In July 2024, we had the special opportunity to present TeachSynergy at the renowned EASE conference (East Asian Association for Science Education) in Bandung, Indonesia. The theme of the conference was:
"Strengthening Science and Mathematics Education as a Valuable Foundation for Sustainable Development Goals".

Our participation served several purposes: We presented our workshops on science education under resource scarcity both in a scientific presentation and on a subject poster. At the same time, we used the event to network with international education stakeholders and establish new partnerships for future co-operation.

Focus on sustainability and practical education

Our presentation entitled:
"Empowering Teachers in Education of Sustainable Development: Innovative Workshops in Chemistry, Biology and Computer Science with Limited Resources" presented the first results of our workshops, which were held in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2023. The focus was on practical experiments on topics such as carbon dioxide, fire or states of matter that can be implemented with the simplest of means - even in schools with severely limited resources.

The overwhelmingly positive response during the conference showed how relevant our approach is. Particularly impressive was the feedback from Indonesian teachers who described the same challenges: a lack of materials, hardly any opportunities for practical experiments and a great deal of uncertainty in dealing with scientific experiments in the classroom. This confirmed to us once again that TeachSynergy can offer a concrete solution to a global problem.

International networking strengthened

In addition to the technical presentation, the conference was an important milestone for our international networking. We were particularly pleased to establish contact with Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia in Bandung and to hold initial talks with potential partners from Thailand. Unexpected, but all the more valuable, were the contacts with Okayama University in Japan, which expressed great interest in cooperation - an exciting step, as Japan has not been a focus of our project regions to date. These cooperation opportunities will now be explored in the further course of the project.

Conclusion

TeachSynergy's first trip to Indonesia was a complete success - professionally, strategically and personally. The positive re-registering students, the numerous new contacts and the confirmation that our approach is highly relevant worldwide encourage us to further develop our workshops and expand our network globally.

In our picture gallery, we provide insights into the conference, our presentations and the joint exploratory tours with the international participants.