October 14-17, 2026

The Medıterranean regıonal IAU-OAE workshop on Astronomy for Education

MASTED2026

Aegina / GREECE

MASTED2026

The Mediterranean Regional IAU-OAE Workshop on Astronomy for Education (MASTED2026) will be held between 14 – 17 October 2026 in Aegina Island, Greece. The workshop is being organised by The IAU Office of Astronomy for Education Center Italy (I-OAE), in collaboration with the Hellenic Physical Society, the NAEC Greece, the NOC Greece teams and ASTRO-EDU Erasmus+ Project consortium.

A FOUR-day summit of talks, activities, and workshops

The Mediterranean Regional IAU-OAE Workshop on Astronomy for Education (MASTED2026) will be a 4 day event where we will build new bonds among the participants and NAECs in the Mediterranean area, share our experiences on astronomy education, work together on designing new activities, discuss new proposals and opportunities for the future projects, gain fresh and innovative teaching approaches and participate in different hands-on activities.

The National Astronomy Education Coordinators NAECs, science educators, teachers and researchers working in astronomy education from countries in the Mediterranean basin with its diverse culture are welcome to participate. (Mediterranean basin countries include Portugal, Spain France, Monaco, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Gibraltar) The application will be open for every country within the region who aspires to participate in the workshop.

The program of the meeting will consist of best practices in teaching methods using astronomy activities inside and outside the classroom; challenges in astronomy education and curriculum examples from Mediterranean countries; co-design activities sessions to produce and test some resources. A special session on equity, inclusion and diversity will be included as a lunch meeting.

This workshop will focus on the following topics:

Best practices in astronomy education.
Main challenges of astronomy education, specific needs of NAECs, teachers, science educators of each country in the Mediterranean basin.
Programs, fundings and international projects to enhance the knowledge, skills and expertise of NAECs, teachers, science educators focused on astronomy education.
Innovative techniques for teaching astronomy in formal and informal education; Inquiry-based learning activities, game based and playful learning activities in astronomy.
Codesign of educational resources on astronomy.

ThIS WORKSHOP aims to bring together National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs), teachers and science communicators from all around the Mediterranean basin with its diverse culture.

The Mediterranean Regional IAU-OAE Workshop on Astronomy for Education (MASTED2026) is an annual event of The IAU Office of Astronomy for Education Center Italy (I-OAE) creating a collaborative environment and a permanent community which includes almost all the countries of the Mediterranean area. It started with The MIRTO-STEAM-Med Project by I-OAE.

This workshop values and honors the unique and intersecting identities of each country around the Mediterranean culture. As partners of this project we are committed to development of an environment in astronomy education that enables the full and active participation of any participant regardless of such factors as age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, cultural or linguistic background, geo- graphical location, neurological or physical ability, religious or political beliefs, or their socio-economic or immigrant status.

First in-person workshop, STEAM Med Workshop was held in Lampedusa (Sicily, Italy) between 3-9 July 2022. A total of 23 National representatives attended the workshop, while 14 Mediterranean countries shared the whole process: Cyprus, Croatia, Egypt, France, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Portugal, Syria, Slovenia, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey, Montenegro, and Greece.

The second in-person workshop of STEM Med project was held in Ifrane, Morocco between 21 - 27 June, 2023 with 45 participants from 13 Mediterranean countries as the Mediterranean Steam Astronomy Summer School.

The third in person workshop was held as the The Mediterranean Regional SHAW-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education (MASTED2024) in Istanbul, Türkiye between 16-20 October 2024 with 35 participants from 16 different countries.

The fourth in person workshop was held as The Mediterranean and Arab Regional SHAW-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education (MARASE) between 1-5 December 2025 in Cairo, Egypt.

ASTRO-EDU Erasmus + Project

MASTED2006 workshop is being organised by The IAU Office of Astronomy for Education Center Italy (I-OAE), in collaboration with the Hellenic Physical Society, the NAEC Greece, the NOC Greece teams and ASTRO-EDU Erasmus+ Project consortium.

ASTRO-EDU: Empowering Teachers as STEAM Communicators in Astronomy Education is a three-year Erasmus+ KA220-SCH partnership funded by the European Union, coordinated by Istanbul Kültür University and implemented with Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, University of Malta, Osnovna škola Pantovčak, Global Hands-on Universe Association, and Hellenic Physics Society, aiming to strengthen astronomy education through innovative STEAM approaches. The project empowers primary and secondary teachers and preservice educators by enhancing their astronomy content knowledge, inquiry-based pedagogy, digital literacy, and science communication skills. Through the co-design of an open, multilingual inquiry-based ASTRO-EDU Toolkit, intensive professional development programs, and community outreach activities, the consortium will foster interdisciplinary learning, increase student engagement in STEM, and establish a sustainable international network of astronomy educators and ambassadors, contributing to improved scientific literacy and inclusive science education across Europe.