The kick off meeting combined with an intensive training on the tinkering methodology was kindly hosted and organised by the NEMO Science Museum in Amsterdam between 25 & 27 January 2023. The kick-off allowed the partners to meet in-person for the first time and discuss in depth the envisaged outputs and planed actions, as described in the WPs.
Moreover, the intensive and highly experiential peer to peer training on the Tinkering methodology, thanks to the excellent facilitation from the NEMO colleagues, allowed all partners to experience first had the joy, excitement and frustration that a tinkering activity may create. Thanks to this training the entire group feels more confident in designing and facilitating tinkering activities.
Prioritising sustainability within our project
During the meeting the partners brainstormed on aspects of sustainability, as they perceive them within the context is specific project. They prioritised ther ideas in three circles starting form the less central ideas to the most urgent / important (inner circle). The three most important aspects we resulted to:
Preserve the earth for the future generations
This is our visionary statement, our abstract nobble goal we all agreed we have at the back of our heads, when designing and facilitating activities within the project. All what we do, has as ultimate purpose the wellbeing of today’s kids and tomorrow’s citizens, that have the right to enjoy a meaningful and fulfilling life, in fair societies, on a healthy planet.
Activities relevant to everyday life
The content and materials in our designed activities should be as close as possible to the learners’ everyday context, and ideally they should could have some level of applicability in their lives at home and at school.
Rendering the schools/learners actors of change
Can the project activities trigger some change at the personal/ school / family / neighborhood level? Change can have many forms, and it may not become immediately noticed. Change can be e.g. in the way we do certain things, in the way we listen and express our thoughts, in our confidence, in the way we celebrate our creativity, or deal with frustration and failure. What kinds of change could be triggered through tinkering?
Workshops on tinkering
The workshops were lead by out host, facilitators from the NEMO Science Museum. Under their open guidance, we paired and delved deeper in two tinkering activities.
On day 1 we were asked to construct a marble machine
On day 2 we attempted to create a scribing machine.
It was an engaging, hands-on, trial and error process, at times fun and at times quite frustrating. Part of our learning had to do with how we deal with our own frustration. See below videos with the outcomes of our work…