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The winners of the International LUMA StarT 2022 -Awards were announced in the International StarT Gala

The LUMA Centre Finland network awarded the best science and technology projects for children, and young people and teaching practices for learning communities on Monday 13th of June at the International StarT Gala.

The International LUMA Start Awards were presented for the sixth time this year. This year, we finally had the opportunity to gather together after a two-year brake at the Aalto University. It was also possible to watch the gala as a virtual live broadcast. In the gala, the International LUMA Start Award 2022 was presented to the three best natural sciences, math or technology related projects done by children and young people around the world. The International LUMA Start Education Award 2022 was presented to three learning communities for best educational practice in relation to the implementation of interdisciplinary, research-based and phenom-based teaching. Winners were awarded in addition to prizes a trip to Finland.

The International LUMA StarT Awards went to:

The StarT honorary jury consisting of Prof. Maija Aksela (University of Helsinki, Finland; Head of LUMA Centre Finland), Distinguished Prof. Joseph Krajcik (Michigan State University, USA; Director, CREATE for STEM Institute), and Prof. Marina Milner-Bolotin (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, CA; Chair of the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy Graduate Advisory Committee) found the choice incredibly challenging due to the high level of practices and projects. The winning projects took off from real questions and thoughts of children and young people. The projects included cooperation both within their own learning community and also with outsiders. The videos and learning diaries of the projects were first-rate and carefully done.

The International LUMA Start Education Awards went to:

The creators of these practices, Korean teachers for STEAM education, Elina Viro, Niina Pahkamäki, Juuso Linnusmäki, Omar Basem Moeen Shaheen, Tamara Ibrahim Suliman Abu Sowaid, Hiba Ehlal Mohammad Bani Domi and Marah Jehad Abdal Razak Alsife had demonstrated interdisciplinary and innovative work in their practices. The StarT honorary jury described the practices as pragmatic, inventive and versatile. The jury valued interdisciplinarity, collaboration, and the active inclusion of children and young people in the winning practices.

The public’s favourites were also rewarded in the gala. Public’s favourites were Disaster Search and Rescue UAV Project – the Servator by Vinschool Education System from Vietnam and Learning based on crisis and disaster management skills by Elementary School Bani Aouf from Tunisia. You can read more about the public’s favourites from our earlier post.

In the 2021-2022 season a total of 847 project work and 750 educational practices took part in StarT. The joy of learning was shared by 1, 486 learning communities, 6, 912 teachers and 325, 126 children and young people. This season has reached it’s end but luckily the new season starts right away! Let’s StarT again and remember that learning is sharing!

The Results of the International Public Voting

The public voting of the International StarT Competition has ended and the votes have been counted. This year, the voting was carried out via a questionnaire based on the project and practice videos. We hope that these videos have been inspiration towards project based learning all around the world.

In this season of StarT there were about 1500 learning communities from 33 different countries from all around the world. In the public voting we had 10 projects and 10 practices. Just to be nominated in the public voting is a great achievement itself. You can watch the videos of the projects and practices here. Based on the number of votes the videos received by the 31th of May we have made the decision of public’s favourites.

The favourite project of the public

Public’s favourite projects was by the incredible amount of votes, 61 685, Disaster Search and Rescue UAV Project – the Servator by Vinschool Education System, Vietnam. Congratulations to the public’s favourite project!

The favourite best practice of the public

The most liked educational practice got an impressive amount of votes, 6 110. The public’s favourite educational practice is Learning based on crisis and disaster management skills by Elementary School Bani Aouf, Tunisia. Congratulations on your designation as a public’s favourite!

Welcome to the StarT Gala and get ready for the next season

Congratulations to the public’s favourites! Do not forget to join us at the StarT Gala on 13th of June at 4 PM to 5.15 PM (EEST: UTC+3). Everyone is welcome to participate in the Gala via internet. Learning is sharing so see you soon!

