SCHOOL PROGRAM 2025
Future Innovators, hands-on STEAM4SD school programme
Let’s integrate STEAM Education for Sustainable Development into everyday school life and curricula!
Future Innovators -programme
Learn to apply phenomenon-based and student-centered circular economy learning examples with Edugems Finland! Future Innovators offers high-quality and research-based lessons for students – combining Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths (STEAM) for Sustainable Development (SD). Let’s learn together how we can solve global problems through education and how we can support students’ 21st century skills in a fun, meaningful and empowering way! Your main trainer, Dr. Juntunen, was awarded in 2016 as the most Innovative Science Teacher in Finland and now your school can learn with her.
For who?
Future Innovators STEAM4SD is for all schools who want to strengthen their ESD approach and equip their science and English teachers and students with skills needed in the building of a more sustainable world.
Programme introduction
ABOUT
Programme info
The programme fee 3 900 € includes 10 user accounts to EduGems Academy, 8-week ESD teacher training and one year access to all EduGems teacher training materials, teacher resources and student materials. We support school and teachers with:
- Daily chat and support on EduGems Academy’s e-learning platform
- Kickoff, two live workshops and program end consultation sessions
- Feedback survey with impact evaluation
Apply now!
Program starts as agreed
INCLUDED
ESD teacher training
The 8-week ESD teacher training, included to the programme, is mainly self-paced with videos, audios, reading materials, quizzes and conversation around the main topics in EduGems Academy. All needed resources are given to help and make it time efficient for the teacher: Teacher guides in printable form as well as video presentations, story-based lesson plans, student workbook and ppt slides. Training is completed when the teachers submits a learning report for review and feedback. Teachers need approximately 25 hours to complete full training including 5 hours of practical tasks with students.
INCLUDED
Student materials
The programme materials include: story-based introduction powerpoint slides a printable workbook for each topic strength based certificates.
Materials that are required of the school for successful completion of the program: papers, pens, computers, printer and microwave. Hands-on STEAM projects completed with students use only commonly found materials. Future Innovators STEAM4SD school program includes ready-made lessons plans and student materials to Junior Gems and Teen Gems.
8-12 years old
Junior Gems
1. Materials around me.
2. Life-cycles of products.
3. Let’s make bioplastic!
BONUS: Promise tree
Topics: Plastics, metals and other materials, recycling, circular economy, micro-plastics, eco-design introduction – covers UN SDGs 4, 12, 13
Suitable for science and English lessons
13-18 years old
Teen Gems
1. Life-cycle of a product
2. Design eco-cosmetics
3. Engage in urban planning
Topics: Eco-design, climate change, recycling, circular economy, natural cosmetics, eco-town planning – covers UN SDGs 6, 7, 9, 11 and 12
Suitable for science and English lessons
RESEARCH BASED
Hands-on ESD and STEAM lessons
The hands-on ESD and STEAM Future Innovators programme and teacher training have a solid research base; they are based on EduGems curriculum, which has been developed using models such as Palmer’s (1998) tree model of environmental education, the bicycle model of climate education (Cantell et al., 2019) and the European Green Comp framework for sustainability education (Bianchi et al., 2022). In addition, the Finnish Basic Education Curriculum (2014) and the best practices of teachers were collected in the doctoral thesis of Dr. Juntunen (2015), complemented by the latest research findings in the field are applied.
Programme benefits
Schools
You will strengthen your school’s ESD brand or take the first step towards including ESD in your curriculum. Schools will design an ESD action plan, and be encouraged to form a ESD action group with students.
Programme benefits
Teachers
You will be a part of a growing community of schools sharing the same goal:
equipping their students with empowering and proactive skills.
Programme benefits
Students
Future Innovators programme supports students’ discovery, action and collaboration skills with holistic, phenomenon based, student-centered high-quality STEAM and ESD lesson plans.
Teacher testimonials
PURE JOY
This training truly represents the modern 21st century pedagogy and Finnish educational expertise. It is a pure joy to follow a training that is based on scientific research and the trainer’s own experience as a teacher. I warmly recommend this training to anyone interested in sustainable development in education!”
— Johanna Järvinen-Taubert, Pedagogical Director, Learning Scoop, Finland
VERY inspiring
“The course not only provided a rich understanding, but it was also exceptionally insightful and inspiring. The instructor’s dedication and expertise in planning and teaching the course were truly commendable. Their passion for ESD was evident throughout, making the learning experience engaging and impactful. We are grateful for the opportunity to have participated in such a well-crafted and enlightening course.”
— Ms Cherie Lui, Vice principal, Ta Ku Ling Ling Ying Public School, Hong Kong
IMPACT
Evidence based learning outcomes
Approaches
Teachers strengthen their abilities for the student-centered and phenomenon-based applied approaches (95% of participants in self-evaluation)
Collaboration
The collaborative creation process of the students was encouraged.
Understanding
Enhanced learning of students: meaning of science studies and understanding of products.
Skills
Improved 21st century, argumentation and life-cycle thinking skills.
Ability
Ability to integrate elements of ESD into various subject areas after the practical unit.
Motivation
Teachers’ evaluate increase of their students motivation to study science with a mean value 9.4/10.
IMPLEMENTATION
School programme (25 hrs) in three steps
1. Discovery
Discovery Gems encourage school lead and teachers to discover the variable systems around us. There, the strategic and future thinking skills are highlighted. Discovering wicked systems and especially the reasons why to act, brightens up the learners’ own core values. After recognizing the values, the inner-motivation will rise to make changes on business-as-usual norms.
Outcomes: Participants learn new knowledge and begin to plan concrete actions to incorporate ESD to school; School wide ESD action plan and ESD action group. They view on school’s ESD mission and curricula content.
2. Action
Action Gems gently push us to act for planetary sustainability. Acting for changes is often demanding. Participation in planning and making real-life changes generates hope to overcome the obstacles and wicked challenges.
Outcomes: Teachers plan together a multidisciplinary learning module using the given Future Innovators STEAM4SD lesson plans. Students will complete projects and workbook with the teacher.
3. Collaboration
Schools will be encouraged to share their experiences online as well as to parents. Collaboration Gems emphasizes the meaningfulness of acting as a group. The support you can get from people sharing similar planetary values, generates hope and security. Collaboration also increases motivation and activist identity. The program ends with feedback, evaluation, presentation of projects and certificates.
Outcomes: The school takes concrete action steps towards ESD in terms of action plan, action group, ESD teacher training, STEAM and ESD projects with students. ESD will become an integral part of everyday school life going forward.
Apply to the School programme if you:
- look for innovative ways to incorporate ESD to school curricula
- want to get teachers, students and parents excited about ESD
- support students 21st century skills.
- trust their school’s teachers and encourage continuous training
- are looking for a trusted partner for motivation, support and guidance
