Contest & Innovative Practices Booklet: this contest aims to recognise innovative practices in Sustainable Development and STEM Education in schools, giving more visibility to the need for a change in learning approaches.The project brings together Higher Education Institutions, a Centre of Engineering and Product Development and Schools from 3 countries – Spain, Portugal and Greece:•Universidade Rey Juan Carlos•CEIPSO Maestro Rodrigo•CEiiA Centre of Engineering and Product Development•Scholé•University of Western Macedonia•Anatolia Educational Group

<< Background >>Sustainable Development has been in the EU’s political Agenda for the past decades. In 2001, the EU established a Sustainable Development Strategy and more recently contributed to the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, reaffirming the political importance it attributes to this pressing matter.Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) plays a vital role in pushing forward the Agenda for Sustainable Development.All educational institutions ranging from preschool to tertiary education and including both non-formal and informal education should consider it their responsibility to address sustainable development and to foster the development of key cross-cutting competencies related to sustainability (Issues and Trends in ESD, UN, 2018).It is both more efficient and effective to raise new citizens with the sense of responsibility and a right attitude in relation to the Planet than to try changing attitudes and behaviors later in life when they are well established.A strong and lasting investment in ESD is essential considering the urgency in changing lifestyles and behavioural patterns in our society.It is both more efficient and effective to raise new citizens with the sense of responsibility and a right attitude in relation to the Planet than to try changing attitudes and behaviors later in life when they are well established.The WAE SD project responds to the needs of children and educators by offering a variety of complementary learning solutions that use active learning methodologies, game-based learning, storytelling, among others, that have the potential to:•engage children, making the learning process more participative and memorable•address more complex concepts in a comprehensive manner, namely by using storytelling•contribute to the development of other XXI century and basic competencies, like literacy, teamwork, social competences, ICT skills, among others•include children with mild learning difficulties, as the array of learning solutions offered comprises inclusive approaches and provide learning opportunities adjusted to many different student profiles.<< Objectives >>The project proposes to address SD with children (6-10 years old) at 3 levels:•Envision the future: depict what might happen if we don’t change our lifestyles, so that they better understand what’s at stake•What needs to change: learn about the UN’s SD Goals, so that they better understand what should be addressed/emended to create a more sustainable world•Call to Action: learn what we can do as individuals and as part of a community to reach the UN’s SD Goals, and act.To this purpose, the project will deliver 3 Results that bear some relation with the former project WeAreEurope (see down below):•An eBook to illustrate a future scenario for the Planet if we keep up with our lifestyle•A Game Add-on to the pre-existing WeAreEurope Game, to introduce and explore the UN’s SD Goals, thus presenting children with what needs to be changed for a more sustainable Planet.•An Action Kit, consisting of guidelines for the implementation of SD projects/activities for schools and other settings, thus promoting real change in behaviours and attitudes.This approach resorts to a variety of methodologies and resources – storytelling, ICT-based learning, game-based learning, experiential learning – to create a comprehensive and meaningful learning experience and increase its potential for impact.<< Implementation >>The project will first focus on developing the WAE SD eBook (R1). To that end, partners will start by doing some additional research to set learning goals and define the learning contents that should be imbedded into the story. Then, an idea generation session will be conducted and viable ideas will be selected, shared and evaluated by the partnership, involving teachers. From that process, a concept for the story will be agreed. A second moment is the writing of the story. The story will be tested with test-groups in all partner schools to ensure the needs of end-users are met.Once the story is completed, the partnership will then turn its attention to the illustrations and to creating the eBook itself. This process will again be accompanied by test-groups, the same as earlier, to ensure the adequacy of the illustrations and of the whole eBook.A Guide should complement the eBook to provide additional hints about ways to explore its content in class. This is going to be done based on the experience of the partnership with the classroom context. This guide will also be evaluated by the test-groups.While the eBook development is still underway, the partnership will start to create the Game Add-on. This will require an initial work to specify what the game is all about, namely the learning goals and contents, the storyboard, game mechanisms, etc., where all partners will be involved.With the specification done, partners will start 3 main activities in parallel: develop the learning contents, produce the graphic design and programming the game. The learning contents require research on SD learning resources, and the adaptation and development of new contents. The digital transformation of the contents follows, along with the game production – contents, graphics and game mechanisms, along with databases, back-office, etc.During the development, and once again, the game will be tested at 2 times by test-groups – the same testing the eBook and the Action Kit. The feedback of these groups will be essential for improvements.The development of the Action Kit will be initiated roughly when the first beta version of the Game Add-on