At the StarT Gala, there will be announced this year’s winners of the International StarT Competition. After the Gala, StarT will have a summer break. We will be back on business again in autumn.

International Public Voting in May – Vote for Your Favourites!

The LUMA Centre Finland welcomes everyone to take part in the public voting of StarT 2021-2022. The voting is possible till the end of May. The goal of the public voting is to share joy and ideas but also to make it possible for everyone to participate. Tell us your favourites!

You can find the videos of the projects and teaching practices included in the voting below. When you have chosen your favourites, vote for them via the form below. The public voting time is from 2nd of May to 31th of May! Voting is a part of the assessment process and can influence on the decisions of the winners of the International StarT Competition.

International Public Voting Form

The International LUMA StarT Award 2022 nominees (project nominees):

Estudi de la contaminació atmosfèrica a Martorell by Martorell, Spain

Urban Farming as alternative adaptation for climate change and source of income for urban community in the pandemic era by Matoa D5, Indonesia

Green Space by Veikkolan yhtenäiskoulu, Finland

Additional Factors In Growth by Lyseonmäen koulu, Finland

Sustainable recycling of contaminated sediment in Yantian River by Yangang Primary school, China

The Exploration of the Secrets of Mangrove Roots — Exploring the Ecological Value of Mangrove Windbreak and Sand Fixation by Shenzhen Yantian Donghe Branch of Foreign Language Primary School, China

Disaster Search and Rescue UAV Project -The Servator, Vinschool Education System, Vietnam

Comparing the ratio of Aluminum migration to the food from different kinds of aluminum foil, Iso School, Jordan

Silk threads, School №1  Ismailli, Azerbaidžan

Just Breath, Terakki Vakfı Özel Şişli Terakki Tepeören Anadolu Lisesi, Turkey

The International LUMA StarT Education Award 2022 nominees (best educational practice nominees):

Music hearing with hearing-impaired friends, Korean teachers for STEAM education, South Korea

Science picnic by “2 x 2” science club, Italy

Learning based on crisis and disaster management skills by Elementary school “bani aouf”, Tunisia

A Model of Organizing Online Experiential Activities for Secondary School Students by Cau Giay Secondary School, Vietnam

The Planetarium by Zarqa University Schools and KGs, Jordan

Golden Time by Liangfeng Primary School Zhangjiagang, China

Bud Green Action – The Aerosol Cultivation System by Wentianxiang Primary school, China

Project of sleep by Pikkolan koulu, Finland

EARTH IS OUR HOME WE AREN’T ALONE by BAŞAKŞEHİR-BAHÇEŞEHİR ANAOKULU, Turkey

The Story of Tastes That Remain in an Ever-Changing World “Omniscient Foods” by MAYA ORTAOKULU, Turkey

The International LUMA StarT Award And International LUMA StarT Education Award Nominees Have Been Chosen

The StarT jury has now made their decision on the ten nominees for the International LUMA StarT Award 2022 and the ten nominees for the International LUMA StarT Education Award 2022. From these nominees, the honorary StarT jury will choose the winners.

The winners will be published at the International StarT Gala 13th of June. The twenty nominees for the International LUMA StarT Awards were chosen by the StarT jury. The assessment has been carried out according to the assessment criteria. The three project teams receiving the International LUMA StarT Award and the three best practices receiving the International LUMA StarT Education Award will be chosen from these nominees.

In addition, the Public Favorite will be chosen from these nominees in May.

