FORSTERK-Forsterkningsmidler

‘Skole i verden’ (SiV) is based on the Horizon 2020 project "Science Education for Action and Engagement towards Sustainability" (SEAS, 2019-2022). The project involved partners from Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Italy, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The aim of SEAS was to develop students' competence to navigate, influence, and create change, as well as to develop skills for democratic participation. Through collaboration with actors outside of school, students gained insights, experiences, and perspectives from different places, institutions, and people. This type of collaboration, known as ‘open schooling’ in English, gives students the opportunity to explore real-world problems with the support of various tools, resources, and guidance. A key element of the SiV project was the organization of two conferences in 2022 and 2023. Conference participants included teachers, students, school leaders, teacher educators, school researchers, policymakers, organizations, and businesses interested in or curious about open schooling collaboration. The first conference in 2022 primarily focused on the results and methods of the SEAS project, inviting teachers and students to present and reflect on their participation in the project. The subsequent conference in 2023 was more open to contributions from other projects and actors, and also included a dedicated session with stands for organizations and groups interested in developing collaboration within sustainable development. Additionally, workshops were held where participants could share their interest in their own projects and describe potential projects using the "three-sphere" model. This model emphasizes creating change through practical action and the use of technology, with the political and cultural aspects of change as a reflective framework for action. The three-sphere model also emphasizes the individual's personal interpretative framework when engaging with sustainability themes. In 2023, funding was announced for local seed projects. A total of four schools were awarded support. In the final part of the 2023 conference, the actors who received funding presented their projects, and there was room for reflection on further collaboration. The idea is that these projects will be invited to present their projects at the conference in 2024, thus creating ripple effects. The projects involved, among other things, storytelling, folk tales, and exploration of wind power. All the projects will be followed up with experiences and opportunities for dissemination after completion. We believe that the format of the 2023 conference was highly successful and can serve as a model for future conferences and thus serve as an important meeting place to support and expand established collaboration constellations and create new ones. A website for SiV, skoleiverden.uio.no, was established from the start. This website features presentations of projects, groups, and people, as well as links to resources, news, and dissemination. It also offers a resource bank with past and ongoing projects, as well as knowledge generated in previous trials, which can contribute to scaling up and generalizing practices across schools. We see that the platform needs to be developed to offer increased functionality. Throughout the project period, it has become clearer what needs and opportunities Skole i verden requires and offers going forward. SiV as a network has been supported mainly through research funding. However, for open schooling collaboration to be a targeted and long-term ambition, and tailored to the needs of the actors, the network should not be too strongly tied to research projects. A coordination structure should be established and consolidated to support collaboration between the university, schools, and the surrounding society, with positions dedicated to this work. Creating a more formal and lasting coordination structure will be the main task going forward.

De to SiV konferansene har vært viktige møteplasser for å utvikle nettverk og samarbeid mellom skoler og andre aktører som arbeider med bærekraftig utvikling. Deltakere for konferansene har vært lærere, skoleledere, lærerutdannere, skolepolitikere, organisasjoner og bedrifter som er opptatt av eller nysgjerrige på SiV-samarbeid. Den første konferansen i 2022 la mer vekt på resultater og metoder fra SEAS prosjektet, og inviterte lærere og elever til å fortelle om og reflektere over sin deltakelse i SEAS prosjektet. Den påfølgende konferansen i 2023 la større vekt på å invitere bidrag fra andre prosjekter og aktører, blant annet Norges miljø og biovitenskapelige institutt, og Den kulturelle skolesekken (DKS). Konferansen hadde en egen økt til stands for organisasjoner, foreninger og grupper som enten har eller som ønsker å utvikle samarbeid med skoler og andre aktører på temaet bærekraftig utvikling. I siste del av konferansen presenterte aktører såkornprosjekter. Fire prosjekter ble tildelt såkornmidler høsten 2023. Alle prosjektene vil bli fulgt opp med erfaringer og muligheter for formidling etter endt prosjekter, og de vil bli invitert til å bidra på SiV konferansen i september 2024. I forhold til SiV prosjektets målsetting om å utvide prosjektets nedslagsfelt ut over Oslo-regionen, så har såkornmidler bidratt til dette. Ett av såkornprosjektene følges opp med forskning i fortsettelsen. Det har vært holdt flere foredrag for spesifikt for ulike interessenter: Lærere, Helseaktører, utdanningsforskere og policy og digitale aktører i tillegg til bredere formidling. Det ble fra start etablert et nettsted for SiV, skoleiverden.uio.no. Dette nettsteder innehold presentasjoner av prosjekter, miljøer og personer, og lenker til ressurser, samt nyheter og formidling. Det er viktig å utvikle plattformen og interaksjonen som den inngår i videre. SiV er sentral deltaker i søknad sendt til Forskningsrådet som skal utvikle plattformløsninger til denne typen samarbeid. Det ble også levert en søknad til Horistont Europa med UiO som koordinator, som omfattet et internasjonalt samarbeid for å utvikle et vurderingssystem for bærekraftig utvikling på tvers av alle samfunnssektorer i Europa. Søknaden fikk ikke midler, og står nå på en reserveliste. Gjennom prosjektperioden har det blitt tydeligere hvilke behov og muligheter som Skole i Verden vil ha i fortsettelsen. SiV har som nettverk vært drevet gjennom forskningsmidler, og forsterkningsmidlene har vært viktige for å opprettholde og utvikle nettverket videre. SiV samarbeid som er målrettet og langsiktig og tilpasset aktørenes behov bør innebære at nettverket ikke bindes så sterkt til forskningsprosjekter. Det bør opprettes og konsolideres en koordineringsstruktur som støtter samarbeid mellom universitet, skole og samfunnet omkring, med stillinger som er dedikert til dette arbeidet. Dette blir en hovedoppgave videre.

The SEAS project develops models for open-schooling that support schools and out-of-school institutions to collaborate in the promotion of 21st century scientific literacy and skills for responsible citizenship among students and citizens in the larger community. SEAS has established, coordinates and evaluates six open schooling networks led by universities, science centers, SMEs, and other stakeholders, in 6 EU countries. In these networks, and drawing on principles of inquiry-based interdisciplinary science learning, teaching and learning models are tested and developed in which students are given the opportunity to engage in addressing real-life sustainability challenges that are identified and dealt with together with participants and stakeholders in the local community. As SEAS is entering its second half, the Norwegian local network experiences an increased demand and interest for approaches to open schooling among a broad set of actors. Among schools in Norway, there is a large interest in exploring how to teach sustainability as a new interdisciplinary theme in the new curriculum Fagfornyelsen; among public and non-governmental institutions, there is a hunger for new tools and practices for supporting citizens’ scientific literacies; and among private organizations there is an untapped potential for using science learning in innovation. The Skole i Verden network builds upon competence resources (knowledge and practice models) and inter-institutional relations generated through the SEAS project to build and scale up a national network of actors interested in making use of and further developing competence in interdisciplinary teaching for sustainable development in Norway. It does so by expanding the initial national network, establishing a website for sharing and dissemination of competence resources generated through the SEAS project, organising two annual conferences, and establishing a seed funding for schools to generate new open schooling projects.