EGU (European Geosciences Union) Education Field Officer programme: teachers' appreciation, perceptions and needs

Abstract

Whilst geoscience plays a critical role in society and in sustainable development, it is nevertheless a neglected subject in many European countries. To address this issue, the European Geosciences Union (EGU) launched an initiative for the dissemination of professional development workshops aimed at teachers with limited or no academic background or teachers training in geoscience. The initiative included the training and funding of six Education Field Officers in 2019, who would then run practical workshops in France, India, Italy, Morocco, Portugal and Spain. The workshops were based on the experience and teaching resources developed by the Earth Science Education Unit (ESEU, Keele University). In this article we focus on the outcomes of the workshops and on the perceptions and needs of the teachers who attended.