The International LUMA StarT Award 2022 nominees (project nominees):

Estudi de la contaminació atmosfèrica a Martorell by INS Pompeu Fabra, Spain

Urban Farming as alternative adaptation for climate change and source of income for urban community in the pandemic era by Matoa D5, Indonesia

Green Space by Veikkolan yhtenäiskoulu, Finland

Additional Factors In Growth by Lyseonmäen koulu, Finland

Sustainable recycling of contaminated sediment in Yantian River by Yangang Primary school, China

The Exploration of the Secrets of Mangrove Roots — Exploring the Ecological Value of Mangrove Windbreak and Sand Fixation by Shenzhen Yantian Donghe Branch of Foreign Language Primary School, China

Disaster Search and Rescue UAV Project -The Servator, Vinschool Education System, Vietnam

Comparing the ratio of Aluminum migration to the food from different kinds of aluminum foil, ISO Education School, Jordan

Silk threads, Ismailli Secondary School, Azerbaidžan

Just Breath, Terakki Vakfı Özel Şişli Terakki Tepeören Anadolu Lisesi, Turkey

The International LUMA StarT Education Award 2022 nominees (best educational practice nominees):

Music hearing with hearing-impaired friends, Korean teachers for STEAM education, South Korea

Science picnic by “2 x 2” science club, Italy

Learning based on crisis and disaster management skills by Elementary school “bani aouf”, Tunisia

A Model of Organizing Online Experiential Activities for Secondary School Students by Cau Giay Secondary School, Vietnam

The Planetarium by Zarqa University Schools and KGs, Jordan

Golden Time by Liangfeng Primary School Zhangjiagang, China

Bud Green Action – The Aerosol Cultivation System by Wentianxiang Primary school, China

Project of sleep by Pikkolan koulu, Finland

EARTH IS OUR HOME WE AREN’T ALONE by BAHÇEŞEHİR ANAOKULU, Turkey

The Story of Tastes That Remain in an Ever-Changing World “Omniscient Foods” by MAYA ORTAOKULU, Turkey

Congratulations to all nominees! It is a great accomplishment to be chosen amongst the hundreds and hundreds of projects and best practices as a nominee. Amongst these splendid nominees, the honorary StarT jury will be making the decision on the winning teams. The honorary StarT jury consists this year of Prof. Maija Aksela (University of Helsinki, Finland; Head of LUMA Centre Finland), Distinguished Prof. Joseph Krajcik (Michigan State University, USA; Director, CREATE for STEM Institute), and Prof. Marina Milner-Bolotin (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, CA; Chair of the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy Graduate Advisory Committee).

The winners will be announced at the annual StarT Gala that will be held at Aalto University, Finland. In the International StarT Gala, the three best educational practices will be awarded the International LUMA StarT Education Award and three projects with the International LUMA StarT Award. The Gala will be held on June 13th at 4 PM.

Public voting

The annual voting on the favourites of the public will be held in May. This year, the voting happens through a questionnaire form and it will be published soon. Stay tuned and vote for your favourites!

Vote here!
Picture of a former StarT-winners

The StarT competition has begun!

The registration for the StarT competition has begun and will continue until 7th of March 2022. The theme of the competition is My LUMA which refers to natural sciences, mathematics and/or technology. The two series you can participate in are the StarT projects and good educational practices.

Register for the competition!

The theme for the 2022 competition is My LUMA. The word LUMA refers to natural sciences, mathematics and technology and the interaction and cooperation between these disciplines. The aim of My LUMA theme is that all projects are interdisciplinary, have a link to science, mathematics and/or technology and promote the ideas, interests and knowhow of children and youth. The projects should be about any interdisciplinary topic including natural sciences, mathematics and/or technology. A good approach to this theme is through students own interests or phenomena related to everyday life. First, brainstorm a topic that inspires your team and dive into the worlds of learning and discovery through your project. Then report the results of your work and enter the StarT-competition. For inspiration, you can visit our material bank where we have collected some of the best projects and educational practices from earlier years.

You can sign up for the competition through the registration form. Tell us about your team of students and your project, or your good educational practice. The registration period for the competition started in the beginning of January and will continues until the 7th of March 2022. 

