Our H2020 project MOST (2020-2023) opens up formal science education and establishes partnerships between schools and their communities (families, science education providers, citizens, businesses etc.). Together they work on environmental school-community-projects (SCPs) with a thematic focus on waste management and energy saving. These participatory projects directly respond to the needs and values of those involved, benefitting the community as a whole and making schools agents of community well-being. MOST’s learning impact is boosted through an educational research-based approach that raises interest in science, scientific literacy and environmental responsibility.
To realise this powerful Open Schooling idea, our consortium gathers 23 expert teams from 10 European countries, including science education research and science teaching staff from higher education institutes, schools, non-formal learning providers, educational authorities, civic organisations, municipalities and enterprises.
To initialize the school-community-projects our consortium provides support for schools in form of preparatory workshops, potential partner search activities and through provision of operational and pedagogical instructions. Activities on the local, regional and European level foster the sharing of knowledge, establishing further partnerships and mainstreaming MOST results across Europe.
The core of the project is the integration of diverse participants: science and research, formal and non-formal educational institutions, politics, economy and society – on a local level by cooperating within “Open Schooling” projects, as within the project consortium, which contains all named institutions. The cooperation of diverse participants is the prerequisite to develop solution approaches, which take the needs of all concerned parties into consideration. At the same time, this is a driver for innovation, which will motivate all participants, to commit in the long term.