Launching "European Mission: Science and Values in Education"
- From the Foundation
We are officially launching our new initiative “European Mission: Science and Values in Education”, carried out within the PACT project with the financial support of the European Union and the Open Society Institute – Sofia Foundation (OSIS).
The initiative’s core aim is to build students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes around European values by integrating them into STEM education and the scientific approach. The project fosters critical thinking, fact-checking, teamwork, civic engagement, and young people’s active participation in democratic life.
We are running the initiative in partnership with the HALO Foundation (Haskovo) and the Together for the Future Association (Vidin), pooling knowledge and resources to achieve a lasting effect at scale.
Why the project is needed
In today’s educational landscape, critical thinking, evidence-based reasoning, and respect for differing viewpoints are increasingly essential to raising the next generation of active, responsible citizens. Schools, however, often fail to offer practical ways for students to connect what they learn with the values at the foundation of the European Union – respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, and the rule of law.
As a result, young people have little familiarity with what these values actually mean, and rarely recognise or apply them as part of everyday life.
What the project is
The project is an innovative educational initiative that uses a STEM approach and project-based learning to help students explore European values and rights through hands-on research and by solving real problems in their communities.
Rather than absorbing knowledge through traditional lessons alone, students work in teams, pick a public issue that matters to them, carry out research, analyse information, develop solutions, and present them to their school and local community. They observe, collect and analyse data, run experiments and public-attitude surveys, and look for answers to problems connected to European values.
Throughout, they are supported by trained teachers and mentors – scientists and representatives of business and the non-profit sector. Along the way they build critical thinking, teamwork and presentation skills, fact-checking ability, and integrity – core principles of a democratic culture.
What we will achieve
The initiative builds on the original Sci High programme with new educational materials on EU values and rights, and creates a digital platform of resources supporting teachers and the running of school-level Sci High festivals.
Across three regions of the country – North-West, South-West, and South-Central – 18 teachers from 9 schools will be trained and will deliver the programme in their classrooms. Students will carry out projects on themes tied to EU rights and values, with the results presented at school festivals and at a national festival.
In the short term, the project will build teacher capacity and raise student engagement through hands-on learning about values and science. In the long term, it will create a sustainable community of schools running the Sci High programme, and help form citizens who understand the role of science and evidence in sustaining a democratic society.
Core activities
- Building on the Sci High programme
- Creating the digital platform
- Teacher training
- Delivering the programme in schools
- Festivals of European values
The partnership
The partnership between the Sci High Foundation (a leader in STEM education), the Together for the Future Association, and the HALO Foundation – organisations experienced in running youth debates on themes connected to European values – is key to achieving this goal. It combines national-level expertise with local commitment and access to schools and communities in less-developed regions.
The project at a glance
- Name: European Mission: Science and Values in Education
- Duration: 18 months
- Geographic scope: Haskovo Province, Vidin Province, Sofia Province
- Funding programme: The Partnership Fund
- Grant amount: EUR 58,200
The initiative is carried out within the PACT project, funded by the European Union and the Open Society Institute – Sofia Foundation (OSIS).