StarT project

Teams of children and adolescents should carry out the StarT project.  It is important that the project is a product of the students’ work, supported by the teacher on a suitable level. We will assess the projects on how creative and innovative they are. We also appreciate projects that are linked to the theme of My LUMA. The students’ active role in the project is important as is collaboration and the visibility of students’ enthusiasm. The project can include cooperation within the teacher community and with other actors outside of the learning community such as researchers and companies.

An example of a My LUMA themed project from 2021

Best practice

A best practice is an educational practice or a model that the learning community has tried and found useful in implementing interdisciplinary and phenomenon-based learning. The best practice should also have a link to science, technology and/or mathematics. In the assessment of best practices, we will look at how the best practice demonstrates links to curriculum and cooperation. We will also be looking for innovative approaches for carrying out inquiry-based and/or phenomenon-based learning.

An example of a best practice from 2021

Read more:

StarT competition
Awards and assesment
StarT projects

The registration for the International StarT Competition begins in early January 2022!

The year is about to end so it is time to think about wonderful time for learning together: the International StarT Competition 2022 is soon here! Participate in the competition with a good teaching practice or a project that deals with natural sciences, mathematics and/or technology.

The registration for the annual International StarT Competition begins on the 3rd of January 2022 and closes on 1st of March. The theme of the year is My LUMA that refers to natural sciences, mathematics and/or tehchnology and the the interaction and cooperation between these disciplines. The aim is that all projects are interdisciplinary and they have a link to the mentioned disciplines.

My LUMA celebrates the creativity and ideas of children and youth. It highlights the multidisciplinarity of daily life and LUMA (STEM/STEAM) phenomena.

Outi Haatainen, StarT Project Manager

Note to the ones that would have been interested in participating Nord StarT Climate Competition but could not participate: Did you already create a climate change themed project to participate in Nord StarT? No worries! Because the My LUMA theme makes many kinds of projects possible, you can participate with a climate change themed project for example.

Are you participating from one of our partner countries (Albania, Azerbaijan, China, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam)? Note that our partner countries might have their own national selection and therefore all participants should report directly to their national StarT office. You can find the partners’ contact information here.

Read more about the International StarT Competition here. Learn together and share your ideas. The best projects and practices will be rewarded!

The StarT team wishes you all merry Christmas and a happy New Year! We will be back in January.

a part of the StarT team in StarT Gala

The winners of the International LUMA StarT -awards were announced in The International StarT Gala.

The LUMA Centre Finland network awarded the best science and technology projects for children, young people and learning communities on Wednesday 9th of June at the International StarT Gala.

The International LUMA Start Awards were presented for the fifth time this year. As in the year before, the gala took place as a virtual live broadcast. In the gala, the International LUMA Start Award 2021 award was presented to the three best natural sciences, math or technology-related project done by children and young people around the world. The International LUMA Start Education Award was presented to three learning communities for best educational practice in relation to the implementation of interdisciplinary, research-based and phenom-based teaching. Winners were awarded in addition to prizes a trip to Finland. The prize trip will take place due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation in June 2022.

The International LUMA StarT Awards went to:

The StarT honorary jury consisting of Prof. Maija Aksela (chair person); Prof. Miia Rannikmäe from University of Tartu, Estonia and Associate prof. Coral Campbell from Deakin University, Australia found the choice incredibly challenging due to the high level of practices and projects. The winning projects took off from real questions and thoughts of children and young people. The projects included cooperation both within their own learning community and also with outsiders. The videos and learning diaries of the projects were first-rate and carefully done.

The International LUMA Start Education Awards went to:

The creators of these practices Liangfeng primary school; João Dias, Mariana Marques and Frederico Valsassina Amaral; Maikku Aho and Teija Lauronen had demonstrated interdisciplinary and innovative work in their practices. The StarT honorary jury described the practices as pragmatic, inventive and versatile. The jury valued interdisciplinarity, collaboration, and the active inclusion of children and young people in the winning practices.

