Celebrating the Conclusion of MULTIPLIERS – and the Beginning of a New Chapter
All good things come to an end – with this month marking the official conclusion of MULTIPLIERS as an EU-funded project. On October 29th, our partners and wider network gathered at the LVR-LandesMuseum in Bonn, Germany, to celebrate three years of cross-country collaboration, culminating in the MULTIPLIERS Final Open Schooling Event. It was memorable seeing our vision come to fruition as the MULTIPLIERS Open Science Communities (OSCs) flourish across Europe!
Students take center stage at the MULTIPLIERS Final Event
The event showcased students’ protagonism in realising inspiring science communication projects. “I wish we could work on more projects like this where we actually do things, not just talk theory,” shared a secondary school student from the Liebfrauenschule in Bonn, after her colleagues presented a self-made video and a podcast on vaccination. Other highlights included insights from a student-led debate with their parents on the societal challenges surrounding forests, and a short documentary by primary school students, who interviewed each other about their learning experiences on a biological farm.
A student from Italy, who worked on the topic of clean water and sanitation, said, “I liked many things about the project, but most of all: expressing my knowledge to someone I don’t know and conveying my passion.” Testimonials like these demonstrate that our mission to create an EU-wide community of science multipliers was accomplished, preparing students to become active citizens with a voice in socio-scientific issues that affect them and their communities.
The event also featured a lively marketplace, with various rooms of the iconic LVR-LandesMuseum dedicated to showcasing each country’s interactive learning activities.
Inspiring messages from our leadership
Introducing the student presentations, the final event included remarks from Prof. Michael Hoch, Rector of the University of Bonn, Dr. Alexandra Käss from the LVR-LandesMuseum, and Prof. Annette Scheersoi, Vice-Rector for Sustainability at the University of Bonn and MULTIPLIERS coordinator. They emphasised the importance of openness, trust, and collaboration in science to foster transformative learning experiences and drive societal change.
What’s next for MULTIPLIERS?
As we wrapped up the program, a forward-looking discussion focused on the shared insights from our partner countries – Germany, Cyprus, Spain, Slovenia, Sweden, and Italy – and the lasting legacy MULTIPLIERS leaves for years to come. Our learnings and findings are summarised in the new Policy Brief series and the MULTIPLIERS White Book, which provide educators and policymakers with valuable guidance on initiating, boosting and expanding Open Schooling initiatives.
To support school teachers and headmasters, we have enhanced the MULTIPLIERS Open Schooling Hub, which now includes 8 toolkits and over 40 teaching and learning activities. We hope it will continue to be a resource for inspiring innovative approaches to science education.
Besides our brilliant students, we would like to thank all teachers who participated in the project and tested our educational activities, thus also becoming knowledge multipliers!
Sustaining the impact: The 5 Co-Model
Open Schooling requires long-term partnerships to drive real change in science education. To support these efforts, we developed the 5 Co-Model, focusing on Communication, Coordination, Collaboration, Costs, and Collection of Materials. This model, presented in a dedicated session with Prof. Scheersoi during the event and detailed in our White Book, is designed to help integrate science education into schools by building a sustainable network that connects formal education with real-world scientific expertise.
Moving forward, the 5 Co-Model will guide our efforts to maintain the MULTIPLIERS OSCs alive and thriving beyond the official EU funding period.
We hope you will continue to be part of this journey and engage with our OSCs as we work to create lasting impact!
Photos: Rosa Castañeda/EFI
