About the project
In brief
The GEO-Academy project, spanning from 2023 to 2026, is an Erasmus+ Teacher Academies initiative aimed at establishing a network to provide training for teachers, both pre- and in-service. The program aims to impart knowledge and skills on utilizing geospatial technologies in education towards an effective sustainable development curriculum. The key drivers of this program include the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Remote Sensing (RS), and Earth Observation (EO), data acquisition and processing, image analysis, and related location-based technologies, which are collectively referred to as GEO-concepts. The project seeks to apply state-of-the-art educational approaches, methodologies, and tools with the goal of making teachers reflective professionals who serve as both trainees and co-designers in the curriculum development process.
Digital Competencies
Use of digital tools, problem-solving, information and data literacy, communication & collaboration, digital content creation
Green skills
Valuing sustainability, supporting faireness, promoting nature, critical thinking, problem framing and collective action
Spatial skills
Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Remote Sensing (RS) and Earth Observation (EO) Geospatial Storytelling
Methodology
The project’s approach in achieving awareness, behavioral change, and pro-environmental action among future citizens is based on the rigorous application of scientific evidence and research outcomes. It’s main goal is to transform this knowledge into educational material that addresses both formal and informal settings, with synchronous and asynchronous training methodologies.
The project’s strategic lines of action involve: (a) identifying key scientific topics focusing on sustainable development , (b) designing an educational framework fostering teachers’ digital, green and spatial skills, and (c) transforming scientific knowledge into educational material for blended, virtual, or face-to-face training. The project will be supervised and piloted by a cross-disciplinary consortium, composed of experts in the fields of geo-, environmental- and natural sciences, science education researchers, in-service teachers, and teacher educators.
Geospatial technologies hold the potential to aid educators in investigating complicated economic, political, social, ecological and environmental relationships by leveraging critical geographic and temporal information. By incorporating geospatial tools in their pedagogy, educators can promote the development of cognitive skills, including the ability to analyze geographical data and emerging place-based information. The adoption of such tools can enable the cultivation of sustainability citizenship among students and facilitate a change in their behavioral patterns. Through the GEO-Academy, we endeavor to disseminate the knowledge and application of these technologies to foster an improved understanding of their potential for effective teaching.
Within the context of the project, effective training materials that will empower citizens to take proactive and informed environmental actions backed by scientific research. The scientific, evidence-based approach ensures that the training materials will be both robust and highly effective for the teachers.
The available information, training modules, and geospatial tools will be accessible to the broader scientific community via the GEOBSERVE platform. The GEOBSERVE platform will be one of the principal outcomes of the project and will act as the primary repository for local, national, and project-level outputs. All information provided on the platform will be accessible to anyone interested in the project’s findings. GEOBSERVE will support scientific research by improving data accessibility, promotion of scientific collaboration, and contribution to valuable insight into the use of geo-technologies in schools.
