Open Schooling together (OStogether) is a community connecting projects, organisations, and individuals passionate about Open Schooling and STE(A)M education beyond the classroom. It represents a bottom-up movement currently comprising 18 EU-funded projects and 191 organisations, including schools, museums, science centres, policymakers, universities, research centres and community groups.
This community was launched in December 2020, initiated and facilitated by Ecsite, as part of its involvement in the Schools As Living Labs and Make it Open projects.
The mission of the OStogether community is to foster collaboration, promote knowledge-sharing, and drive innovation and best practices in Open Schooling and innovative STE(A)M education. We aim to build strong connections between the formal and informal education sectors, creating synergies that enrich learning experiences for all.
What we do
OStogether serves as a hub for knowledge exchange, resource sharing, and community collaboration. Our goal is to prevent duplication of efforts, encourage the exchange of best practices, and increase the visibility and impact of project outcomes. How we do it? The OStogether community stays connected and engaged through an active presence on social media, coordinated by Ecsite with contributions from various partners. We share on X, Facebook and LinkedIn multiple posts each week, offering regular updates on science education and Open Schooling. These posts feature a rich mix of recommended readings, practical tips and tools for educators, and information about relevant events. The social community is particularly vibrant, with a large number of teachers and education practitioners actively participating. |
In addition to social media, the OStogether community publishes a bi-monthly newsletter, which currently reaches an audience of around 680 subscribers. Initiatives that are part of the OStogether community are encouraged to take advantage of this valuable platform to share their news, highlight successes, and increase the visibility of their projects. Moreover, the OStogether community collaborates on joint events and conference sessions, aiming to share insights from our collective efforts and advancing the future of STE(A)M education across Europe. Past events examples include Ecsite Annual Conference bringing together over 900 practitioners in the field of science communication (have a look at the Open Schooling in Action Deep Dive 2025 session), EU projects’ final events (for example CONNECT International Conference on Open Schooling), policy events (for instance Lay of the Good Practices and Recommendations for Open Schooling and STE(A)M). |
Who can join? |
Participation in Open Schooling together is free and open to organisations and individuals involved in any initiatives (such as research projects, national initiatives, school-led actions, EU-funded projects, etc.) related to Open Schooling, STE(A)M, science education, educational policy, teachers training, citizens science and school innovation. Read the eligibility criteria and code of conduct guidelines.
The OStogether community:
CONNECT | COSMOS | ICSE Science Factory | LEVERS | Make it Open | MOST | MULTIPLIERS | Open Science Hub Network | OTTER | PAFSE | PHERECLOS | PULCHRA | Road-STEAMer | Schools As Living Labs (SALL) | SEAS | SENSE | STE(A)M Learning Ecologies (SLEs) | STEAMbrace
Ecsite, 89/7, Avenue Louise, Louizalaan, B-1050, Brussels, Belgium VAT number: BE0443 655 135 |  Follow us on social media
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