Belgrade, Serbia – The IMPACT project funded through the program Horizon Europe, has successfully gathered and connected a diverse array of climate change education projects in Serbia, bringing together efforts from Horizon Europe, Erasmus, and local initiatives. This clustering event marks a significant step towards establishing a robust community of projects and stakeholders dedicated to education about climate change and sustainability.
One of the highlights of the event was the presentation by Dr. Igor Leščešen on his latest research regarding primary school children’s understanding of climate change in Serbia. This study revealed that approximately 54.50% of students believe climate change will affect their future lives, and 73.90% expressed a desire to learn about its consequences. Schools were identified as a key source of information on climate change, but a notable gender gap in perceptions of climate change impact was found, with male students expressing greater concern compared to female students. This underscores the importance of considering gender perspectives in climate change awareness initiatives.
Dr. Leščešen also presented the COOLCLIMATE Keep it Cool – Climate Change Education for Children project. This initiative aims to strengthen high school teachers’ and non-formal educators’ knowledge and skills to teach students about climate change, including its causes, consequences, mitigation, and adaptation strategies. The project’s objectives include developing an educational framework for climate change education (CCE) at the secondary school level, creating a comprehensive teacher training program, organizing teacher training activities, and hosting a multiplier event to share project results. By focusing on digital education, green and sustainable practices, and supporting teaching professions, the project seeks to increase awareness and build resilience to future climate threats.
The event also featured various projects that aligned with the goals of the IMPACT project. The augMENTOR project adopts an augmented intelligence approach to develop customized and collaborative learning paths, promoting both basic and 21st-century competencies like communication, collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, design thinking, and creativity. Leveraging advancements in Pedagogical Design, Creative Pedagogy, Explainable Artificial Intelligence, and Knowledge Representation and Reasoning, augMENTOR’s AI-boosted toolkit uses big data and learning analytics to provide stakeholders with explainable recommendations for educational resources and personalized learning profiles. This enables students to manage their learning, allows teachers to monitor progress and plan effectively, and provides guidelines for informed decision-making in education, addressing educational difficulties, shaping individual learning paths, and identifying gifted students to help them reach their full potential.
The Carbon Act Erasmus project was another key initiative presented, proposing a bottom-up approach with three complementary blocks of activities aimed at fostering exemplary practices and guidelines for integrating climate change into classrooms. This includes desk research into existing initiatives, piloting learning scenarios, and large-scale deployment through MOOCs, videos, competitions, and reports to ensure broad participation by schools and institutions.
The Eco Hub’s Erasmus project, Sailing into STEAM, was also highlighted. This project aims to revolutionize STEAM education by integrating a sports-themed course as an educational platform. By combining physical activity with intellectual exploration, the project fosters interdisciplinary learning and strengthens the link between standard education and an active lifestyle. It involves designing a new sailing course methodology, collaborating with local schools and sailing clubs, developing course materials and sustainability guides, and implementing the curriculum. The project targets sailors, staff, primary school children, and teachers, with the goal of creating a community of STEAM-savvy individuals and educators. These diverse projects and initiatives underscore the collaborative spirit and comprehensive approach of the IMPACT project in addressing climate change education. Through clustering events and shared efforts, the IMPACT project continues to build a strong community dedicated to fostering sustainability and climate awareness in education across Serbia and beyond.