From Palm Forests to Geoparks: Green STEAM in Action in Sitia

Learning from local landscapes, cultural heritage and environmental challenges during an international training activity in Sitia, Greece.

At the end of April 2026, Green STEAM partners from across Europe gathered in Sitia, Crete, for an international Learning, Teaching and Training Activity (LTTA), hosted by the 3rd Primary School of Sitia.

The training brought together educators and project representatives to explore innovative approaches to interdisciplinary education, connecting environmental awareness, scientific investigation, outdoor learning and cultural heritage.

The programme combined school visits, field-based activities, cultural experiences and collaborative working sessions. Together, these activities provided valuable inspiration for developing the educational resources and teaching methodologies at the heart of Green STEAM.

Learning from the 3rd Primary School of Sitia

The programme began with a warm welcome at the 3rd Primary School of Sitia, where students introduced visiting partners to local culture through music, dance and traditional performances.

The visit highlighted how cultural heritage and community identity can enrich education, providing meaningful connections between students’ everyday experiences and wider environmental and scientific topics.

Partners also explored the school’s outdoor learning facilities, including its geological rock garden. These facilities demonstrated how school grounds can become valuable learning environments, encouraging observation, investigation and hands-on engagement with natural materials and processes.

The experience reinforced one of Green STEAM’s central principles: meaningful environmental education does not always require distant field trips or specialised facilities. Learning opportunities can often be found within schools and their immediate surroundings.

Exploring Sustainable Land Use and Local Traditions

Field visits formed an important part of the training programme, allowing participants to investigate the relationships between natural landscapes, traditional practices and contemporary environmental challenges.

At Toplou Monastery and through activities connected with the LIFE AgrOassis initiative, partners explored sustainable land management, agriculture and the relationships between natural resources and local production systems.

These experiences demonstrated how environmental education can be connected with real-world practices, including soil conservation, water management, sustainable agriculture and local economies.

Traditional land management practices also provided opportunities to discuss how knowledge developed over generations can contribute to contemporary sustainability challenges.

For Green STEAM, such examples offer valuable starting points for interdisciplinary educational activities combining environmental science, engineering, mathematics, history and cultural heritage.

Sitia UNESCO Global Geopark: A Living Classroom

A full day of the programme was dedicated to exploring Sitia UNESCO Global Geopark, with field activities in the Zakros area. The geopark provided an exceptional setting for investigating the connections between geology, biodiversity, cultural heritage and human activity.

Visits to natural springs, historic watermills and the Minoan Palace of Kato Zakros demonstrated how access to natural resources has influenced settlement, technology and local communities over thousands of years.

These locations also illustrated how landscapes can be used to investigate contemporary environmental questions. How does water shape the environment? How have communities adapted to the availability of natural resources? What can traditional technologies teach us about sustainable resource management?

Such questions encourage students to connect scientific investigation with historical understanding and critical reflection. The activities also demonstrated how digital tools can support outdoor education by helping students document observations, collect environmental information and interpret findings.

The experience was particularly relevant to Green STEAM’s emphasis on place-based learning, where local landscapes become active environments for scientific exploration.

Connecting Environmental Education with Cultural Heritage

The programme also included a guided exploration of Sitia, with visits to the archaeological and folklore museums and Kazarma Fortress. These activities highlighted the importance of connecting environmental education with local history, cultural identity and community knowledge.

Green STEAM recognises that environmental challenges cannot be understood through natural sciences alone. Understanding how communities interact with their surroundings also requires perspectives from history, geography, technology, culture and the arts.

By bringing these disciplines together, educators can help students develop a broader understanding of sustainability and the relationships between people and their environment.

Turning Field Experiences into Practical Teaching Resources

Alongside the field activities, partners participated in dedicated working sessions focused on developing the project’s educational resources. A central priority was advancing the Green STEAM lesson plans, which will provide teachers with practical activities connecting environmental investigation, outdoor learning, digital technologies and creative approaches.

Partners discussed how experiences from different countries could be translated into adaptable educational activities, suitable for different age groups and learning environments.

Particular attention was given to environmental data collection and the use of sensors and digital tools to support scientific investigation.

The partnership also worked towards common approaches to collecting and documenting environmental information, helping ensure that activities developed in different countries can be shared, compared and adapted.

These discussions contribute directly to the Green STEAM pedagogical framework, structured around four interconnected stages: Explore – Investigate – Reflect – Act.

The framework encourages students to explore their surroundings, investigate environmental questions, reflect on scientific findings and consider opportunities for meaningful action.

Strengthening European Collaboration

The training in Crete provided an important opportunity for partners to exchange experiences and learn from different educational settings. Each participating country brings distinct environmental conditions, educational traditions and areas of expertise.

While the Mediterranean landscapes of Crete differ considerably from the volcanic environments of Iceland, the forests of Central Europe or the coastal landscapes of Ireland, they offer opportunities to apply shared educational methods.

Through Green STEAM, these different environments become part of a wider European learning experience. The training also strengthened cooperation between project partners, supporting the joint development of resources that can be adapted and used by schools across Europe.

Next Steps: From Development to Classroom Testing

The training in Sitia marked an important step in moving Green STEAM from initial concept development towards practical implementation. Building on the experiences and discussions in Crete, partners are continuing to develop and refine lesson plans based on environmental themes relevant to their respective countries.

These include climate and environmental data in Iceland, rainfall and flooding in Ireland, sustainable land management in Greece, traditional ecological knowledge in Croatia, biodiversity mapping in Poland and soil health in Czechia.

The activities will contribute to the development of the Green STEAM Teacher Handbook and a shared collection of educational resources.

The next stages of the project will focus on testing and improving these approaches in educational settings, incorporating feedback from teachers and students.

The partnership will continue this collaborative development process through further international training activities, including the upcoming meeting in Liberec, Czechia.

Learning from Nature, Learning from Each Other

The experience in Crete demonstrated how local environments, cultural heritage and scientific investigation can be combined to create engaging educational experiences.

From traditional agricultural landscapes and historic watermills to geological formations and school-based learning facilities, the programme illustrated the diversity of opportunities available for environmental education.

Most importantly, it reinforced the value of international cooperation in developing educational approaches that are both locally relevant and internationally transferable.

Green STEAM extends its sincere thanks to the 3rd Primary School of Sitia and everyone involved in organising the training, as well as all participating partners for their contributions and enthusiasm.

By learning from our surroundings and sharing experiences across borders, Green STEAM is helping teachers and students explore, understand and protect the environments that connect us all.