On 30 May 2024, GEO-Academy attended the EUROGEO conference in Porto, Portugal. The European Association of Geographers (EUROGEO) is an association that aims at promoting the importance of geographical education and spatial thinking as a contribution towards the development of a better understanding of our world and therefore global citizenship, among other things. The EUROGEO Annual Meeting and Conference 2024, entitled “COMPROMISED GEOGRAPHY: SPREADING A NEW WORLD”, addressed the vertigo of the world’s recomposition, on different scales of analysis, whether environmental, geopolitical, social, economic or, among others, educational. During the conference, the new GEOBSERVE online platform was demonstrated by Gustavo Rojas from NUCLIO, the GEO-Academy project partner.
One of the main features developed within the GEO-Academy project is GEOBSERVE, the project’s central hub for teacher training, available for free and accessible everywhere. The Platform will host trainings and materials, including specially selected tools for teachers as well as resources and guides to support implementation in the classroom, available since June 2024. Through this platform, GEO-Academy relies on a blended competence-based network, which uses innovative geospatial technologies and modern pedagogical methodologies to teach sustainable development topics. On GEOBSERVE, GEO-Academy will therefore work towards connecting teachers across Europe, in order to educate the next generation of European citizens on sustainability and support teachers in their learning and teaching and to enhance their green, digital and spatial competences by using an effective pedagogical approach.
In this workshop, NUCLIO presented the key features of GEOBSERVE and how the registrants can benefit. Participants were guided through the registration process and shown the many opportunities of engaging through example materials, including the option to add tools and resources, and create discussion forums where they can interact with fellow teachers, as well as training courses available in different topics. Finally, the participants were presented with an opportunity to collaborate with GEO-Academy through national GEO-Hubs with their school/students, for which the participation process and benefits will be explained.
