The Future of Education

The "Kids Lab for Sustainability" project aligns with the European Commission's recommendations on "Key Competencies for Lifelong Learning" (2019) and the European Pillars of Social Rights (2020) by aiming to elevate the quality of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) programs. The project introduces an innovative curriculum titled "STEAM Outdoor Education for Sustainability," which bridges the gap between sustainability as curriculum content and STEAM as a methodology for teaching and learning. STEAM, an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics, embodies a holistic, inquiry-based approach to learning, where children engage in solving real-life, interdisciplinary problems within meaningful contexts. This method not only fosters children's self-confidence and self-efficacy but also reshapes educators' perspectives, emphasizing children's intellectual abilities over traditional academic achievements. The project worked to establish  a collaboration between higher education institutions, preschools, and educational policymakers in different countries to support preschool teacher in acquiring new competences and improved the quality of ECEC pre-service training by integrating a "STEAM and Sustainability" module into university programs, employing a blended learning approach to engage educators in hands-on experiences and online courses. Moreover  the project developed a lot of  innovative didactic materials available in 5 languages (EN,PL, IT, SP, Catalan) offered as Open Educational Resources (OER) on the project website  The project aims to disseminate internationally tested manuals and guidelines for teacher trainers, facilitating the adoption of STEAM approaches to instill sustainable attitudes towards life and nature in children.