On 16 April 2024, GEO-Academy attended the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2024. The EGU is one of the leading organisations for Earth, planetary and space science research in Europe with a vision to realise a sustainable and just future for humanity and for the planet. This year’s EGU General Assembly in Vienna welcomed 20,979 registered attendees from 116 countries while 2,591 attendees joined online from 109 countries. GEO-Academy’s poster, entitled “GEO-Hub for Teachers in Europe“, was presented during the “Teaching Climate Change at School” session.
During the session, Gina P. Correia from the University of Coimbra, GEO-Academy’s partner, presented:
- Five GEO-Concepts, the pillars of geospatial technologies and underlying geospatial competences, which are the key drivers to develop teachers’ digital, green and spatial skills:
- Cartography, map literacy, and development of spatial thinking skills
- Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Tools, and Techniques for Earth Sciences,
- Remote Sensing (RS), Earth Observation (EO) and satellite applications,
- visualization and synthesis of information through the use of mapping technologies – map storytelling, and
- STEAM education, robotics, and coding for urban sustainability.
- The upcoming GEOBSERVE Platform, GEO-Academy’s central hub for teacher trainings, developed by the GEO-Academy for teachers, available 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 and it will be available in June 2024.
- The upcoming Summer School in Marathon, Greece, taking place between 7 and 12 July 2024, which is designed to be highly engaging, creative, and interactive. Participating teachers will work as individuals and in small groups, so they will be able to collaborate with teachers from other countries, discuss ideas, and exchange experiences to create lesson plans and group activities which will encompass all the features of successful inter-disciplinary science and activities. The 6-day course, consisting of a total of 25 hours of workshop-based training, will focus on:
- Exchanging knowledge/experiences and enriching the participants’ understanding of site-specific problems linked to geospatial phenomena, relevant methodologies, and technologies.
- Promote partnerships between teachers, students, innovators, researchers, and stakeholders in science-related fields, to work on real-life challenges and innovations.
- The transfer of scientific and research knowledge by translating it into educational practices, making it accessible to teachers and educators.
- Provide teachers access to new and innovative teaching tools, as well as to scale up their knowledge on phenomena-, project- and problem-based educational approaches through teacher training and professional development programs.
- Encouraging teachers to convey geo technologies attractively to students and providing teachers with concrete pedagogy on how to engage adolescents on geospatial issues.
- Hands-on sessions about preparing educational resources and activities and uploading and sharing canvas scenarios focus on secondary and high school curricula.
The presentation was therefore a great opportunity for GEO-Academy to reach a wider audience in the area of Earth sciences, geophysics and sustainability research, and inform them about GEO-Concepts, GEOBSERVE Platform and the upcoming Summer School in Greece.
