The Final Steering Committee Meeting of the ecosySTEM Project Took Place in Istanbul

The latest Steering Committee Meeting for the ecosySTEM project, led by IDEA Universal, took place in Istanbul.

As the lead partner of the ecosySTEM project under the International Development and Environment Association – IDEA Universal, we hosted the 4th and final Steering Committee Meeting on 7–8 September 2026 in Istanbul. During the two-day meeting, held at our E-STEM Education Centre in Kadıköy, we reviewed the approximately two-year implementation period and discussed our work relating to the project’s closing phase, preparations for the international festival and post-project collaboration processes.

Under the Interreg NEXT Black Sea Basin Programme 2021–2027, co-funded by the European Union, our ecosySTEM project aims to strengthen children’s knowledge, skills and capacity to generate solutions regarding environmental sustainability through E-STEM and Design Thinking approaches, in collaboration with our partners from Turkey, Greece, Ukraine and Bulgaria. In addition to IDEA Universal from Turkey, the project involves the Democritus University of Thrace, the Ukrainian Association of Business Support Centres and the Institute of Oceanology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

What topics were discussed at the meeting?

On the first day of the meeting, the training activities carried out in the four countries, the project outputs, the impact analysis, financial progress and communication efforts were comprehensively evaluated. In addition to the activities to be completed by the end of the project, discussions focused on the sustainability of the results achieved and steps to ensure continued collaboration amongst the partners following the project’s conclusion.

On the second day of the meeting, the environment-focused projects developed by children as part of the E-STEM and Design Thinking processes formed a significant part of our agenda. Whilst the student projects emerging from the four countries were evaluated, preparations for the International Environment & Science Festival, to be held in Xanthi, Greece, on 7–8 October 2026, were also discussed.

At the International Festival Committee meeting on the same day, the student projects selected for the festival, presentation formats, delegations, travel arrangements, procedures relating to children’s safety and joint communication efforts were reviewed. The festival’s primary aim is to create an international space for learning and interaction where children working on similar environmental issues in different countries can share their ideas, prototypes and experiences, rather than simply organising an event where children compete against one another.

What will happen to the children’s projects after the festival?

At IDEA Universal, we do not view the children’s projects we have developed as part of the ecosySTEM initiative as being limited solely to the project process. Making the ideas developed by children visible, sharing them within educational settings, and evaluating these works—which are open to further development—in subsequent stages form a key part of the project’s sustainability approach. We also regard the International Environment & Science Festival as a significant milestone in terms of sharing these works on an international scale and enabling children to interact with their peers from different countries.

Will ecosySTEM continue once EU funding comes to an end?

We are also taking significant steps to ensure the sustainability of ecosySTEM. Under the Memorandum of Understanding and Joint Action Plan drawn up with our partners in four countries, we plan to continue our collaboration for a further 36 months after the project concludes. We aim to ensure that the educational approach developed and the project outputs continue to be utilised, whilst the ecosySTEM website will remain active for three years following the project’s completion.

Following our most recent Steering Committee Meeting in Istanbul, the project’s next major event will be the International Environment & Science Festival, to be organised in Xanthi on 7–8 October 2026. At this festival, which will bring together children from the four countries, we expect students to share the environment-focused projects they have developed through E-STEM training and Design Thinking workshops on an international platform.

In line with the fundamental approach we have adopted within the ecosySTEM process at IDEA Universal, we continue to support the empowerment of children as active individuals who not only learn about environmental issues but also identify, question and develop their own solutions to these problems.