Open School for Open Societies Conference 2016: a round up

A wealth of papers, presentations, posters, round tables and workshops dominated the Open School for Open Societies Conference 2016, part of EDEN’s Open Classroom series, that took place in Ellinogermaniki Agogi Greece, between the 4^th and the 6^th of November 2016.

The event focused on the type of school that effectively introduces innovation to the classroom. It is an ecosystem that progressively engages families, community groups, local businesses, museums, international experts, universities, research centres and other stakeholders with what we term an “open school”.

The conference addressed issues such as universal design for learning, responsible research and innovation in schools, remote labs, prosocial skills for students, gamification, creativity in early years education, Nobel Prize physics for students, CERN activities for primary teachers, learning science through theatre and the arts, teacher professional development and school funding through the Erasmus Plus programme.

In addition, schools and teachers who excelled in activities promoting openness and inclusion through innovation during the Open Discovery Space and Inspiring Science Education projects were awarded prizes and recognitions. In particular, 5 schools received seismographs and will form part of an extensive network of schools across Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Italy and Bulgaria that will bring the study of earthquakes to the classroom, with teachers and students studying and sharing real data and phenomena. Another 10 schools which were finalists in the ISE School Garden Competition also received awards.

A celebration of arts and science, in the form of a student-lead astronomy festival, concluded 3 days of hard work and ideas on the school of tomorrow!