FEDORAS’ Academy: STEM education for envisioning sustainable futures

Abstract

This paper presents the design of the European research project “FEDORAS Academy,” drawing on futures thinking and STEM education literature to develop a professional development framework for STEM teachers. The project aims to create a local and international network of STEM teachers, to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and the principles of open schooling. The network’s central goal is teachers’ professional development along two axes: (a) the elaboration and redesign of innovative teaching materials for contemporary STEM topics through the lens of interdisciplinarity and sustainability competences—such as future-oriented thinking and taking action—and (b) the development of assessment tools for such competences. The paper outlines the project’s conceptual and pedagogical rationale and describes how its planned activities, including the pilot implementation of teaching materials and assessment tools, reflective work on implementation processes, and teachers’ mobility activities, are expected to support the exchange of good practices among educators while promoting sustainability values.