RM@Schools: Fostering Students' Interest in Raw Materials and a Sustainable Society

Raw materials (RMs) are essential for the production of a broad range of goods and applications usedin everyday life. In particular, the accelerating technological innovation and the rapid growth ofemerging economies have led to a steadily increasing demand for a great numbers of metals andminerals. They are crucial also for fostering the transition towards a low-carbon economy.Thanks to a strategic European Partnership some learning paths for pupils aged 10 to 18 years weredeveloped in the framework of Raw Matters Ambassadors at Schools (RM@Schools), a Europeanproject funded by the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT) since 2016. These pathsaim at increasing the understanding of how RMs are needed in modern society, and to make careersin RM more attractive. The RM@Schools learning integrated method enables the students to expandtheir background knowledge in this field outside the current curricular topics and allowinterconnections with others subjects of study.Several educational approaches (i.e., learning-by-doing, team working, peer-to-peer, gamification,etc.) are used to foster students' interest in science and technology, in particular in circular economyand RM-related topics. Young people are trained to become science communicators (Young RMAmbassadors), and to create a "product" that can be communicated outside of the class. This methodhelps students to develop skills such as creativity, critical thinking, awareness of responsibility andteamwork, as well as to improve scientific knowledge on some scientific topics.The learning pathway covering the whole RMs value chain, from geology to electronic wastemanagement, has a modular structure: (1) Lesson - introducing the students to relevant contentknowledge; (2) Activity - experiments with RM-related hand-on kits; (3) Visit - to industry or researchcenters; (4) Create/Communicate - students are asked to communicate by creating a productdesigned to promote dialogue on a key message they have learnt; (5) Society - students are engagedin public events, such as science fairs, as well as in presenting their best dissemination productsduring an annual European Conference.