Innovation in Education: the FEDORA Project Stands Out in Europe

The FEDORA European project was coordinated by the Physics Education research group at the Department of Physics and Astronomy “Augusto Righi.” It has been recognised by CORDIS - The Community Research and Development Information Service - as one of the projects that stood out for the proposal of a new educational paradigm.

FEDORA has involved more than 300 secondary school students, 50 teachers, 40 researchers, as well as policymakers. It addressed the regeneration of the science learning ecosystem by developing a future-oriented model to enable creative and forward-thinking, and active hope as necessary skills in formal and informal science education. The project led to the definition of a series of design principles applied to the open-schooling networks of Bologna, Helsinki, and Oxford.

“The challenge was to outline a model that could trigger an epistemological regeneration of knowledge, and through this, promote a political, institutional, practical and personal-cultural transformation of our educational systems,” explains Olivia Levrini, professor at the University of Bologna and project coordinator.

To successfully navigate the contemporary world, today’s students need to acquire new types of skills, namely systematic and foresight thinking, which are useful to manage uncertainty and complexity. However, the gap between school and present society prevents many young students from perceiving science education as relevant to their education. The project aimed at developing new approaches to bridge the gap felt between school and society.

The project FEDORA - Future-oriented Science Education to enhance Responsibility and engagement in the society of Acceleration and uncertainty was coordinated by the University of Bologna. It featured the collaboration of five institutions across five countries: the University of Helsinki (Finland), the University of Oxford (United Kingdom), Kaunas University of Technology (Lithuania), the “Teach the Future” Association (Netherlands), and the communication agency Formicablu (Italy).