is completed. The first task will be to define in more detail what this Kit will be comprised of. It is important to do this at this stage as the partners will have collected quite an amount of information from teachers, experts and schools during the past months in the project, that will help designing a solution that can truly make a difference.After that, the activities/projects that will be part of this kit will be co-created with pupils from the partner schools in order to benefit from children’s perspective and imagination and generate immediate impact on those involved, namely by encouraging a real change in behaviours and attitudes. This co-creation process will be subject to rules and guidelines defined at the start.The activities/projects in the Action Kit will also be subjected to testing, either during the development process or right after, to conclude about their feasibility and to make improvements to their design.<< Results >>The Project WAE SD is expected to produce a wide set of tangible outcomes. The most relevant include:> WAE SD eBookThe eBook is a learning resource that uses storytelling to raise children’s awareness about the SD issues and the need to become active citizens in the defence of the Planet.The story will make use of the fictional environment and narrative created for the WeAreEurope project, in order to build upon the recognition achieved by this previous project and, that way, raise the potential for impact.In the story, the WeAreEurope characters will make one more Time Travel, this occasion to the future. In the future they will see a glimpse of what might be expected for the life in the Planet if nothing is done to change people’s lifestyles.> WAE SD eBook GuideThe Guide is a document providing material to explore the WAE SD eBook, especially in the context of classrooms. It will include questions, guidelines and contents to make the most from the story and the visual elements of the eBook.> WAE SD Game Add-onThe Game Add-on complements the pre-existing WeAreEurope Game with a specific content on SD and the UN’s SD Goals.The main objective is that children learn about the UN’s SD Goals and what needs to be done, and at what levels, to revert, stop or reduce the negative impact of human behaviour on the Planet.The Add-on itself will be set as a new level or a sequence of the computer game developed under the former WeAreEurope Project, requiring adjustments to the game mechanics and new graphic design work, besides new learning content. It will be created to stand-alone so that it is not going to be necessary to play the previous WeAreEurope Game to access it.> WAE SD Action KitThe Action Kit consists in set of proposals for the implementation of SD projects/activities in schools and other settings (including online schooling), with detailed guidelines, examples and, in some cases, demonstration videos and other materials.These activities/projects will be co-created with pupils from the partner schools, thus involving them in a hands-on learning process and allowing to test them in terms of feasibility, pertinence and potential for impact.> Project Website & Facebook PageThe Project Website and the Facebook Page are important dissemination tools of the project. They will share project information and be the main access points to the Project Results.> Presentations/EventsThe Presentations/Events serve the purpose of presenting the project to the target groups, mainly educators and schools. These events, minimum of 8, will happen in the partnership countries or in others in Europe.> WorkshopsWorkshops are hands-on events for educators and children to demonstrate the projects main results – eBook, Game Add-on and/or the Action Book – and equip educators to use the WAE SD learning approach, while contributing to develop children’s competences in SD. There are expected 4 workshops, one in each of the partnership countries.> WAE SD Open daysThe Open days aim at presenting the main outputs of the project to key target groups that may act as multipliers. There will be 5 of these events, one in each country of the partnership.> Sustainability Activity PlanThe Sustainability Activity Plan is an internal document of the partnership that will lay down the activities that the partnership and the partners individually plan to develop in order to explore the major project results and to make them available to others outside the partnership.> Additional resultsIn addition, the project will produce several other results, including communication materials, publications, eTwinning engagement, internal management and quality documentation, support letters, etc.

<< Objectives >>The aim is to integrate CT in early years. By studying this context, engineering an inclusive unplugged board game and training teachers we want to promote the development of CT competencies and implement activities that use scenarios relevant to our societal needs for students to transfer CT competencies to solving real-world problems. Through testing and evaluation, we want to better understand the impact of the project and disseminate our findings to evolve this field of research<< Implementation >>Activities see academics, teachers and product designers from the European countries of Malta, Greece and Portugal engaging collaboratively in the design, development and implementation of an inclusive, unplugged board game and related lesson plans. The target audience are students between 4 to 7 years, from kindergarten to level 2 and their teachers. Evaluation is to be carried out following a methodology that includes qualitative interviews, classroom observations and evaluation questionnaires<< Results >>We expect a classroom-ready, inclusive, unplugged board game, and for this to be meaningfully and pedagogically implemented following a set of associated lesson plans that explore the use of CT in real-world scenarios. We expect evaluation results to indicate a positive integration effort by teachers and evidence to support the students’ uptake of CT competencies for solving real-world problems. Ultimately, we expect to be able to disseminate positive practices with the wider community.