GEO-Academy - Spotin

EU Project | Erasmus+

2023 – 2026

GEO-Academy: Innovative digital GEO-Tools for enhancing teachers’ digital, green and spatial skills towards an effective STEAM Education for Sustainable Development

GEO-Academy has built a joint European network and community of practice for teachers — enhancing educators’ digital, spatial and green skills through cutting-edge geo-technologies to deliver STEAM education for sustainable development.

Description

GEO-Academy is an Erasmus+ Teacher Academies project that run from 2023 to 2026, bringing together 12 partners from 7 EU countries.

Its scope was to create a joint European network and community of practice providing teachers — both in-service and pre-service — with opportunities for professional learning on sustainable development, using innovative digital technologies and pedagogical methodologies.

GEO-Academy has developed a repository of cutting-edge geo-technologies (GIS, Remote Sensing, Earth Observation, Geospatial Storytelling), alongside training materials and competence-based pedagogies, freely accessible through the GEO-OBSERVE e-learning portal (https://portal.geoacademy.eu/) in 7 languages. The material has been adapted to national curricula, fostering teachers’ digital, green and spatial skills.

Teachers have played a central role throughout, as both trainees and co-designers. During its lifecycle, GΕΟ-Academy has carried out a large- scale training delivered online, in person and in blend format across Europe.

The project has also organized the 1st European Map Storytelling Competition “GeoVoices: Map Storytelling for Global Sustainability Goals”, where students were invited to create a storymap that links their school community to any of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Spotin's role

Spotin brought its experience in digital maps, geo-storytelling and experiential learning to GEO-Academy, helping turn geotechnologies into practical tools for the classroom.

As a project partner, Spotin developed the Map Storytelling e-module on the project’s e-learning platform and delivered training activities for educators, both in Greece and abroad. Through hands-on workshops, teachers explored new ways to use map storytelling in the classroom and create their own StoryMaps connected to real-world issues.

We also coordinated, together with the Greek geo-hub, the implementation of the GeoVoices: 1st European School Map Storytelling Competition, actively supporting schools as they explored the UN SDGs through mapping and storytelling.

Last but not least, we developed the project’s website and communication material, enhancing the project’s visibility and helping educators discover and engage with its tools, resources and learning opportunities.