| Dear reader, We hope you've had the most relaxing summer holidays! While we are certainly sad to be leaving the sunny seasons behind, we couldn't be more excited for what's to come! Why is that? Because we have entered the last six months of the project, the busiest and most rewarding time, when we get to witness the outcome of our work and share it with the world! In fact, we already have a great accomplishment to be proud of (more on that below!) and we are making the most out of the opportunities to advocate for outside the classroom education and advance the work on accreditation. And if you were wondering where all this energy is coming from, let's just say that watching the students be so engaged and eager to take part in outdoor activities, during the OTTER Labs we oversaw in 4 countries, was all the motivation and confirmation we needed that we were on the right track. See what we've been up to and what's coming next below...Enjoy the read! The OTTERs | | | Poster Showcase at the ESERA 2023 Conference |  | | OTTER made an appearance at the prestigious ESERA 2023 event in Cappadocia, as Deirdre O'Neill and Nathália Helena Azevedo presented posters on our work related to the literature review on Education Outside the Classroom (EOC) benefits and challenges and the mapping of EOC practices across Europe. | | Read more | | Innovating education: the power of Open Schooling |  | | Back in June, we had the opportunity to attend an event organised by the European Commission dedicated to Open Schooling and connected with educators and policy makers working on transforming education and bridging the gap between formal and informal learning. | | Read more | | Promoting Global Citizenship Education through EOC |  | | We are very grateful to have been included in the Ubuntu Network Dialogue Day in Limerick, reuniting educators, academics, NGOs and other experts to discuss the future of education. Our colleague, Deirdre O'Neill, presented our methdology and provided practical tips on sustainability education based on the OTTERs experience. | | Read more | | OTTER joins the “Making Skills Count” conference in Brussels |  | | In June, we were invited to the flagship event of the European Year of Skills: the "Making Skills Count" conference in Brussels. For two days, we were engrossed in exciting conversations concerning the importance of skills and how upskilling is a one-way path to a rewarding career, something we are working on in our project as well: providing our youth with the transversal skills they need to have fulfilling careers in the future. | | Read more | | Barriers to Outdoor Education | | By Mihaela-Viorica Rusitoru (European Science Foundation) | | | | What is preventing Education Outside the Classroom from gaining more popularity? What are the challenges and setbacks we have encountered in our work and what is the pathway forward? Our colleague explores these questions in our latest blog post. Check it out | | | |  | | Did you know that tomatoes are not, in fact, vegetables? Or that an octopus has not one, not two, but three hearts? A great way to connect kids with science is by making it fun - which is why we launched our new #AskOtti campaign on social media. The coolest science facts around the world brought to you by a cute animated otter... See the first posts here or here! |  | | Attention, science enthusiasts and culture lovers: our sister project, Surrounded by Science, is preparing curated lists of top recommendations of books, podcasts, videos, and movies concerned with science, education, and society. Get ready to expand your horizons and be inspired by these works! Check out the latest list they have put together here. | |
