📝 Next Steps: Documenting the SteamCity Approach for Wider Adoption

As the testing sessions across Europe reach completion, the SteamCity consortium is now focusing on the development of its final guide — a comprehensive document that will synthesize the pedagogical vision, practical implementations, and technical innovations that have shaped the project since its launch in 2022.

This guide is designed to support teachers, facilitators, and institutional actors interested in deploying SteamCity’s approach to inquiry-based science education rooted in urban challenges. It will not only compile pedagogical strategies and tested protocols, but also provide clear guidance on the technical infrastructures that made experimentation possible during the pilot phase.

🧪 From Idea to Implementation: Supporting Scientific Exploration

One of the defining ambitions of SteamCity has been to go beyond classroom abstraction and provide students with tools to observe, measure, and understand the systems that structure their urban environment. To make this possible, the consortium worked on the definition and deployment of an environmental sensing ecosystem to support hands-on experimentation.

This have been designed as part of an experimentation service: accessible, replicable tools allowing schools to monitor environmental indicators such as air quality, noise, or light. The guide will document how the sensors and boards composing this ecosystems were selected, adapted, and integrated into the different protocols, offering technical specifications and practical usage scenarios for future adopters.

📡 Building a Scalable, Low-Power Communication System

A key innovation introduced during the piloting phase was the deployment of a low-power radio-based network, enabling student-built devices to communicate data in real-time. Rather than relying on Wi-Fi or mobile networks — which are often unavailable or unreliable in school settings — this technical brick ensured a resilient, adaptable infrastructure for experimentation.

The final guide will detail the hardware and software architecture supporting this system, and explain how educators can adapt it to different sensors and school contexts. The goal is to democratize environmental monitoring, allowing students to not only collect data but understand how that data circulates and informs decision-making processes.

🏙️ Making Data Tangible: The Territory Diorama

To help students visualise how data influences urban dynamics, the consortium developed a Do-It-Yourself territory diorama approach that was tested in several setting (from simple to more complex). The final guide will explain how to replicate this model, both in its basic and enhanced versions, and how to use it as a pedagogical tool to discuss systems thinking, feedback loops, and civic responsibility. Designed for cross-disciplinary use, the diorama bridges technology, geography, and ethical reasoning, showing how STEAM topics can be explored together through storytelling and simulation.

📊 A Platform for Visualising and Interpreting Data

Alongside these physical tools, SteamCity has also developed a digital data visualisation platform tailored to the learning process. This platform allows students to upload the results of their experiments — whether from sensors, surveys, or manual observations — and transform them into interpretable visual forms. Whether through charts, interactive maps, or dashboards, this component helps students make sense of the data they generate, and link their investigations to real-world insights. It also provides teachers with a way to track progress, compare results across groups, and initiate discussions around data interpretation, bias, or uncertainty.

By documenting these technical and pedagogical components, the SteamCity final guide aims to equip educators with everything they need to adopt, adapt, and build on the project’s methodology. It will also ensure that the project’s legacy extends beyond its funded period—allowing other communities to continue experimenting, teaching, and transforming their local urban environments through student-led inquiry.

This resource will be made available in multiple languages and disseminated across the SteamCity network by September, alongside the full release of the tested protocols and supporting materials.