The public’s favourites were also rewarded in the gala. Public’s favourites were Water Rationalization System by WRS youth team from Jordania and The educational program towards a sustainable society by Aldur Almanthour School from Jordania. You can read more about the public’s favourites here.

In the 2020-2021 season a total of 830 project work and 680 educational practices took part in StarT. The joy of learning was shared by 1420 learning communities, 5580 teachers and 14,150 children and young people. This season has reached it’s end but luckily the new season starts right away! The new season comes with two different competitions: the Nord StarT climate change competition in the autumn season and the International LUMA Start Competition in the spring 2022.

Picture of a former StarT-winners

The International LUMA StarT Award and International LUMA StarT Education Award nominees have been chosen

The StarT jury has now made their decision on the ten nominees for the International LUMA StarT Award 2021 and the ten nominees for the International LUMA StarT Education Award 2021. From these nominees, the honorary StarT jury will choose the winners.

The winners will be published in the international StarT gala 9.6. The twenty nominees for the International LUMA StarT Awards were chosen by the StarT jury out of the projects and practices that made it to the public voting. The assessment has been carried out according to the assessment criteria. You can read more about the assessment here. The three project teams receiving the International LUMA StarT Award and the three best practices receiving the International LUMA StarT Education Award will be chosen from these nominees. 

The International LUMA StarT Education Award 2021 nominees (best educational practice nominees):

  • A PBL Course Exploring Ancient Civilization by Liangfeng primary school, China
  • Curricular projects using the STEAM project-based Learning by ALHuda Secondary School, Palestine
  • Fresh Resource, Fresh Water: The Wutong Mountain Spring Water Protection Plan
    by Yunhai school, China
  • Harvest time by Osman Akça Secondary School, Turkey
  • Manufacture of drawing charcoal by Forssan kuvataidekoulu, Finland
  • Mirrors for Minors and Mirror Experiments by Taipalsaaren kirkonkylän koulu, Finland and Sct. Mariæ Skole, Denmark
  • Protection of Yongding River Old Course in Wetland by Tianjin Yinghua International school, China
  • Recycling of Waste Paper by Fumin Primary School, China
  • STREAM Active Learning through Distance by Al-Rajih School & Kindergarten, Jordan
  • ValsaBIO by Colégio Valsassina, Portugal

The International LUMA StarT Award 2021 nominees (project nominees):

  • Air in my town by OŠ “Miroslav Antić”, Serbia
  • Bio Plastic by Green Revolutioners, India
  • Electronic interactive Silent Carpet for Deaf by Garden of Knowledge Team, Jordan
  • Euch Zitoun 2030 by Euch Zitoun Primary School, Tunisia
  • FOR “YOU” –  SUSTAINABEE by Ari private schools, Turkey
  • Jewelry designer by Yantian institution of Education and Science Kindergarten of Shenzhen, China
  • Mask Minder by Loreto College Mullingar, Ireland 
  • Projekt Neptun by Primarschule Wolfhausen, Switzerland
  • The project of exploring Sha Tau Kok river by Middle school in China
  • Upper secondary students’ climate calculator for greenhouse gas emissions by Haukiputaan lukio, Finland

Congratulations to all nominees! It is a great accomplishment to be chosen amongst the hundreds and hundreds projects and best practices as a nominee. You can find more information of the nominees here.

Amongst these splendid nominees the honorary StarT jury will be making the decision on the winning teams. The honorary StarT jury consists this year of Prof. Maija Aksela (chair person); Prof. Miia Rannikmäe from University of Tartu, Estonia and Associate prof. Coral Campbell from Deakin University, Australia. 

The winners will be announced in the annual StarT gala that will be held virtually this year due to the COVID-19. In the International StarT Gala the three best educational practices will be awarded with the International LUMA StarT Education Award and three projects with the International LUMA StarT Award. The Gala will be held virtually on June 9th as a part of the LUMAT Symposium 2021. Read more about the StarT gala here.