University to School Programme – Review of 2023 Activities for Schools
As 2024 settles in, it is time to look back and highlight some of the main activities that the EU-CONEXUS University to School Programme Team organized in 2023 for the pupils across the Alliance. We highly encourage our teachers support our mission of creating a greener and more sustainable environment by following new opportunities and enrolling their pupils in relevant EU-CONEXUS activities.
For the upcoming years, this programme is coordinated by our colleagues from Technical University of Civil Engineering, Romania – UTCB. Working hand in hand, this group managed to organize over 25 activities for schools aimed at:
- Raising awareness of SmUCS topics and careers;
- Developing the EU-CONEXUS community/ecosystem;
- Developing SmUCS skills for students, their civic engagement and responsible citizenship;
- Promoting open science and open education;
- Useing challenge-based approaches to work across disciplines.
The main event of this work group is our EU-CONEXUS School Contest ‘Think Smart, Create Green’. Currently in its 4th edition, it encourages civic engagement and responsible citizenship while promoting open science and open education. Also, every year our Consortium organizes SmUCS related workshops for pupils and The EU-CONEXUS Open Day for Schools, where previous winners of our School Contest, pupils and teachers across the Alliance come together to find out more about what we do. For the current edition of the School Contest, we are delighted to have had 102 participating teams for the age category 12 – 15 and 51 teams for the age category 15-18.
We invite all interested schools to stay updated with the upcoming activities here this page. The schedule involves:
- Climate Fresk workshop coordinated by ClimatoSfera NGO and organized by UTCB, UCV, AUA, UNIZD, SETU
- Quiz on Climate change, Seas and Oceans (LRUniv); Quiz on Careers; Jobs fresco in relation with SmUCS sectors; Board Game ‘Mon lopin de mer’
Apart from the contest, the representatives of this work group also participate in a series of events meant to promote our Alliance and its opportunities for pupils in the year of 2023, such as:
- May – October: Bealtaine Living Earth Biodiversity Festival; STEM Entrepreneur Camp; Spraoi Street Theatre Festival; Spoken Word Workshops; STEMReach Sustained Engagement Programmes; Science Week – South East Technological University, Ireland.
- February – November 2023: Studyrama Fair; Open University Days; Cordées Cap Sciences with Secondary Schools (Collèges, Lycées); Moi, étudiant dans 3 ans – La Rochelle Université, France.
- March – October 2023: Elles Bougent Conference; EU-CONEXUS Open Days for Students and Teachers; ConstructFEST – Construction Fair for students and pupils; UTCB Summer University; ClimatoSfera Climate Fresk Workshop for pupils – Technical University of Civil Engineers, Romania.
- March – April 2023: Open University Days and Open Fairs – Klaipeda University, Lithuania.
- March: Open University Fairs and Tritsi Park Visit – Agricultural University of Athens.
- March – November: Open University Days; Science Week; Information to School Counsellors – Catholic University of Valencia, Spain.
- April: Festival of Science – University of Zadar, Croatia.
- June: Summer Schools and Workshops on Blue Economy – Frederick University, Cyprus.
We hope that these activities will serve as a platform for environmental awareness and change, inspiring the pupils of today and young leaders of tomorrow. We believe that this can be achieved by raising awareness about SmUCS-related topics and careers, developing valuable skills in this sector for pupils and students through challenge-based approaches, and by promoting an open education for all. To learn more about the work we do, please visit on our website.
